{"id":40951,"date":"2018-07-09T18:50:36","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T15:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-64\/"},"modified":"2022-05-04T08:37:12","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T05:37:12","slug":"wall-64","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-64\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Torah-Exodus-14"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"64","date":"20251126","book":"Exodus","chapter":"14","chapter_main_number":"64","books_group":"Torah","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"41720","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Exodus 14- Judy Hammond ","post_title":"Exodus 14- Judy Hammond","slug":"exodus-14-judy-hammond","old_id":"41720","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"64","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Exodus 14","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"read by Judy Hammond","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/exodus-chapter-14-read-by-judy-hammond","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"14","chapter_main_number":"64","date":"20251126","wall_id":"64"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"104492","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Connecting The Dots ","post_title":"Connecting The Dots","slug":"connecting-the-dots","old_id":"104492","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Her particular area of interest is biblical leadership. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"64","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"What it takes to be a risk taker and a trail blazer","post_main_content_content":"

We learn, in this chapter, that the Israelites had come to the banks of the Red Sea with the Egyptians hard on their heels and determined to destroy them. The Israelites were, understandably, terrified, and cried out to Moses, who in turn cried out to God. The response Moses got was that the time for prayer was over and the time for action had arrived. God told Moses to spread his arm out over the sea and He would get them across.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Midrash provides a new detail to this story, telling us of one Nachshon Ben Aminadav, a prince of the tribe of Yehuda. As the Israelites stood on the banks of the sea awaiting salvation, Nachshon Ben Aminadav waded in. He continued until the water was at his neck and then God\u2019s salvation came and the sea split. His demonstration of complete faith coupled with determination to be a participant in their salvation and not merely a recipient, makes Nachshon Ben Aminadav a hero of Torah literature, even without being mentioned in the narrative.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rabbi David Fried (The Centre for Modern Torah Leadership) asks the following question: How does the Midrash know it was Nachshon Ben Aminadav that waded in? There is also, of course, the question of knowing the story occurred at all, but perhaps that is assumed to have been handed down by oral tradition. To answer his question, Rabbi Fried points to a parallel story that is in the written Torah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When the building of the Tabernacle was completed, Aaron brought various offerings, which were consumed by a heavenly fire, indicating their acceptance by God. So excited were Aaron\u2019s sons, Nadav and Avihu, that they brought their own incense offering, unbidden by God. But their sacrifice was rejected, and the heavenly fire consumed the two brothers in full view of the Israelites. Meanwhile, God had instructed that the head of each tribe bring an offering. Now, here is a group of leaders who just witnessed one successful offering and one fatal offering. Imagine the hesitancy to be the next one to go \u2013 the odds were only 50\/50 that it would turn out well for them. But the text, in Numbers 7:12, specifically tells us that Nachshon Ben Aminadav, the head of the tribe of Judah, did not hesitate and brought his sacrifice first. This action of courage and faith mirrors that of wading into the Red Sea. So, proposes Rabbi Fried, the Midrash connects the dots from this text-based story in Numbers and transposes it to the oral tradition of someone wading into the sea, to identify that someone as Nachshon Ben Aminadav.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104493,"alt":"","title":"-6271146d6c4fc--6271146d6c4feex14-connect the 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"64","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Multiple miracles - multiple gods?","post_main_content_content":"

\u201c<\/b>The <\/span>malach<\/span><\/em>\/angel of God, who had been going ahead of the Israelite army, now moved and followed behind them; and the pillar of cloud shifted from in front of them and took up a place behind them\u201d (verse 19).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As the Israelites were trapped by the sea on one side and the Egyptian army on the other, a <\/span>malach<\/span><\/em> of God that had been guarding them from the front, shifted to the rear to protect them. Contrast this with verse 21 of chapter 13: \u201cGod went before them in a pillar of cloud by day, to guide them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, that they might travel day and night.\u201d Why does chapter 13 refer to God directly, but chapter 14 to a <\/span>malach<\/em> <\/span>of God?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ramban explains that the verse in chapter 13 refers to both God and God\u2019s heavenly court. During the day, God protected the people in the pillar of smoke. At night, his celestial court took over and protected the people with a pillar of fire. This answer does not explain why God could seemingly only manifest in a cloud and required the heavenly court to protect with fire.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Chizkuni explains that the <\/span>malach<\/em> <\/span>is a direct messenger of God. Therefore, the <\/span>malach<\/em> <\/span>of God and a mention of God refers to the same thing. Chizkuni also offers a second answer. Chapter 13 explains the general idea that God protected the people, and chapter 14 gives more detail. Both of these answers fail to explain why a few verses later the Torah would choose to use these different terms.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ibn Ezra explains that this was the attribute of justice due to the word \u201celohim\u201d as opposed to the Tetragrammaton (YHVH) used in chapter 13. That word is usually used to connote God\u2019s attribute of mercy. Therefore, regarding protecting the Israelites in the desert, the Torah uses the Tetragrammaton. In chapter 14, the function is to mete justice against the Egyptians. Therefore, the Torah utilizes the word \u201celohim.\u201d The attribute of justice is also symbolized by the heavenly court, as mentioned above. The issue here is that sometimes God is referred to as \"elohim\" without the additional <\/span>malach<\/span><\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

