It feels like we are living in the midst of a whirlwind these days. With the very real threats to the safety and wellbeing of trans adults and children, the targeting of immigrants, the destabilizing of our entire civil service, it can be hard to stay grounded. It is in moments like these that we need both community and spiritual practice to keep us moving forward, and not collapse from despair and overwhelm.
In this week’s Torah portion, Beshallach, the Israelites are finally heading out of Egypt. They are barely on their way before they realize that Pharaoh and his army are right behind them, seemingly intent on re-enslaving them. Behind them is Pharaoh’s army, and in front, an impassable sea. The people panic, and complain to Moses that they would have been better off never having left. Moses responds: “Don’t be afraid; stand; and see the liberation that YHVH will do for you” (Exodus 14:13). In this moment of panic, Moses asks the people to remember that, ultimately, the Source of Life and Liberation is on their side. He asks them to let go of their fear, take a breath, and stand their ground.
A few verses later we read: And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground (Exod. 14:22). The midrash (Exodus Rabbah) picks up on the strange wording of this verse: “How is it possible? If they went into the sea, why does it say, ‘upon the dry ground’? And if they went ‘upon the dry ground,’ then why does it say, ‘into the midst of the sea’? Here you learn that the sea was not split for them until they stepped into it and the waters reached their noses. Only then did the passage become dry land.”
There is an even more famous midrash about the sea not splitting until one brave individual, Nachshon, jumped into the water. But I personally like this midrash even better. It took all of the people, walking together up to their noses in the water, for the sea to split. I imagine them walking in, the water reaching their ankles, their knees, their waists, their chests, their necks, their trepidation growing with each step, their continued commitment to walking, the water getting all the way up to their noses--and only then, starting to recede. And then they emerged on the other side, and burst into song.
In this moment, I imagine many of us feel like we are going deeper and deeper into a forbidding sea, hemmed in on all sides by forces of disruption, ignorance, hatred and greed. But we are not alone. We are walking together, and we will continue to walk together. In this moment, I invite us to take Moses’ advice to find moments of stillness, and in those moments to let go, even if momentarily, of fear. To stand our ground, to feel the earth beneath our feet, and to continue to connect in all the ways that nurture our spirits. The great Source of Love, Life and Liberation lives and moves within us and through us; we activate it, we nurture it, we bring it into being. I have faith in this community, and in the power of good-hearted people everywhere--enough faith to keep walking through the water, to keep singing, to keep striving to reach the other side.
