Day 29: Our Dreams and Our Destinies
One of the noteworthy features of the song Moses and the Israelites sing after the miracle at the Sea of Reeds is that it refers not only to the event the people just witnessed, but also anticipates future experiences. For example, God is described as the One who “makes wonders” (Ex. 15:11) which the rabbis of the midrash are quick to note is phrased not in the past tense, but in the present. “God wrought wonders for us,” explains one midrash, “and does so in each generation” (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael Parashat Beshallah 15:11:4). The song goes on to anticipate future Israelite victories against other hostile nations (Ex. 15:14-16) and, extraordinarily, the establishment of a “sanctuary,” a “holy abode” on a specially designated mountain where God’s presence will dwell, a clear reference to the Jerusalem Temple, a structure that would not be built until the time of King Solomon, many centuries later (Ex. 15:13, 17). The song even concludes with the bold assertion that “the Infinite will reign for ever and ever” (Ex. 15:18). How could Moses and the Israelites not only envision but also be so certain that these events would come to pass? Some say that the experience at the Sea gave the Israelites the gift of clairvoyance, even if temporarily (cf. Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael, Parashat Beshallah, commenting on Ex. 15:2). A more grounded explanation is that the people’s experience inspired in them a sense that anything and everything was possible. The miracle sparked their imaginations, liberating them from what they knew was possible and enabling them to dream of what didn’t yet exist. And, in turn, their imaginations fueled their future, enabling them to make their dreams reality. Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination encircles the world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution" "What Life Means to Einstein: An Interview by George Sylvester Viereck," in The Saturday Evening Post, 26 October 1929). Our destinies are rooted in our capacity to dream.
Day 30: The Cure for the Cycle of Oppression
So much of the song Moses and Israelites sing after their salvation at the Sea of Reeds consists of rejoicing over the destruction of Egypt and envisioning future conquests. Shouldn’t the Israelites’ experience with oppression make them more empathetic to the suffering of others and reticent to dominate or destroy? History reveals that the exact opposite frequently happens. Often, when oppressed peoples finally experience liberation, they become single-minded in their determination never to be victimized again. Power becomes the primary pursuit; any action, even the atrocious, becomes justifiable in the drive for dominance. The mindset is understandable, but it also means that formerly oppressed peoples quite regularly themselves become oppressors, leading those who once yearned for compassion to act with cruelty towards others. And, when formerly oppressed peoples subjugate others in service of their own security, they too often meet the same doom of those who had oppressed them in the first place. It is noteworthy that the revelation at Sinai isn’t mentioned until after the Song at the Sea. Perhaps God assumed that the Israelites’ experience in Egypt would have softened their hearts, and is surprised by the capacity for callousness revealed by their song. Maybe it is in this moment that God decides the Israelites needed the Torah. The only cure for this inevitable cycle of oppression is a code which commands compassion, concern, and justice for all.
Day 31: Living in the Light of God’s Law
Moses and the Israelites conclude their song at the Sea of Reeds with the exclamation, “the Infinite will reign for ever and ever!” (Ex. 15:18). But, wait. Doesn’t such a statement imply that God does not yet reign? The answer, of course, is that while God is theoretically sovereign of all space and time, in reality God cannot truly rule until all of creation acknowledges and submits to God’s sovereignty. A king or queen may have a title and a crown, but they don’t possess the power of their position when a sizable portion of their subjects refuse to submit to their rule or reject living by their law. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote that so long as the laws of a society degrade human beings, that society is out of line with God’s rule; conversely, when the laws of a society uplift human personality, that society is living in the light of God’s law. In this sense, God will only truly reign when all humanity abides by a code in which the equal and infinite dignity of every person is upheld. As the Israelites begin their journey to Sinai, they assert one of the core purposes of covenant, to build a civilization under God’s dominion -- that is, a thoroughly and steadfastly just and equitable society -- and to work to bring about the day when all humanity will live in the light of God’s law.