All of these answers seem to be missing a piece of the question.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Taking a piece from each, note that the Torah specifically mentions an angel of God to explain that these miracles were performed by God. At this moment, unlike any time during the plagues, the Israelites will witness multiple miracles at once: the protective fire, the protective smoke and the splitting of the sea. Having just left polytheistic Egypt, seeing all of these miracles at once might give the impression that multiple Gods were involved. Even simply using the word God multiple times could be confusing. Therefore, the text makes clear that God was running the show and that this subset of miracles was performed at God\u2019s direction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: Ark cover: Pillar of Fire, by Susan Turner, courtesy of the artist, archival inkjet on paper, 2012\/2017, 15\u201d x 31\u201d<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":44128,"alt":"","title":"Ex40-TURNER Susan_Ark cover _Pillar of Fire","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ex40-TURNER-Susan_Ark-cover-_Pillar-of-Fire.jpg","width":971,"height":1999,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ex40-TURNER-Susan_Ark-cover-_Pillar-of-Fire-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ex40-TURNER-Susan_Ark-cover-_Pillar-of-Fire-146x300.jpg","medium-width":146,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ex40-TURNER-Susan_Ark-cover-_Pillar-of-Fire-497x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":497,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ex40-TURNER-Susan_Ark-cover-_Pillar-of-Fire-497x1024.jpg","large-width":497,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ex40-TURNER-Susan_Ark-cover-_Pillar-of-Fire.jpg","1536x1536-width":746,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ex40-TURNER-Susan_Ark-cover-_Pillar-of-Fire.jpg","2048x2048-width":971,"2048x2048-height":1999,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ex40-TURNER-Susan_Ark-cover-_Pillar-of-Fire-583x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":583,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ex40-TURNER-Susan_Ark-cover-_Pillar-of-Fire-204x420.jpg","home_baner-width":204,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Angel Of God","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Multiple miracles - multiple gods?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":44128,"alt":"","title":"Ex40-TURNER Susan_Ark cover _Pillar of Fire","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ex40-TURNER-Susan_Ark-cover-_Pillar-of-Fire.jpg","width":971,"height":1999,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ex40-TURNER-Susan_Ark-cover-_Pillar-of-Fire-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ex40-TURNER-Susan_Ark-cover-_Pillar-of-Fire-146x300.jpg","medium-width":146,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ex40-TURNER-Susan_Ark-cover-_Pillar-of-Fire-497x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":497,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ex40-TURNER-Susan_Ark-cover-_Pillar-of-Fire-497x1024.jpg","large-width":497,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ex40-TURNER-Susan_Ark-cover-_Pillar-of-Fire.jpg","1536x1536-width":746,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ex40-TURNER-Susan_Ark-cover-_Pillar-of-Fire.jpg","2048x2048-width":971,"2048x2048-height":1999,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ex40-TURNER-Susan_Ark-cover-_Pillar-of-Fire-583x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":583,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ex40-TURNER-Susan_Ark-cover-_Pillar-of-Fire-204x420.jpg","home_baner-width":204,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"14","chapter_main_number":"64","date":"20251126","wall_id":"64"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"366","name":"Commentators","old_id":"766"},{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"509","name":"Angels","old_id":"909"}]},{"order":4,"id":"104486","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"At The Reed Sea ","post_title":"At The Reed Sea","slug":"at-the-reed-sea-2","old_id":"104486","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":35831,"post_title":"Ruth Fogelman","slug":"ruth-fogelman","old_id":"35831","first_name":"Ruth ","last_name":"Fogelman ","description":"Ruth Fogelman was born in England and has lived in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City for most of her life. She is the author of four books. Her poems, articles, short stories and photography have appeared in anthologies and various publications in Israel, USA and India, including Arc, Back to Joy: Little Reminders to Help Us Through Tough Times, The Deronda Review, Prosopisia, Poetica, and the International Literary Review. Ruth holds a Masters Degree from the Creative Writing Program of Bar Ilan University and leads the Pri Hadash Women\u2019s Writing Workshop in Jerusalem. \r\nShe is a member of the Israel Association of Writers in English\r\nVisit her website at http:\/\/jerusalemlives.weebly.com\r\n","short_description":"Ruth Fogelman is a poet, and lives in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":35832,"alt":"","title":"Ruth Fogelman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","width":969,"height":973,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--768x771.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":771,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","large-width":969,"large-height":973,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","1536x1536-width":969,"1536x1536-height":973,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","2048x2048-width":969,"2048x2048-height":973,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","post_full_size-width":969,"post_full_size-height":973,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--418x420.jpg","home_baner-width":418,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"64","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"no time to stand and gaze \/ at corals and rainbow fish","post_main_content_content":"

Then the children of Israel came into the midst of the sea on dry land, and the waters were to them as a wall from their right and from their left. The Egyptians pursued and came after them all Pharaoh\u2019s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen, into the midst of the sea\u2026. And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, the entire force of Pharaoh coming after them into the sea; not even one of them survived. But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the water was to them like a wall from their right and from their left.<\/em>
\r\nExodus 14:22-23, 28-29<\/p>\r\n

Where do we go now?
\r\nEgyptians at our heels:
\r\ntheir horses and chariots pounding,
\r\nthe earth trembling\u2026<\/p>\r\n

I still mourn my mother,
\r\nmy father and two sisters
\r\nwho perished in the plague of harsh darkness \u2013
\r\nWhy have I come this far \u2013
\r\nto be killed by my oppressors,
\r\nor drown in the sea?<\/p>\r\n

I shiver through the night.
\r\nWhat is that thunderous rumble \u2013
\r\nmore frightening than Egypt\u2019s whips?
\r\nBefore my eyes, walls of water rise
\r\nto my left and right.<\/p>\r\n

Shoved forward in the marching crowd \u2013
\r\nno time to stand and gaze
\r\nat corals and rainbow fish \u2013
\r\nno space to stretch out
\r\nand touch the water-panes \u2013
\r\nthe only sounds our steps
\r\non the dry sea bed \u2013
\r\nI walk across.<\/p>\r\n

What is that crash?
\r\nHolding my breath, I swing around \u2013
\r\nthe heavy waters have returned \u2013
\r\nis that the front of a chariot
\r\nfloating on the sea?<\/p>\r\n

I shall sing to the Lord
\r\nfor He has triumphed\u2026
\r\nMiriam sings, drum in hand,
\r\nand I, beating timbrel, with all the women,
\r\nlike swallows above clouds,
\r\ntranscend mourning
\r\nand answer her in song.<\/p>\r\n

An earlier version of this poem appears in Ruth\u2019s book, Cradled in God\u2019s Arms<\/em><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":77911,"alt":"","title":"jon3-fish","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-fish.jpg","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-fish-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-fish-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-fish-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-fish-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-fish.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-fish.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-fish-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-fish-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"At The Reed Sea","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"no time to stand and gaze \/ at corals and rainbow fish","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":77911,"alt":"","title":"jon3-fish","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-fish.jpg","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-fish-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-fish-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-fish-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-fish-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-fish.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-fish.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-fish-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jon3-fish-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"14","chapter_main_number":"64","date":"20251126","wall_id":"64"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"}]},{"order":5,"id":"41096","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Walls of Water ","post_title":"Walls of Water","slug":"walls-of-water","old_id":"41096","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38047,"post_title":"Shoshana Michael Zucker","slug":"shoshana-michael-zucker","old_id":"38047","first_name":"Shoshana Michael ","last_name":"Zucker ","description":"Shoshana Michael Zucker is a translator and editor by profession, but would much rather be learning and teaching Torah. A graduate of Barnard College, she made aliyah in 1983 and now lives in Kfar Saba where she is an active member of the Masorti Congregation Hod veHadar. ","short_description":"Shoshana Michael Zucker is a translator and editor and lives in Kfar Saba \r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38048,"alt":"","title":"Shoshana Michael Zucker","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","width":231,"height":310,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker-224x300.jpg","medium-width":224,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","medium_large-width":231,"medium_large-height":310,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","large-width":231,"large-height":310,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","1536x1536-width":231,"1536x1536-height":310,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","2048x2048-width":231,"2048x2048-height":310,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","post_full_size-width":231,"post_full_size-height":310,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","home_baner-width":231,"home_baner-height":310}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"64","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Before the jubilation could begin, ordinary \u200epeople slogged through the mud in the dark, \u200esupporting each other","post_main_content_content":"

