Beshalach 2020

1“And G-d said to Moshe, “Why do you cry out to Me? Speak to the children of Israel and they will travel” The midrash explains that at the Sea of Reeds there was no point in Moshe praying. “a time to pray and a time not to pray”. It would seem that with the Egyptians on their tail and the Sea in front there would be no better time. In Bereishis Jacob is praised for his three-pronged approach against the threat from Esau. Prayer was one of the three! (we have no record of Moshe actually having cried out to Hashem which just adds to the confusion). The midrash explains that the people had cried out already “And they were very frightened and cried out to Hashem”. As such Moshe’s crying out was superfluous.

2Unfortunately, the follow up to their crying out to Hashem was a complaint directed to Moshe, “Aren’t there enough graves in Mitzrayim that you have taken us out to die in the desert. What is this this that you have done taking us out of Mitzrayim? Didn’t we tell you back in Mitzrayim to leave us there to serve Mitzrayim for it is better for us to serve Mitzrayim than to die in the desert!” The complaint with similar language appears twice more in our parsha. “Why did you take us out of Mitzrayim to kill us in the wilderness?” The people wanted Hashem’s salvation, but were unhappy with Moshe as leader and with the overall mission. Moshe led them out of Mitzrayim but they had not yet bought into the totality of the mission. Moshe was concerned that leading a people who were ambivalent to the whole experience and were more than happy to remain slaves in Mitzrayim were not ready for the mission at hand! Hashem responded “Speak to the children of Israel, and they will travel.” You are listening to the complaints but do not appreciate fully the power of this people. Moshe was instructed to urge the people to call on their own inherent power. It is the job of national leadership to move the people forward. Moshe’s job was to “Speak to the Children of Israel”. Explain to the people the purpose of the redemption. If you do that they will move forward. Its not a time for crying out to Hashem.

3Good Shabbat