פרשת בשלח
In this week’s parsha, Hashem splits the Yam Suf and the Jews cross on dry land. This miracle has captured the imagination of the entire world for thousands of years. The Midrash says that when the Yam Suf split, all other bodies of water parted as well. The nations of the world trembled when they witnessed this incredible event. It was one of the greatest revelations of G-d in history. However, the ten plagues had already displayed Hashem’s might for all to see. Why was it necessary to split the sea? The Chumash testifies that after this particular miracle the Jewish people “feared Hashem and believed in Hashem and in Moshe His servant.” What took so look long? What is so special about the miracle of splitting the sea? What new revelation of G-d took place?
The Beis HaLevi explains that until krias Yam Suf, the Jewish People were only familiar with Hashem as a G-d of punishment. The retribution visited upon the Egyptians by the ten plagues inspired the Jews and the entire world to fear G-d’s wrath. That Hashem has the power to terminate the existence of whatever He wishes was deeply understood and felt by all who witnessed the devastation of Egypt. However, the awareness that Hashem is the One who enables existence to continue was not clearly grasped until the splitting of the sea. When the Jews travelled across the Yam Suf on dry land, surrounded by water, they felt completely dependent on G-d for their very lives. They realized that their existence in that moment was a marvel, and in truth, every moment Hashem is single-handedly sustaining us in a miraculous manner. Hashem using the sea to both save the Jews and punish the Egyptians was a further revelation of His intimate involvement. It was only then that the Jewish people truly came to be in awe of Hashem. Hashem is not a Divine Power that merely interferes with creation. Hashem sustains and enables our very existence. Every second of our life is carefully orchestrated by the Creator of the world. It is this aspect of emuna that is particularly essential, allowing a person to truly walk with the One who made and makes him. After Krias Yam Suf, every Jew felt this intensely.
I humbly submit that one’s journey in faith should not end there. Rather, the logical step after realizing that one’s existence is purely in G-d’s hands is to come to a great love of Hashem. We see that the Jewish People even reached a level of ruach hakodesh and sang shiras hayam to express their incredible love. The Jews looked back at the entire experience of krias Yam Suf and were overwhelmed by the tremendous amount of care Hashem had shown them. Besides splitting the sea for the Jews and drowning the Egyptians, the Midrash tells us about plenty of other miracles that happened during the crossing of the sea. Sweet waters streamed out of the walls of the sea, providing the people with beverages to quench their thirst. Hashem also made the sea split in such a way that each tribe could travel in its own private path. This way, each person could easily stick with his family and friends. Besides this, Hashem gave the Jews a unique sense of security by making the wall of water around them appear to have a glass casing, so they had no fear that the water would suddenly collapse upon them. Rather they felt perfectly safe, as if they were in an aquarium. When the Jews allowed these miracles to overwhelm them, they felt an incredible closeness and love for Hashem. This was the greatest result of krias Yam Suf.
So three thousand years after Krias Yam Suf, what can we do today to get to this lofty level of love and fear? The Mechilta takes note of the pasook, “ [the Jewish people] believed in Hashem and in Moshe His Servant.” Why does the Torah seem to grant equal importance to belief in Hashem and belief in Moshe? The Mechilta answers that anyone who believes in a Torah leader is as if he believes in Hashem Himself. We see from here that emunas chachamim and emuna b’ Hashem are inextricably linked. After splitting the sea, it wasn’t enough for the Jews to just believe in Hashem. They had to believe in Moshe as well. This belief is a tremendous pillar of emuna. The gemara in Kesubos 111a teaches that the only way to cling to Hashem is to cling to talmidei chachamim. Through our personal relationships with rabbis, we can come to an actual relationship with the ribono shel olam Himself. Rabbis have such a powerful association with Hashem that the gemara in Pesachim 22b says that we even have a mitzvah to fear talmidei chachamim just as we have a mitzvah to fear Hashem. Fearing Rabbis leads to a true fear of G-d. The Rebbe of Shomer Emunim elaborated on this principle, saying that if one really wants to feel emuna he must keep a look out for big tzaddikim and chachamim. One can’t help but be affected when he sees the love, dedication, and joy present in a truly holy person’s mitzvos. Through clinging to our beloved Torah leaders and rabbis, we can ultimately come to the level of ahavas Hashem for which we yearn.
Visiting the Steipler was a very scary experience. When you entered his room, he would look at you, and you could see that he knew everything about you. There was nothing you could hide from him. Besides this, he would let you know what he thought of all your issues and would be very forceful if he felt confrontation was necessary to help a person change his ways. Sometimes, when a person would come in and ask the Steipler to daven for them, he would yell, “When are you going to start davening for your own self?!!!” When I went to see the Steipler, I was in complete awe, and although I have no concept of what the Shechina is, I can say with certainty that whatever the Shechina is, it was definitely with the Steipler. Baruch Hashem, I visited the Steipler many times. However, I still feel that I wasn’t zoche to go enough. Who knows how much more emuna I could have gotten from him?
May we all be zoche to truly love and believe in Hashem!!!
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