What did an ordinary Israelite feel when \u200ecrossing the sea on dry land, while walking \u200ethrough the night towards freedom?\u200e We cannot know for sure but these verses supply a \u200ehint: \u201cThe Eternal drove back the sea with a \u200estrong east wind all that night, and \u200eturned the sea into dry ground. The \u200ewaters were split, and the Israelites went \u200einto the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.\u201d\u200e (Exodus 14:21-22).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A wind from God sweeps over the \u200ewater, divides waters, and gathers \u200ethem so dry land can appear.\u200e Does that sound familiar? We have \u200ereturned to Genesis. The ten plagues \u200eundid creation in Egypt. Splitting the sea was \u200ea moment of re-creation.\u200e<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Exposing dry land was an essential \u200ecomponent of creation just as it was essential for the Israelites\u2019 walk to \u200efreedom. In the moment, however, the average Israelite might well have \u200efocused on those walls of water.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Egypt and the ancient Near \u200eEast, masses of water symbolized primordial forces \u200eof chaos, sometimes \u200econcretized as Leviathan or the goddess \u200eTiamat.\u200e The Bible generally suppresses this \u200emythology but a few references \u200esurvive, especially in Psalms (for example, Psalm 74:12-15).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Facing the desert, with Pharaoh and his \u200earmy pursuing them, the Israelites \u200emarched through the darkness between \u200ewalls of primordial chaos.\u200e What did they feel?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Fear and terror.\u200e<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Despite it all, the newly-freed slaves put one \u200efoot in front of the other, and walked \u200etogether until they reached the other side.\u200e Someone with a poetic bent might have written:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Night
\r\nPharaoh\u2019s army in pursuit
\r\nWalls of water
\r\nChaos quivering on either side
\r\nBaby on my back
\r\nTerrified, holding hands
\r\nSeeing only a glimmer from the distant
\r\nPillar of fire
\r\nResolutely one foot in front of another
\r\nThrough the muck and mud
\r\nTowards the great unknown
\r\nHoping that beyond the wilderness
\r\nIs a Promised Land
\r\nIn the meantime
\r\nHanging on to each other|
\r\nSeeking a glimpse of that light.<\/p>\r\n

Before the jubilation could begin, ordinary \u200epeople slogged through the mud in the dark, \u200esupporting each other. These are elements in the story of redemption no \u200eless than the joy that follows.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Cover illustration by Bracha Lavee, courtesy of the artist<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":41725,"alt":"","title":"Ex14-BLavee","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee.jpg","width":1890,"height":1537,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-300x244.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":244,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-768x625.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":625,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-1024x833.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":833,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1249,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee.jpg","2048x2048-width":1890,"2048x2048-height":1537,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-1200x976.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":976,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-516x420.jpg","home_baner-width":516,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Walls of Water","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Before the jubilation could begin, ordinary \u200epeople slogged through the mud in the dark, \u200esupporting each other","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":41725,"alt":"","title":"Ex14-BLavee","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee.jpg","width":1890,"height":1537,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-300x244.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":244,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-768x625.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":625,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-1024x833.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":833,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1249,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee.jpg","2048x2048-width":1890,"2048x2048-height":1537,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-1200x976.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":976,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-516x420.jpg","home_baner-width":516,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"14","chapter_main_number":"64","date":"20251126","wall_id":"64"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"435","name":"Water","old_id":"835"},{"term_id":"601","name":"Exodus","old_id":"1001"}]},{"order":6,"id":"41782","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Redemption - From A Distance ","post_title":"Redemption - From A Distance","slug":"redemption-from-a-distance","old_id":"41782","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":41783,"post_title":"Mimi Feigelson","slug":"mimi-feigelson","old_id":"41783","first_name":"Mimi ","last_name":"Feigelson","description":"Reb Mimi serves as the Mashpiah Ruchanit (spiritual mentor) of the Schecter Rabbinical School, and teaches Talmud and Hassidic Thought. She guides the rabbinical students on their personal-spiritual journeys. She served as the Mashpiah Ruchanit of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles for the last 16 years. Prior to this Reb Mimi was one of the founding administration and faculty members of the \u201cYakar\u201d Beit Midrash and community","short_description":"Reb Mimi serves as the Mashpiah Ruchanit (spiritual mentor) of the Schecter Rabbinical School, and teaches Talmud and Hassidic Thought. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":41784,"alt":"","title":"mimi feigelson","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/mimi-feigelson-e1539166582725.jpg","width":162,"height":184,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/mimi-feigelson-e1539166582725-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/mimi-feigelson-e1539166582725.jpg","medium-width":162,"medium-height":184,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/mimi-feigelson-e1539166582725.jpg","medium_large-width":162,"medium_large-height":184,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/mimi-feigelson-e1539166582725.jpg","large-width":162,"large-height":184,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/mimi-feigelson-e1539166582725.jpg","1536x1536-width":162,"1536x1536-height":184,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/mimi-feigelson-e1539166582725.jpg","2048x2048-width":162,"2048x2048-height":184,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/mimi-feigelson-e1539166582725.jpg","post_full_size-width":162,"post_full_size-height":184,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/mimi-feigelson-e1539166582725.jpg","home_baner-width":162,"home_baner-height":184}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"64","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"What would true inclusion mean?","post_main_content_content":"

There are two paradigms of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds. One is the description that the Torah documents. A sea that splits once and everyone walks through. The second, posed by a midrash, is a bit more complex \u2013 a sea that splits twelve times and each tribe leaves individually, albeit with walls of water that enable eye-contact between the tribes.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

