Crossing the Sea - the final redemption of Passover

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Today is the seventh day of the festival of Pesakh/Passover, the feast celebrating the redemption from Egyptian slavery. According to tradition, this is the day when the Israelites crossed Yam Suf/the Sea of Reeds (or Red Sea, if you prefer the older translations). Most of us are familiar with this event from Bible stories we have read or movies we have seen, and yet there is much more contained within this story than meets the eye.

According to midrash (rabbinic lore) the seas split not merely because Moses raised his staff over the water, but because one man dare to enter the waters on his own without waiting for Moses or anyone else to take action. This man, Nachshon ben Aminadav, understood that in order to achieve freedom and salvation we must not merely wait around or pray for it, but we must act as partners with God in order to make it happen!


It was Nachshon’s bravery and his faith in the divine-human partnership that enabled him to enter the raging waters even as Moses prayed to God asking for help. Or was it?In a modern midrash written by my colleague Rabbi Michael M. Cohen, the crowd around him pushed Nachshon into the sea. In his telling of the story, Nachson becomes more an accidental, rather than an intentional, catalyst of redemption. Either way, the midrashim teach that human action must work in partnership with the Divine to bring about redemption, both individually and communally, whether actions are intentional or accidental.
So, the question remains were Nachshon’s actions – are our redemptive actions – intentional or accidental? Voluntary or coerced? The answer, of course, is...yes.

Chag Same'ach – a joyous Passover festival to you all.
SPN
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Nachshon’s redemption
I stand here
surrounded by throngs
alone frightened
exhilarated wondering
when will something
happen
then I hear storm
hooves pounding
hastening towards
our destruction
then fire rising
from sand to sky
pillar of protection
pillar of obliteration
waiting
caught between
fire and water
life and death
freedom and slavery
unknown and known
waiting
where is the chosen one
the one slow of speech
quickly tell us
what to do
the one drawn out of the waters
tell us how
not to drown

I stand looking
before me I see only
water churning foaming
beckoning frightening calling
enter
join me
I shall rescue you
from misery
from suffering
from life
in me
beneath my waves
surrounded by my calm
you shall find freedom
peace at last
I am your God
oh Israelites
you have come out of Egypt
for me to save you
listening
I am drawn to enter
the depths of the sea
to seek in the brine
salvation
what it offers
I do not know
still
to step to jump to move
is better than
standing waiting
not knowing
what will come next
I am unsure
as I always am
when suddenly
with no warning preparation
no choice
depths surround me
salt water fills my nostrils
stings my eyes calms my soul
comforts me
I have returned to the womb
though I do not know
if I jumped if I was pushed
I do not recall
perhaps both are true
coinciding contradictions
It does not matter
only the reality
the moment the present matters
I am here in the depths
on dry land
disoriented
where is the water the salt
the depths its warmth its comfort
now I feel a breeze
I hear a roar a rush
not hooves but muddy footsteps
of my people
surrounded by darkness
I look up the sun is high
I look to each side
walls of water
deep dark geysers
reaching towards heaven
pillars of strength
I stand between
arms unable to reach
either side
feet firmly planted on dry mud
heart uplifted
I see hear touch feel smell
sense the miracle salvation
the people cry shout walk run
march crawl straggle
struggle stumble
are picked up fall again
are lifted carried
each supporting the other
the people are one
finally the first time
together
I am amazed
as each one passing
seems to look smile nod at me
then the one
the chosen one our leader
stands before me
eyes meeting eyes
he smiles
speaks simply
he says to me thank you
why I ask him
what did I do
was it I who made it happen
no it could not be
yet perhaps it was
all i know is the sound
the roar the spray of water
surrounding us all
I walk in a daze
all others have gone ahead
I am now the last
no longer the first
there really is no difference
then suddenly hear
another sound
not joy fear
I turn around
horse warriors are approaching
I see death in their eyes
I run
towards the screams of my people
calling to me fearful
I will never leave here alive
I will die here in the mud
having only known a moment
of freedom
but that is still better than none
prepared to die I suddenly hear
another rush of water
screams of death cries of shock
shouts of joy all mingled
cacophonous harmony
I do not understand
I cannot stop to look
suddenly I am swept up by the sea
salt water again in mouth and eyes
not soothing this time
but tossing lifting casting me
upon dry land dazed
I am free i am alive
I am in shock
I look behind
the sea is there as it was
the soldiers horses are gone
they have discovered the depths
but they will not be soothed
in the brine
they will not be lifted up and out
they are to be forever entombed
churning waters now calm
giving life to us
bringing death to them
then I hear another sound
joyous shouts songs timbrels
women dancing men leaping
celebrating freedom
salvation survival
i look again to the sea
that had for a moment
been my home
the place that gives life and
brings death
in my mind i see them
the enemy or are they
struggling to escape its clutches
longing for sunlight
then submerging submitting
accepting their fate
they breathe their last
exhaling the life they knew
swallowing the brine
of their new home their tomb
as I see this see them
feel their pain fear suffering
emotions engulf me
I imagine taste once again
the brine
saving us killing them
but this is not imagined
it is real tears flowing
for destruction wrought
for salvation bestowed
a legacy to us
the ones who remain
the ones who shall live
how can we sing
when the dead lie before us
how can we not
when the living are in our midst
I look up
he is there again
the chosen one
drawn from the water
leading us through the water
he looks at me
knowing what I feel
smiling
he reaches down
I hold his hand
he draws me up from the ground
to him
embracing a torrent of tears flowing
feeling what I have never
before felt or known
joyous grief
mournful ecstasy
true redemption requires sacrifice
are these words from me
from him from above
from within
yes they are all these
for they are truth
still embracing each other
feeling hearts beat breath rise
together in his arms
he kisses my head
he pulls away smiles gently
turning me around
still firmly in his embrace
I view the sea
calm glimmering sunset
its surface beautiful beyond speech
its depths an unseen horrors
such is the path of redemption
the pain the sacrifice of salvation
such is the way of life
suddenly
no longer feeling his presence
I turn aroundhe is gone
swallowed up by the ocean
of frenzied souls
rejoicing over him
celebrating the moment
filled with joy and gratitude
it is all we have
and it too will soon be gone
rising
I join with them
feeling gratitude
for the redemptive moment
not knowing what
will happen next
or what I will do
when it does

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