Seventh Day: Splitting of the Sea

What do you know about this extraordinary event?

The parting of the Red Sea was performed by G‑d after the Exodus. The Israelites walked on dry land, and Pharaoh and the Egyptians drowned.

The inner meaning of the Crossing of the Sea

What's going on? Hasn't Pharaoh come literally begging Moses and Aaron to take their people out of his land as quickly as possible? Who, then, is this mighty Pharaoh materializing like a mirage in the desert?

The Red Sea split for the Children of Israel in accordance with a stipulation made at the very onset of its creation. Since G-d can do as He wishes with His world, why the need for such a stipulation?

“Everything that exists on land,” says the Talmud, “also exists in the sea.” The Kabbalists apply this law in a broader sense as well . . .

If you were given a glimpse of your subconscious personality, what would you find?

Is it possible to be spiritual and selfish at the same time?

Winds blow, waters flow, plants grow. Only two things never change: G‑d, and our immutable faith in Him—a faith that will split your every sea.

When faced with the seemingly impossible, it is beyond logic, beyond nature. You just have to move. You have to know where you need to get, and refuse to let anything stop that . . .

The sages tell us that it was all because of the children...

When everyone else hesitated, he jumped into the swirling sea.

One camp proposed to throw themselves into the sea. A second group advocated return to Egypt, a third wanted war, a fourth prayer. G‑d rejected all four strategies . . .

The journalists are ready with their poised cameras. Then the veil is drawn aside, and one hears an involuntary gasp from the crowd. The Splitting of the Sea was something like this, and more...

Moving forward is easier said than done. Especially when we rationalize that maybe it wasn’t so bad where we were, or maybe we should just invest our energy trying to change what we have no power over. Sometimes we might just even want to give up. Or it might seem that by doing nothing but thinking positive, things will just turn on their own. But we must remember that when given an opportunity to change our reality, an opportunity to break out of those chains, we must take it . . .

The womanly strain in the "Song at the Sea"

When language aspires to the transcendent, and the soul longs to break free of the gravitational pull of the earth, it modulates into song.

There is no one Torah model of leadership. We are each called on to fill a number of roles .

Shortly after leaving Egypt, the children of Israel found themselves in an impossible situation, stuck between the sea in front of them and the Egyptian army chasing them from behind. The proper response contains a powerful lesson in surmounting seemingly impossible challenges.

When the Jewish people was surrounded by the Egyptians at the sea, four opinions were voiced on how to respond: 1) Jump into the sea – better to give one’s life in sanctification of G-d’s Name than to transgress His will; 2) Return to Egypt – perhaps they had not completed their spiritual mission there; 3) take up arms and fight – for to extinguish their own lives or return to Egypt would both transgress G-d’s will; 4) Pray to G-d.

At the dawn of the exodus, our ancestors stood at the banks of the Red Sea, suddenly trapped between its raging waters and the advancing Egyptian forces behind them. What did they do?

Not long after leaving Egypt, the Jewish people found themselves trapped between the Red Sea and the Egyptians chasing behind them. At that time, our people were divided into four factions as to what should be the appropriate reaction.

Sometimes it feels like we are in an impossible situation, everything seems to be against us, and we are backed against a raging tide.