My Student, Moshe Binaymin and I had rather different perspectives when challenging the paradigms. At first glance I posed that the midrash was inclusive, promising that everyone leaves as individuals in their uniqueness. Moshe Binyamin challenged me, claiming that if everyone exited within their own path there was no inclusion, but rather segregation; that only a journey that brought everyone together was a true inclusive path. Today I hear him. Perhaps louder than I initially did, for as the days have passed since we studied his perspective has grown and reverberated in my mind.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I now desire to integrate the two parts and ask: can we all leave Egypt together or do the Straights leave through one tunnel in the ocean, the L\u2019s, the G\u2019s, B\u2019s, T\u2019s, Q\u2019s, the Z\u2019s and other segments of our community leave in their own individual paths? Are the moderates in one lane, flanked on the left by the progressives and the liberals, and on the right by the conservatives? \u00a0Is the vision of the Torah the ideal being asked of us, and the Midrash describing the current reality, at best? (No different than God\u2019s vision in Creation of \u201cTwo Great Lights\u201d and our reality of \u201ca Great light and a Small light\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When I think of these questions at Passover, can I say that my sense of liberation this year is one that does not allow for fragmentation? Can I say that I can no longer leave Egypt if it means, \u201cto each her\/his\/their own\u201d and that until we can leave as One, I choose to stay?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I don\u2019t know if this is possible, I don\u2019t even know what I\u2019m asking for looks like. I don\u2019t know how to get there. What I do believe is that if I continue to stand like my Primordial-Soul- Mother, Miriam the prophetess, watching over her brother, \u201cfrom a distance\u201d that redemption is possible.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I want to say to the One-and-Only this year: \u201cin the same way \u201cYou revealed Yourself to me from a distance \/ <\/em><\/span>me\u2019rachok<\/b> Hashem nir\u2019ah li<\/span><\/em>,\u201d (Jeremiah 31:2) I too will \u201cstand from a distance \/ <\/span>va\u2019titatzev achoto <\/span>me\u2019rachok<\/b><\/em>\u201d<\/em> until \u201cI can know what will be \/ <\/span>ley\u2019dah mah ye\u2019aseh lo<\/span><\/em>\u201d \u00a0(Exodus 2:4).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":49304,"alt":"","title":"Dt1-inclusivity - Artson","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dt1-inclusivity-Artson.jpg","width":1920,"height":855,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dt1-inclusivity-Artson-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dt1-inclusivity-Artson-300x134.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":134,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dt1-inclusivity-Artson-768x342.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":342,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dt1-inclusivity-Artson-1024x456.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":456,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dt1-inclusivity-Artson.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":684,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dt1-inclusivity-Artson.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":855,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dt1-inclusivity-Artson-1200x534.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":534,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dt1-inclusivity-Artson-943x420.jpg","home_baner-width":943,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Redemption - From A Distance","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"What would true inclusion mean?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":49304,"alt":"","title":"Dt1-inclusivity - Artson","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dt1-inclusivity-Artson.jpg","width":1920,"height":855,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dt1-inclusivity-Artson-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dt1-inclusivity-Artson-300x134.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":134,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dt1-inclusivity-Artson-768x342.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":342,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dt1-inclusivity-Artson-1024x456.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":456,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dt1-inclusivity-Artson.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":684,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dt1-inclusivity-Artson.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":855,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dt1-inclusivity-Artson-1200x534.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":534,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dt1-inclusivity-Artson-943x420.jpg","home_baner-width":943,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"14","chapter_main_number":"64","date":"20251126","wall_id":"64"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"425","name":"Pluralism","old_id":"825"},{"term_id":"601","name":"Exodus","old_id":"1001"}]},{"order":7,"id":"41085","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Why Do You Cry Out To Me? ","post_title":"Why Do You Cry Out To Me?","slug":"why-do-you-cry-out-to-me","old_id":"41085","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40625,"post_title":"Zack Bodner","slug":"zack-bodner","old_id":"40625","first_name":"Zack ","last_name":"Bodner ","description":"Zack Bodner is the CEO of the Oshman Family JCC of Palo Alto, CA. Before joining the JCC, Zack served for 14 years as the Pacific Northwest Regional Director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). He also writes a regular Blog for The Times of Israel. Zack holds a Master\u2019s degree in Philosophy of Religion and Theology from Claremont Graduate University. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Zack Bodner is the CEO of the Oshman Family JCC of Palo Alto, CA. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":40626,"alt":"","title":"zach bodner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/zach-bodner-e1537453189317.jpg","width":185,"height":234,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/zach-bodner-e1537453189317-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/zach-bodner-e1537453189317.jpg","medium-width":185,"medium-height":234,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/zach-bodner-e1537453189317.jpg","medium_large-width":185,"medium_large-height":234,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/zach-bodner-e1537453189317.jpg","large-width":185,"large-height":234,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/zach-bodner-e1537453189317.jpg","1536x1536-width":185,"1536x1536-height":234,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/zach-bodner-e1537453189317.jpg","2048x2048-width":185,"2048x2048-height":234,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/zach-bodner-e1537453189317.jpg","post_full_size-width":185,"post_full_size-height":234,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/zach-bodner-e1537453189317.jpg","home_baner-width":185,"home_baner-height":234}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"64","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"This is a story about not giving up and turning back, about moving forward, even when we are scared","post_main_content_content":"

One of the most dramatic stories of the Bible involves the parting of the Red Sea. It is filled with lessons of leadership, tenacity and taking action.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Moses has led the Children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. They have been journeying day and night when they finally reach a dead end: the shores of the Red Sea. The Israelites are tired but this is no time to rest because when they turn around, they see the most fearsome army of the time barreling down upon them! Pharaoh\u2019s army of horses and chariots is pursuing them in a single, united, terrifying force.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Israelites scream at Moses: \u201cWere there no graves in Egypt? \u00a0Did you have to take us all the way out here to die?!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Moses tries to reassure them, as any good leader would, yet he does so at first only by praying for God to intervene. God famously replies, \u201cWhy do you cry out to me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God requires more than just words, more than prayers, more than fear-filled pleas. God demands of Moses, \u201cRaise up your staff, stretch out your arm over the sea, and split it!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So Moses finally does, and the sea splits, allowing the Israelites to flee until the walls of the sea come crashing down on Pharaoh and his army.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How often have we come to a place along a new journey, only to run into a challenge that we hadn\u2019t expected and then doubt ourselves and wish that things could just go back to the way they were? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

How many times have we moved on, but then looked at the unknown future ahead of us with fear and longed for whatever enslaved us in the past, telling ourselves, \u201cWell it wasn\u2019t really that bad\u201d? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

And how many times have we asked, pleaded, prayed for a solution to our challenge \u2013 hoping that words would be enough? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

I can picture God chastising Moses (along with future Jewish leaders) who might wring their hands and beg for Divine intervention, doing nothing to take matters into their own hands: \u201cWhy do you call out to me? \u00a0Raise up your staff!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is a story about not giving up and turning back. This is a story about moving forward, even when we are scared. \u00a0But above all, this is a story about taking action and making our own destiny.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":60971,"alt":"","title":"2sam19-leader 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Do You Cry Out To Me?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"This is a story about not giving up and turning back, about moving forward, even when we are scared","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":60971,"alt":"","title":"2sam19-leader 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Misguided Reliance on Military Technology ","post_title":"The Misguided Reliance On Military Technology","slug":"the-misguided-reliance-on-military-technology","old_id":"41092","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33923,"post_title":"Jonathan Sacks","slug":"rabbi-lord-jonathan-sacks","old_id":"33923","first_name":"Jonathan ","last_name":"Sacks","description":"An international religious leader, philosopher, and award-winning author of over 35 books, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the International President of 929.\r\nRabbi Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth years between 1991 and 2013, and was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 2005 and made a Life Peer. Rabbi Sacks passed away on 7th November 2020, aged 72. He was one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, who bridged the religious and secular world through his ground-breaking canon of work.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z\"k (1948-2020) was the former Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, and the International 929 president.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36222,"alt":"","title":"JSacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","width":437,"height":548,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-768x448.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":448,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-1024x597.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":597,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","1536x1536-width":437,"1536x1536-height":548,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","2048x2048-width":437,"2048x2048-height":548,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","post_full_size-width":437,"post_full_size-height":548,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-335x420.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"64","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The powerful have been rendered powerless while the powerless make their way to freedom","post_main_content_content":"

The military dominance of the Egyptians was based on the horse-drawn chariot, introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos in the sixteenth century BCE. This made the Egyptian army invincible. It was the symbol of their strength. There is however one form of terrain in which the horse-drawn chariot is a source not of strength but of weakness, namely an uncovered, saturated sea-bed. The Israelites, traveling on foot, were able to walk across, but the Egyptians, pursuing after them in their chariots, found that \u201cthe wheels of their chariots were unfastened and drove with difficulty\u201d (Ex. 14:25). They became stuck in the mire, unable to move forward or back.<\/p>\r\n