Day 32: Miriam the Prophet
After Moses and the Israelites conclude their song celebrating the salvation at the Sea of Reeds, “Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand,” and led the women in song and dance (Ex. 15:20). The ancient rabbis are curious about Miriam’s status as a prophet. The Torah doesn’t appear to record any encounter between Miriam and God or report any of her prophecies. On the other hand, we read all about Moses’ conversations with the Divine throughout the Book of Exodus, and yet Moses is not even referred to as a prophet until the end of the Book of Deuteronomy. Clearly, Miriam’s prophecy must have been great. What, then, was it? Earlier in Exodus, Pharaoh orders the murder of every every newborn Israelite boy. According to a midrash (B. Sotah 12a), Pharaoh’s decree prompts a man named Amram to divorce his wife, Yokheved. That way, Other Israelite men began to follow Amram’s lead. Amram and Yoheved’s young daughter, Miriam, is outraged, scolding her father as being worse than Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s decree, after all, only applied to boys, but Amram’s actions would also doom girls. When everyone else was mired in despair, Miriam embraced the possibility that a different future was possible, and advocated for that future to be realized. Miriam’s protest persuades her parents to remarry. Shortly thereafter, they have a baby boy, who will later receive the name Moses. As my teacher, Rabbi Sharon Brous, puts it, “had it not been for the foresight of Miriam, a small girl, Moses would never have been born and the Jewish people would not have been redeemed” ( click here for full document ). For this, Miriam merits not only to be considered a prophet, but to be identified as a prophet ahead of Moses, since without her act of prophetic resistance, Moses never would have been born, and the people might never have been liberated. Miriam is thus the paradigmatic prophet, the one whose prophecy made everything else possible. And the Torah holds her up as a model for us. Even and especially in dark and desperate times, our hope can make redemption possible.
Day 33: Pack Your Drums
“Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her in dance with timbrels” (Ex. 15:20). Upon reflection, this is astonishing. We are taught elsewhere that the Israelites ran away from Egypt with haste; so swift, in fact, was their escape that, according to tradition, they did not even take the time to let their bread rise (Deut. 16:3). In that mad scramble to leave Egypt, what possessed the Israelite women to stop and say, “Hold on, Moses! Wait a minute! I’ll be right with you. I just have to run back home and get my drums.” According to a midrash, “the righteous women of that generation were certain that God would perform miracles for them. So they brought drums from Egypt” (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael, Parashat Beshallah 15:20). The women did not just hope that God would perform miracles for them. They were confident about it. They were certain of it. The contemporary commentator Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg remarks that the women “prepare for miracles: almost a contradiction in terms. They are set for wonder, carrying the instruments of song with them through the corridors of fear.” There is a profound power in the hopeful disposition of the Israelite women. Facing the uncertain abyss of chaotic liberation, they are so optimistic about God’s salvation that they take care to bring musical instruments to celebrate the inevitable triumph. Perhaps it was the hope itself that made the miracle possible; the women’s expectation that a miracle would occur may have made them relentless in their pursuit of having one to celebrate. The Israelite women, led by Miriam the Prophet, are an example for all of us: We can drag ourselves to failure through the self-perpetuating cycle of doubt, or we can lead ourselves to great things by the self-fulfilling cycle of hope.
Day 34: Strength, Song, and Salvation
One of the great lines of the Song of the Sea is “Yah is my strength and my song, and will become my deliverance” (Ex. 15:2). One way of understanding this verse is that God holds the tension between two extremes -- strength on the one hand, spirit on the other -- and that in this tension lies the path to our salvation. To borrow an analogy from the mid-20th century scholar Rabbi Milton Steinberg, imagine a tug of war. On one end is the need to be idealistic. On the other is the need to be realistic. And they both pull in opposite directions, creating an impossible tension in the rope. Now suppose in the center there is a third force, one that lifts upward. The two opposing forces now swing together; and the harder they pull, the closer together they come. God is that third force. God eases the tension created by these two extremes. God eases the tension because through God, we have purpose. By considering what God is calling us toward in any given moment, we can know whether it is proper to be realistic, to be prepared for our own defense, or whether it is proper to be idealistic, to pursue the seemingly impossible, to hold fast to what reason dictates is hopeless. When we keep our focus on the high calling that God has laid out for each and all of us, we can secure our salvation.
Day 35: Spiritual Thirst
Just a few short days after the miracle at the Sea of Reeds, the Israelites are unable to find water and rebel against Moses (Ex. 15:22-24). Not content with this simple explanation, some commentators understand “water” in this passage as an allusion to Torah. Within Jewish tradition, Torah and water are frequently regarded as analogues (see, for example, Isaiah 51:1), since both are necessary for sustaining life. According to this view, the people lose faith and rebel because they went three days without encountering words of Torah, which is perhaps why the Jewish legal tradition mandates that the Torah be read aloud in the congregation on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, so no more than three days pass without Torah (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael, Parashat Beshallah 15:22). Just as our bodies wither and ultimately fail when dehydrated, being parted too long from divine wisdom is akin to being “a tree torn from the soil...a river separated from its source, according to the 20th century sage Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. Heschel explains, ”the human soul wanes when detached from what is greater than itself. Without the ideal, the real turns chaotic...” (Man’s Quest for God). Our attachment to the utmost holds our inner lives together; without it, we unravel, both individually, and collectively. Even mere days after witnessing one of God’s greatest miracles, the Israelites fall apart, parched without the spiritual sustenance of Torah. We must take care not to let too much time pass without turning to godly guidance.
