FOR FINAL DAYS OF PESACH
FAITH PAYS
The festival of Passover is the holiday of faith: The Jewish people left Egypt, following the Almighty with complete faith, having little idea of what was in store for them in the inhospitable desert. In these days of celebrating Passover and the Exodus is reenacted, strengthening of faith must be, more than ever, a focus and highlight of the holiday.
Faith becomes that much more emphasized towards the final days of the holiday, celebrated this coming Monday and Tuesday. On Passover’s seventh day, the Jewish people crossed a miraculously dried-up Red (or Reed) Sea bed, during which faith also played a prominent role. On the eighth and last day of Passover, the attention is towards faith in the final redemption from exile through the coming of the Moshiach, the Messiah.
This would be a good time, then, to focus our attention on faith, following last week’s Good Shabbos Email discussion.
When the Jewish people arrived at the Red (or Reed) Sea, the Torah relates that the people were confused and complained. Eventually, Divine instruction came: “Speak to the children of Israel, and they should travel” – effectively asking the nation to make their way straight into the water. (B’shalach (Exodus) 14:15.) This required great faith.
What was the water of the sea doing at this time? According to the account in the Psalms (chapter 114), “The sea saw and fled.” The Psalm continues by asking a question: What is the matter with you, O sea, that you flee?... (We flee) before the Master… who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint-stone into a spring of water.”
There seems to be a mix-up in the above description: The sea “fled” when the Jewish people were trapped between it and the Egyptians armies. Only later, in the absence of water while traveling in the desert, was the rock turned into a source of water!
The solution lies with faith. The Torah records that, at the sea, the Jewish people “Believed in the Almighty and in His servant Moses.” Calling attention to this description of faith, the Sages suggest that the sea “fled” – or was dried – when it “saw” and was impressed by the faith the nation had.
The Psalmist, in describing the scene, emphasizes how the dried-up sea was as miraculous as water flowing from the rock. Faith in the Almighty can dry a sea or cause water to flow from a rock. It is that powerful.
The book of Sh’muel (1 Samuel, chapter 13) relates that King Saul had been told by the prophet Samuel to wait seven days for him before offering a sacrifice to the Almighty prior to a war. At the time, however, the Jewish army was disorganized and lacking experience. The Philistines were waiting with tens of thousands of experienced men, supplied with the latest military equipment. The ragtag bunch of Jewish soldiers was demoralized and afraid. Many were deserting. The prophet was nowhere to be found.
It was already late on the seventh day. King Saul found it too difficult to wait any longer. He offered the sacrifice himself. The prophet came just as the offering was completed. “What have you done?” asks Samuel, with recognizable disappointment. The king attempts to justify himself, citing the impossible situation and pressure he was experiencing. The prophet, though, reacts harshly. He says, “You have acted foolishly… Your kingdom shall not endure… You have not observed that which the Almighty has commanded you.”
The Jewish people were going to defeat these Philistines miraculously. The Almighty was not seeking a military chief. He was looking for a leader, a king, who would exhibit and demonstrate complete faith in Him. Once there is faith, enemies fall, seas flee, and rocks produce water.
The great Maggid of Mezrich, successor to the Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chassidic movement, once related the following story to his vaunted students: It was just after the holy day of Shabbos had concluded. A widow burst into the sanctuary, and pleaded with the Rebbe, the Baal Shem Tov, for a specific sum of money necessary for her daughter’s wedding. The Rebbe instructed all his students to put their hands in their pockets and to extract whatever money they found. When the money was counted, it equaled the exact sum needed by the woman.
“Now tell me,” said the Maggid to his students, “what is so special about this story?”
One student suggested: Money was somehow “created” in their pockets. The Maggid was unsatisfied with this response, since the Baal Shem Tov was a known miracle worker. Another pointed to the exact amount that was found in the pockets. The Maggid did not accept this response either, for it was merely part of the miracle. Another suggested that the money was equally distributed to all the students, giving them all the chance to participate in this wonderful deed. The Maggid was unsatisfied with this reply as well, as the Baal Shem Tov was legendary for his love for all.
“It was the fact that we actually placed our hands into our pockets to find the money. You see, on Shabbos it is forbidden to handle money, so it would be impossible for any of us to have had money in our pockets. When the Rebbe asked to place our hands into our pockets to remove the money there, no one asked any questions or objected to the impossibility of it. We had unerring faith in this saintly and G-dly leader, and the money was obviously there.”
Yes, it is true: Faith turns a sea into dry land, a rock into water, and it puts money into pockets. Lack of faith brings an end to a Jewish monarch, as his lack of faith makes him undeserving.
It is not easy to believe when things seem bleak and impossible – as King Saul was quick to discover. With faith, though, the Jewish people have managed to survive all these centuries despite the impossible odds.
And with it, the Jewish people are heading towards the final redemption.
As the final stretch of the holiday of faith begins, may everyone, indeed, strengthen their faith in the omnipotent Supreme Being, and may He provide each of us with all we need in abundance. And, most important, may the Almighty bring the grand utopian era to the entire world, with the arrival of the Moshiach, speedily in our days.
SUMMARY: Faith works as a two-way street: The more one has, the more one gets.