Their very obsession with catching up with the Israelites had driven them heedless into danger. By the time they found themselves trapped, they were helpless. As the wind dropped and the waters returned they were caught, defeated not by an army but by their own desire to exercise power over the vulnerable and by their own reliance on military technology. On this reading the significance of the event is not its supernatural quality but something more consequential, an irony that echoes through the centuries: those who trust in weapons of war, perish by weapons of war. Those who worship military technology eventually become its victims.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The scene of the Israelite refugees, on foot, crossing the sea to safety while the Egyptian army floundered, rendered helpless by the very vehicles that had made them believe they were invulnerable, is unforgettable. The powerful have been rendered powerless while the powerless make their way to freedom. The truth conveyed by that image does not require for its proof a suspension of the laws of nature. It is one of the laws of human nature, forgotten in every generation by those who worship power. Those who see themselves as more than human become less than human. Those who laugh at God become the laughing-stock of history.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Introduction: Finding Freedom, Koren Pesach Machzor<\/i><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":79371,"alt":"","title":"zech6-chariots2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2.jpg","width":1140,"height":570,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2.jpg","1536x1536-width":1140,"1536x1536-height":570,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2.jpg","2048x2048-width":1140,"2048x2048-height":570,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2.jpg","post_full_size-width":1140,"post_full_size-height":570,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Misguided Reliance On Military Technology","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The powerful have been rendered powerless while the powerless make their way to freedom","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":79371,"alt":"","title":"zech6-chariots2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2.jpg","width":1140,"height":570,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2.jpg","1536x1536-width":1140,"1536x1536-height":570,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2.jpg","2048x2048-width":1140,"2048x2048-height":570,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2.jpg","post_full_size-width":1140,"post_full_size-height":570,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"14","chapter_main_number":"64","date":"20251126","wall_id":"64"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"354","name":"Rabbi Sacks","old_id":"754"},{"term_id":"503","name":"Power","old_id":"903"},{"term_id":"634","name":"Military","old_id":"1034"}]},{"order":9,"id":"41752","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Bible on The Bench: Silence - And Awe ","post_title":"Bible on The Bench: Silence - And Awe","slug":"bible-on-the-bench-silence-and-awe","old_id":"41752","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"64","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

https:\/\/youtu.be\/fpJqICdUL7o<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Bible on the Bench","tile_main_caption":"Chapter 14: Silence and Awe","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"with Adam Mintz and Shira Hecht-Koller","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/fpJqICdUL7o","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"14","chapter_main_number":"64","date":"20251126","wall_id":"64"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":10,"id":"41733","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Fear of God: An Ethical Interpretation ","post_title":"Fear Of God: An Ethical Interpretation","slug":"fear-of-god-an-ethical-interpretation","old_id":"41733","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":41599,"post_title":"Rachel Bovitz","slug":"rachel-bovitz","old_id":"41599","first_name":"Rachel ","last_name":"Bovitz ","description":"Rabbi Rachel Rudis Bovitz is the Executive Director of the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning. From 2007-2010, Rachel served as the founding director of Melton School in the Conejo\/West Valley of Southern California. Rachel has been an adjunct professor of Jewish Studies at American Jewish University, and became a passionate student and teacher of the spiritual practice of mussar through The Center for Contemporary Mussar, and served as the Director of Millennial Engagement at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Rachel holds a B.A. in Jewish Studies and was ordained from the Ziegler School at American Jewish University. Rachel, her husband, Greg, and their three children live in New York City.","short_description":"Rabbi Rachel Rudis Bovitz is the Executive Director of the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":41600,"alt":"","title":"Rachel Bovitz","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Rachel-Bovitz-e1538902237926.jpg","width":3130,"height":3594,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Rachel-Bovitz-e1538902237926-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Rachel-Bovitz-e1538902237926-261x300.jpg","medium-width":261,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Rachel-Bovitz-e1538902237926-768x882.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":882,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Rachel-Bovitz-e1538902237926-892x1024.jpg","large-width":892,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Rachel-Bovitz-e1538902237926.jpg","1536x1536-width":1338,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Rachel-Bovitz-e1538902237926.jpg","2048x2048-width":1784,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Rachel-Bovitz-e1538902237926-1045x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1045,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Rachel-Bovitz-e1538902237926-366x420.jpg","home_baner-width":366,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"64","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The infinite nature of our responsibilities for others","post_main_content_content":"

Had we been witness to all the events of the Exodus, fear and trust in God (Exodus 14:30) would be a given. We would have experienced first-hand the sea splitting, the drowning of an evil tyrant and his followers, divine clouds moving to provide safety, and a leader, Moses, who guided by God, instilled confidence and helped to deliver a stunning victory of good over evil.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The great faith message we take away from this passage is not a literal belief in what transpired, but rather a connection to the feelings this event engendered: fear and trust in God. For the Israelites, fear of God came in the wake of being <\/span>overwhelmed <\/b>by their miraculous deliverance, and trust emerged out of the ultimate experience of being <\/span>cared for <\/b>by God and a faithful leader.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

My teacher, Rabbi Ira Stone, describes the meaning of <\/span>Yirat HaShem<\/span><\/em> (fear of God) through the interpersonal ethical lens of \u201cmussar\u201d as \u201cthe <\/span>overwhelming <\/b>weight we take on when we recognize the infinite nature of our responsibilities for others\u201d (\u201cMesillat Yesharim: The Path of the Upright - Commentary,\u201d 2010, p.10). The connection between the events of the Exodus and this religious stance is an extreme sense of indebtedness. Just like our ancestors, until our last breath we are indebted for our existence and our freedom. At the heart of Torah is the way we take this debt seriously, by the lifelong practice of loving our neighbor. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Trust is also understood as an active response to how we choose to experience life. The very same Israelites who felt so cared for after safely crossing the sea, struggled to retain their gratitude in the face of the challenges that followed. Like them, we easily fall prey to a moment in which we forget the goodness from our past as well as the present resources we can turn to for strength, wise counsel and comfort. Cultivating trust reminds us that even in difficult moments we need not be alone.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As we say at every seder, we too were redeemed from Egypt. Within us is the fear and the trust in God ready to be awakened and acted upon. 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was dismayed - he\u2019d changed his mind! The Hebrews should have stayed!","post_main_content_content":"

Pharaoh looked around and was dismayed
\r\nHis slaves were gone! He had to go give chase
\r\nHe\u2019d changed his mind! The Hebrews should have stayed!
\r\nHis chariots picked up their frightful pace.<\/p>\r\n

The Israelites looked back, said filled with fright:
\r\nAre there not back in Egypt enough graves?
\r\nBut God said: Hush! And darkness fell like night
\r\nSo taskmasters could not come near their slaves.<\/p>\r\n

Then Moses held his arm up o\u2019er the sea
\r\nThe waters split. The Hebrews went through fast
\r\nEgyptians panicked. They said: Let us flee
\r\nGod hurled them in. They drowned, from first to last.<\/p>\r\n

And when the people saw His mighty arm
\r\nThey sang to God for saving them from harm.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104046,"alt":"","title":"-625839483a25f--625839483a261Ex-Kurshans sonnet series.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625839483a25f-625839483a261Ex-Kurshans-sonnet-series.jpg.jpg","width":1278,"height":535,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625839483a25f-625839483a261Ex-Kurshans-sonnet-series.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625839483a25f-625839483a261Ex-Kurshans-sonnet-series.jpg-300x126.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":126,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625839483a25f-625839483a261Ex-Kurshans-sonnet-series.jpg-768x322.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":322,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625839483a25f-625839483a261Ex-Kurshans-sonnet-series.jpg-1024x429.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":429,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625839483a25f-625839483a261Ex-Kurshans-sonnet-series.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1278,"1536x1536-height":535,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625839483a25f-625839483a261Ex-Kurshans-sonnet-series.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1278,"2048x2048-height":535,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625839483a25f-625839483a261Ex-Kurshans-sonnet-series.jpg-1200x502.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":502,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/625839483a25f-625839483a261Ex-Kurshans-sonnet-series.jpg-1003x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1003,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Sonnet: Exodus 14","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Pharaoh was dismayed - he\u2019d changed his mind! 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He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"64","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Midrashic and cinematic visualizations","post_main_content_content":"

In the narrative of the Crossing of the Sea, we are told that \u201c\u2026the waters were split, and the Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left\u201d (Exodus 14:21-22, see also v. 29). A remarkable visualization of this biblical miracle is recorded in the original 1923 version of Cecil B. DeMille\u2019s film <\/span>The Ten Commandments<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>in an early use of cinematic \u201cspecial effects\u201d. The illusion of keeping the walls of water separated was accomplished by slicing a slab of jello in two and filming it in closeup - and then combining (or double-exposing) it with live-action footage of the Israelites walking into the distance and the Egyptian chariots in pursuit.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rabbinic tradition (Pesiqta de-Rav Kahana, Beshalah) records a no less remarkable visualization of how the \u201cwalls of water\u201d might have actually looked to the Israelites as they were passing through the Sea on dry ground. Let us join an evening study session with Rabbi Yohanan (who led the Jewish community in Israel in the 3<\/span>rd<\/span> century CE) as he is teaching about how the Sea was like a \u201cwall\u201d holding back the mountainous waters towering overhead. Pointing to the walls of the candlelit Study Hall, he tells us, in the local Aramaic-Greek dialect, how the walls of water were formed of cross-currents woven together like our lattice-work windows. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

But, just at this moment, we perceive a female face looking in through one of the windows. It is Serah bat Asher, the immortal granddaughter of our ancient Patriarch Jacob. Indeed, this ageless woman still occasionally appears among us. Quietly, Serah adds, in the same dialect, \u201cNot only that. I was there at the crossing of the Sea. I remember that the walls of water were like translucent windows, through which we could just make out the raging sea beyond\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Unfortunately, our midrashic text does not record the continuation of this particular encounter. Nevertheless, we might imagine an initial look of surprise on the face of Rabbi Yohanan. Then, smiling slightly, our venerable teacher nods silently to Serah, acknowledging her personal recollection. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

And through the same window, we continue for another moment to glimpse Serah\u2019s radiant face as she fades back into the night.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Cover illustration:\u00a0http:\/\/www.northwestchicagofilmsociety.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Red-Sea.png<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":41750,"alt":"","title":"ex14-Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex14-Bregman.png","width":720,"height":540,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex14-Bregman-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex14-Bregman-300x225.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex14-Bregman.png","medium_large-width":720,"medium_large-height":540,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex14-Bregman.png","large-width":720,"large-height":540,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex14-Bregman.png","1536x1536-width":720,"1536x1536-height":540,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex14-Bregman.png","2048x2048-width":720,"2048x2048-height":540,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex14-Bregman.png","post_full_size-width":720,"post_full_size-height":540,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex14-Bregman-560x420.png","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Serah Bat Asher And The Crossing Of The Sea","tile_main_caption":"","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Midrashic and cinematic visualizations","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":41750,"alt":"","title":"ex14-Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex14-Bregman.png","width":720,"height":540,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex14-Bregman-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex14-Bregman-300x225.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex14-Bregman.png","medium_large-width":720,"medium_large-height":540,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex14-Bregman.png","large-width":720,"large-height":540,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex14-Bregman.png","1536x1536-width":720,"1536x1536-height":540,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex14-Bregman.png","2048x2048-width":720,"2048x2048-height":540,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex14-Bregman.png","post_full_size-width":720,"post_full_size-height":540,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex14-Bregman-560x420.png","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"14","chapter_main_number":"64","date":"20251126","wall_id":"64"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"},{"term_id":"601","name":"Exodus","old_id":"1001"}]},{"order":13,"id":"41730","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"When Jews Complain ","post_title":"When Jews Complain","slug":"when-jews-complain","old_id":"41730","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33859,"post_title":"Avidan Freedman","slug":"avidan-freedman","old_id":"33859","first_name":"Avidan","last_name":"Freedman","description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. He is an activist advocating for moral limits on Israeli arms exports, and on behalf of African refugees, and a proud husband and father of 5. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, and from the Israeli chief rabbinate.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. ","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33860,"alt":"Avidan Freedman","title":"Avidan Freedman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","width":856,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-768x919.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":919,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-856x1024.jpg","large-width":856,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","1536x1536-width":856,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","2048x2048-width":856,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"64","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The path not taken, sparkling with pristineness, will always beat the muddy roads of reality","post_main_content_content":"

Jews complain. It's understandable. Our lot in life has often been hard, and the choices we're forced to make, impossible. A favorite game of ours is to look to our leaders to take responsibility and make those choices for us, but with our 20-20 hindsight, to criticize the path they took, because the very definition of an impossible choice is that it will mean a sacrifice, and thus always room for criticism. It's a game we're very good at it; we've been playing for a long time.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"Who wanted to leave Egypt? You think that was bad? This is awful!\" The path not taken, sparkling with the pristineness reserved for the theoretical world, will always beat the muddy roads of reality. So we complain.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The most natural response to this national character flaw is to fantasize about replacing the nation with a better behaved one. Why can't we be more like Egypt, for example? There you have a nation who has suffered terribly under its leader. But at the moment of crisis, when Pharaoh readies his own chariot and calls to his nation, their overwhelming unity defies grammatical norms, and Egypt, in the singular, moves \"with one heart.\" Moses tries a similar tactic, rallying the nation around God's imminent salvation which demands nothing of them more than to enjoy the might of their leader.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God's answer to Moses: That's not how things work with these Jews. They will never move like an obedient herd after their shepherd. So what they need is for the angel that has been leading them to move to the back of the camp, so that they can make the choice themselves, to take responsibility for their own fate and to vote with their feet.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Not that this will keep them from complaining, mind you\u2026<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54304,"alt":"","title":"1041-footprints-mud","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1041-footprints-mud.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1041-footprints-mud-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1041-footprints-mud-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1041-footprints-mud-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1041-footprints-mud-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1041-footprints-mud.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1041-footprints-mud.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1041-footprints-mud-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1041-footprints-mud-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"When Jews Complain","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The path not taken, sparkling with pristineness, will always beat the muddy roads of reality","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54304,"alt":"","title":"1041-footprints-mud","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1041-footprints-mud.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1041-footprints-mud-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1041-footprints-mud-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1041-footprints-mud-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1041-footprints-mud-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1041-footprints-mud.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1041-footprints-mud.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1041-footprints-mud-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/1041-footprints-mud-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"14","chapter_main_number":"64","date":"20251126","wall_id":"64"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"412","name":"Responsibility","old_id":"812"},{"term_id":"537","name":"Jew","old_id":"937"},{"term_id":"539","name":"Israel","old_id":"939"}]},{"order":14,"id":"41789","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Relying on Miracles ","post_title":"Relying on Miracles","slug":"relying-on-miracles","old_id":"41789","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":41788,"post_title":"Shira Stutman","slug":"shira-stutman","old_id":"41788","first_name":"Shira ","last_name":"Stutman ","description":"Rabbi Shira Stutman is the Senior Rabbi of 6th and I, a center for arts, entertainment and ideas and a synagogue that reimagines how religion and community can enhance people's everyday lives in Washington, DC. Shira is a member of the board of directors of Jews United for Justice and on the J Street rabbinic cabinet. A graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2007, she was a Wexner Graduate Fellow. \r\n","short_description":"Rabbi Shira Stutman is the Senior Rabbi of 6th and I in Washington, DC. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":41791,"alt":"","title":"Shira Stutman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Shira-Stutman-e1539169801847.jpg","width":2427,"height":2366,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Shira-Stutman-e1539169801847-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Shira-Stutman-e1539169801847-300x292.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":292,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Shira-Stutman-e1539169801847-768x749.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":749,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Shira-Stutman-e1539169801847-1024x998.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":998,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Shira-Stutman-e1539169801847.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1497,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Shira-Stutman-e1539169801847.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1997,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Shira-Stutman-e1539169801847-1200x1170.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1170,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Shira-Stutman-e1539169801847-431x420.jpg","home_baner-width":431,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"64","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Our ability to make miracles is a miracle in itself","post_main_content_content":"

La Samchinan Anisa<\/b>--\u201cWe do not rely on miracles,\u201d we learn in the Talmud. It\u2019s not that they don\u2019t happen--the frogs jump, the sea parts, the manna falls. But not usually. Usually it\u2019s just us humans stumbling along, doing the best that we can.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Given that we humans are fallible by design, it may be tempting to sit back and not engage much at all. That\u2019s what Moses suggests as the recently freed Israelite slaves stand at the sea: \u201cHave no fear! Stand by and witness the deliverance which the Lord will work for you today...The Lord will battle for you; you hold your peace!\u201d (Ex 14:14-15) But Jewish tradition does not grant immunity. God is omnipresent, but God also needs <\/span>us<\/span><\/em> to move the work forward.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Thus, Nachshon ben Aminadav. \u201c[T]his tribe said: I am not going into the sea first, and that tribe said: I am not going into the sea first. Then, in jumped the prince of Judah, Nachshon ben Aminadab, and descended into the sea first, accompanied by his entire tribe... (Sotah 37a).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Miracles are awesome, literally, awesome--they are by definition fail-proof. But we live in the real world; failure is possible. We cannot wait on the banks of the shores for a miracle to arrive. Waiting. Waiting.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Instead, take a page from the Talmud, Pesachim 64b, in which the ancient rabbis argued as to how exactly just the right number of people stood in the Temple court when the time came to make the offerings on Passover eve. Some said it was a miracle that the right number was there--that God put the right people in the room. The gates, they magically closed when the right number of people entered the courtyard. Maybe. But others said it differently: it was the <\/span>Jews themselves<\/em> <\/span>who determined when the right people were there. They closed the gates. They made the work happen.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At the end of the day perhaps it\u2019s not only that we don\u2019t wait for a miracle--it\u2019s that <\/span>we <\/span>make<\/em> <\/span>them ourselves. <\/span>And that, in and of itself, is its own kind of miracle.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":84557,"alt":"","title":"ps60-miracle","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps60-miracle.jpg","width":1920,"height":1276,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps60-miracle-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps60-miracle-300x199.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":199,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps60-miracle-768x510.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":510,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps60-miracle-1024x681.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":681,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps60-miracle.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1021,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps60-miracle.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1276,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps60-miracle-1200x798.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":798,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps60-miracle-632x420.jpg","home_baner-width":632,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Relying on Miracles","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Our ability to make miracles is a miracle in itself","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":84557,"alt":"","title":"ps60-miracle","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps60-miracle.jpg","width":1920,"height":1276,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps60-miracle-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps60-miracle-300x199.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":199,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps60-miracle-768x510.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":510,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps60-miracle-1024x681.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":681,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps60-miracle.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1021,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps60-miracle.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1276,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps60-miracle-1200x798.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":798,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps60-miracle-632x420.jpg","home_baner-width":632,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"14","chapter_main_number":"64","date":"20251126","wall_id":"64"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"471","name":"Miracle","old_id":"871"}]},{"order":15,"id":"41090","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Prelude to a Poem ","post_title":"Prelude to a Poem","slug":"prelude-to-a-poem","old_id":"41090","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. He is the author of TANAKH: An Owner\u2019s Manual (Jerusalem: Urim\/Ktav, 2015).\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34244,"alt":"","title":"sokolow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","width":302,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","medium_large-width":302,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","large-width":302,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","1536x1536-width":302,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","2048x2048-width":302,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","post_full_size-width":302,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"64","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Some Passover connections in the text","post_main_content_content":"

Today\u2019s chapter often gets overshadowed by its poetic counterpart\u2014tomorrow\u2019s chapter. \u00a0Like the victory of Deborah and Barak over Sisera told in Judges 3-4 (not coincidentally, the Haftarah for the chapters in Exodus), the poetry tends to be more memorable than the prose.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Here, then, are a couple of the prosaic details provided by today\u2019s chapter. First of all, let us recall that the Israelites had departed Egypt on the pretext that they were going for only a three-day holiday furlough (see 3:18). Only on day four did the Egyptians appreciate that they had been had (14:5) and it took them three additional days to catch up to the escapees. That places the crossing of the sea on the seventh day after the Exodus\u2014which is precisely why we take cognizance of it on the seventh day of Passover.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A second noteworthy detail relates to verse 30: \u201c\u2026and Israel saw Egypt dying on the seashore.\u201d Israel was seeing, Egypt was dying, but which one of them was on the seashore? Three possibilities present themselves: Israel\u2014who would have been on the far shore of the sea they had just crossed, Egypt\u2014the drowning victims, washing up on the near shore of the sea they had entered, or, conceivably, both.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is actually the second time the Torah narrates an attempted escape that was almost thwarted. Earlier (Genesis 31), Jacob and his household fled Aram, only to be pursued and caught by Laban. That encounter, too, was resolved through a divine intervention (31:24), although not one as flamboyant as this. Perhaps this coincidence accounts for the otherwise incongruous reference in the Passover Haggadah to: \u201cPharaoh sought to kill only the males, while Laban sought to extirpate them all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: Pharaoh's army engulfed by the Red Sea, painting by Frederick Arthur Bridgman (1900) \/ wikipedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104517,"alt":"","title":"-62718f9974960--62718f9974962ex14-Bridgman_Pharaoh's_Army_Engulfed_by_the_Red_Sea.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62718f9974960-62718f9974962ex14-Bridgman_Pharaohs_Army_Engulfed_by_the_Red_Sea.jpg.jpg","width":1000,"height":556,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62718f9974960-62718f9974962ex14-Bridgman_Pharaohs_Army_Engulfed_by_the_Red_Sea.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62718f9974960-62718f9974962ex14-Bridgman_Pharaohs_Army_Engulfed_by_the_Red_Sea.jpg-300x167.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":167,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62718f9974960-62718f9974962ex14-Bridgman_Pharaohs_Army_Engulfed_by_the_Red_Sea.jpg-768x427.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":427,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62718f9974960-62718f9974962ex14-Bridgman_Pharaohs_Army_Engulfed_by_the_Red_Sea.jpg.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":556,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62718f9974960-62718f9974962ex14-Bridgman_Pharaohs_Army_Engulfed_by_the_Red_Sea.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":556,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62718f9974960-62718f9974962ex14-Bridgman_Pharaohs_Army_Engulfed_by_the_Red_Sea.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":556,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62718f9974960-62718f9974962ex14-Bridgman_Pharaohs_Army_Engulfed_by_the_Red_Sea.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":556,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/09\/62718f9974960-62718f9974962ex14-Bridgman_Pharaohs_Army_Engulfed_by_the_Red_Sea.jpg-755x420.jpg","home_baner-width":755,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Prelude 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Splitting Of The Red Sea ","post_title":"The Splitting Of The Red Sea","slug":"the-splitting-of-the-red-sea","old_id":"41087","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36669,"post_title":"Yakov Azriel","slug":"yakov-azriel","old_id":"36669","first_name":"Yakov ","last_name":"Azriel","description":"Yakov Azriel, who lives in Israel, has published five books of poetry in the USA and hundreds of poems in journals and magazines. His poems have won twenty-two prizes in international poetry competitions, and he has twice been awarded fellowships from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.","short_description":"Yakov Azriel is an English language poet who lives in Israel","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36670,"alt":"","title":"Yakov.Azriel.Photo","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","width":1099,"height":1519,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-217x300.jpg","medium-width":217,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":741,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","large-width":741,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","1536x1536-width":1099,"1536x1536-height":1519,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","2048x2048-width":1099,"2048x2048-height":1519,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-868x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":868,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-304x420.jpg","home_baner-width":304,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"64","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"My father\u2019s hand holds mine as I taste the brine","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cAnd the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry land; and the waters formed a wall for them on their right and on their left.\u201d (Exodus 14:22)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How well I remember that night \u2014 the moon, aflame,
\r\nAs the prophet stretched his hand over the sea;
\r\nThe waves, obeying, split to the right, to the left.
\r\nMy father grabbed my hand, and my sister\u2019s, too,
\r\nWhen without a word, we left the beach behind.<\/p>\r\n

A wall of water, forty cubits high,
\r\nArose as straight and sharp as desert cliffs;
\r\nA clan of dolphins swam to the edge of the wall
\r\nTo stare at people crossing the sea on foot
\r\nOn a sea-floor drier than desert dunes at noon.<\/p>\r\n

I thrust my hand into the liquid wall
\r\nTo touch a yellow sea-horse flashing by;
\r\nA school of eels twisted their bodies\u2019 shapes
\r\nTo form black letters of words that only a child
\r\nCould understand and read as praise of God.<\/p>\r\n

We children of Israel gazed at a huge blue-whale
\r\nThat circled nearby and solemnly sang a psalm;
\r\nA flock of fish in rainbow colors swam
\r\nWarily by, amazed at people below
\r\nWho walked through the sea in the light of the moon afire.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

All night we children of Israel advanced in awe.
\r\nBehind us, pillars of fire and cloud stood guard,
\r\nOur shields defending us from Pharaoh\u2019s hosts.
\r\nMy father and mother laughed, \u2014 or cried, \u2014 or both,
\r\nLeaving behind deserts of Egyptian salt.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

How well I remember that night \u2014 the moon, ablaze,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Lit up our path as we walked on the floor of the sea.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>I was only a child of five or six; since then<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Seventy years have passed; but I close my eyes \u2014<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>My father\u2019s hand holds mine as I taste the brine.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56201,"alt":"","title":"jud16-sun-night","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-sun-night.png","width":1280,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-sun-night-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-sun-night-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-sun-night-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-sun-night-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-sun-night.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-sun-night.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-sun-night-1200x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-sun-night-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"The Splitting Of The Red Sea","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"My father\u2019s hand holds mine as I taste the 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The Story of Nachshon ","post_title":"Beshalach: The Story of Nachshon","slug":"beshalach-the-story-of-nachshon","old_id":"69775","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37754,"post_title":"BimBam","slug":"bimbam","old_id":"37754","first_name":"","last_name":"BimBam","description":"BimBam sparks connections to Judaism through digital storytelling for learners of all 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It\u2019s Exodus: Get Your Feet Wet! The Israelites are finally free, struggling to leave Egypt behind, but now they find themselves trapped not able to cross the sea. This is the story of what happens next. Rabbi Jonah Pesner breaks down the midrash and introduces us to Nachshon, a leader that walks right into the water with faith.<\/p>\r\n

This is an episode from the weekly Torah cartoon from BimBam.com. Each week, a different storyteller - some musical, some poetic, some just straight-up, tell the story of the current Torah portion...and then we animate it!<\/p>\r\n

SUBSCRIBE to BimBam [http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/bimbam<\/a>]<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/QKp6y2Lpgxg","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Written and narrated by: Jonah Pesner","tile_main_caption":"Beshalach: The Story of Nachshon","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A Bimbam Video","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/QKp6y2Lpgxg","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1082"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":18,"id":"41723","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Exodus 14 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Exodus 14","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-exodus-14","old_id":"41723","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40936,"post_title":"David Silber","slug":"david-silber-2","old_id":"40936","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Silber ","description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. He received ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He received the Covenant Award in 2000. He is the author of APassover Haggadah: Go Forth and Learn, published by JPS in 2011, and the newly released For Such a Time as This: Biblical Reflections in the Book of Esther, published by Koren Publishing in 2017 (Hebrew). ","short_description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. 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So you thought we left Egypt behind? Patience. The Red Sea is still ahead!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is the final parting from Egypt. The event that will change the Israelite mentality from awe of the Egyptians to awe of God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How does it happen?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Phase One:<\/b> God hardens Pharaoh's heart and he regrets allowing the Israelites to leave Egypt (all those slaves - gone...) and he and his cavalry set off in hot pursuit.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Phase Two:<\/b> Panic in the Israelite camp: \"And they were very frightened and the Israelites cried out to the Lord\" (14:10). They regretted leaving Egypt so much that \"we'd be better off serving Egypt than dying in the desert\" (14:12). Moses reassures them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Phase Three:<\/b> The parting of the Red Sea. Following instructions, Moses stretches his arm out over the sea. A powerful east wind blows all night and then: \"and the waters were divided. \u00a0And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon dry ground; and the waters were a wall for them on their right hand and on their left\" (14:21-22).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Phase Four:<\/b> The Egyptians pursue the Israelites into the sea. God creates a commotion in the Egyptian camp that makes it hard for them to advance (14:24-25).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Phase Five:<\/b> The sea closes back up. \"And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, all of Pharaoh's army that followed them into the sea\" (14:29).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Culmination: <\/b>\"And Israel saw the great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians, and the people were in awe of the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses\" (14:31).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

QED.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Points to Ponder:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\t
  1. There are better and worse deaths<\/b>. What do you think of the argument in v. 11: \"Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you took us to die in the desert?\"<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. We told you so<\/b> (14:12). It must be in our DNA since Biblical times. Here it's: \"Isn't this what we told you back in Egypt...?\"<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Respect!<\/b> Look for it in v. 17-18.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. Helpers<\/b>. God is responsible for the deliverance, as Moses promises: \"The Lord will fight for you, and you - be quiet\" (14:14), but there you can also find the roles of His helpers - the Angel of the Lord and the pillars of fire and cloud.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Daily Summary","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder: Exodus 14","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"14","chapter_main_number":"64","date":"20251126","wall_id":"64"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"home_posts":false,"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/40951"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}