וַיָּבֹ֧אוּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל בְּת֥וֹךְ הַיָּ֖ם בַּיַּבָּשָׁ֑ה וְהַמַּ֤יִם לָהֶם֙ חֹמָ֔ה מִֽימִינָ֖ם וּמִשְּׂמֹאלָֽם׃
I szli synowie Israela środkiem morza po suszy; a wody były im ścianą, po prawej i lewej ich stronie.
Midrash BeChiddush
מַה־לְּךָ֣ הַ֭יָּם כִּ֣י תָנ֑וּס “What alarmed you, O sea, that you fled…” (Ps. 114:5) The Sages state in the Midrash, when Moses went to the sea and told it to split its waters so that Israel could pass through, it said, “I don’t want to!” Moses turned to God and said, “The sea doesn’t want to split its waters.” What did the Holy One do? God placed His right hand on the right hand of Moses and showed it to the sea. Immediately upon seeing this, the sea fled before God. Moses then said, “What alarmed you, O sea, that you fled?” The sea answered, “It is not because of you but because of the God of Jacob!” At first glance it might appear that Moses was mocking the sea. Heaven forbid that a person like Moses was speaking harshly to any creature in the world. Further, what other reason is there to say, “Jordan, that you ran backward…”
אמנם: However, it is fitting to note that two holy names (of God) are connected here at the sea. The first is the name of 72 letters which is derived from three verses: וַיַּסַּ֨ע (Ex 14:19) 311“The angel of God, who had been going ahead of the Israelite army, now moved and followed behind them; and the pillar of cloud shifted from in front of them and took up a place behind them,”, וַיָּבֹ֞א (Ex. 14:22)312“And it came between the army of the Egyptians and the army of Israel. Thus there was the cloud with the darkness, and it cast a spell upon the night, so that one could not come near the other all through the night.”, וַיֵּט֩ (Ex. 14:27)313“Moses held out his arm over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state, and the Egyptians fled at its approach. But HaShem hurled the Egyptians into the sea.”. And the second is the name of 42 letters that were inscribed on the staff of God that was in the hand of Moses through whose power he brought the plagues on the Egyptians in Egypt. The mnemonics of the plagues was Detza”kh, Ada”sh Ba’acha”v. In Gematria their small number (Mispar katan) is 42.314Mispar Katan (Heb: מספר קטן) is the value of the letters but without the zeros after large numbers. (ex. "Yud" is 1 instead of 10, "Tav" is 4 instead of 400). The staff was in the right hand of Moses. When Moses told the sea to split and to let the Israelites pass through, it refused, as was mentioned. Moses didn’t want to command the sea as Pinchas ben Yair commanded the River Ginai to split its waters,315BT Hulin 7a out of respect for Israel. Moses wanted the sea to respond honorably and part for them according to the commandment. Then, Moses went to God and said to Him, the water refuses to part. What did the Holy One do? God placed His right hand, which is the name of 72 letters, the name of Hesed (lovingkindness) on the name of 42 letters which was the right hand of Moses, and when the sea saw this it fled before it. Moses wanted to publicize how great the power of these names was, causing the sea to split. Therefore he asked, “What alarmed you, O sea, that you fled.” The sea answered, “It is the God of Jacob אֱל֣וֹהַּ יַעֲקֹֽב.” Eloah אֱל֣וֹהַּ in Gematria is forty two to teach us that the great name of God… For God separates one thing from another just as happened in creation; with his power the waters were separated , half of them above and half below. Similarly when a person does the body and soul are separated and differentiated. God then gives each wings with this name as a means of merit. A sign of this, “Each of them had six wings:” (Is 6:2) Each name is made up of six letters. The psalm says Eloah Ya’akov and not eloah Israel because eloah ya’akov counting the words is seventy two316It is not clear to me what system of Gematria he is using here to reach the number 72. Possibly this is based on the Mispar Siddur in which each letter is given a value from 1 to 22 - eloah Yaakov then comes to 71 place the words if we add one is 72 or 73. See Explanations of Gematria Methods with Charts when combined with the words and it was to save Israel because it represents Hesed. It is found that the two names together are on the right side. Regarding this Scripture states, “Your right hand, HaShem, glorious in power, Your right hand, HaShem, shatters the foe!” (Ex 15:6)
אמנם: However, it is fitting to note that two holy names (of God) are connected here at the sea. The first is the name of 72 letters which is derived from three verses: וַיַּסַּ֨ע (Ex 14:19) 311“The angel of God, who had been going ahead of the Israelite army, now moved and followed behind them; and the pillar of cloud shifted from in front of them and took up a place behind them,”, וַיָּבֹ֞א (Ex. 14:22)312“And it came between the army of the Egyptians and the army of Israel. Thus there was the cloud with the darkness, and it cast a spell upon the night, so that one could not come near the other all through the night.”, וַיֵּט֩ (Ex. 14:27)313“Moses held out his arm over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state, and the Egyptians fled at its approach. But HaShem hurled the Egyptians into the sea.”. And the second is the name of 42 letters that were inscribed on the staff of God that was in the hand of Moses through whose power he brought the plagues on the Egyptians in Egypt. The mnemonics of the plagues was Detza”kh, Ada”sh Ba’acha”v. In Gematria their small number (Mispar katan) is 42.314Mispar Katan (Heb: מספר קטן) is the value of the letters but without the zeros after large numbers. (ex. "Yud" is 1 instead of 10, "Tav" is 4 instead of 400). The staff was in the right hand of Moses. When Moses told the sea to split and to let the Israelites pass through, it refused, as was mentioned. Moses didn’t want to command the sea as Pinchas ben Yair commanded the River Ginai to split its waters,315BT Hulin 7a out of respect for Israel. Moses wanted the sea to respond honorably and part for them according to the commandment. Then, Moses went to God and said to Him, the water refuses to part. What did the Holy One do? God placed His right hand, which is the name of 72 letters, the name of Hesed (lovingkindness) on the name of 42 letters which was the right hand of Moses, and when the sea saw this it fled before it. Moses wanted to publicize how great the power of these names was, causing the sea to split. Therefore he asked, “What alarmed you, O sea, that you fled.” The sea answered, “It is the God of Jacob אֱל֣וֹהַּ יַעֲקֹֽב.” Eloah אֱל֣וֹהַּ in Gematria is forty two to teach us that the great name of God… For God separates one thing from another just as happened in creation; with his power the waters were separated , half of them above and half below. Similarly when a person does the body and soul are separated and differentiated. God then gives each wings with this name as a means of merit. A sign of this, “Each of them had six wings:” (Is 6:2) Each name is made up of six letters. The psalm says Eloah Ya’akov and not eloah Israel because eloah ya’akov counting the words is seventy two316It is not clear to me what system of Gematria he is using here to reach the number 72. Possibly this is based on the Mispar Siddur in which each letter is given a value from 1 to 22 - eloah Yaakov then comes to 71 place the words if we add one is 72 or 73. See Explanations of Gematria Methods with Charts when combined with the words and it was to save Israel because it represents Hesed. It is found that the two names together are on the right side. Regarding this Scripture states, “Your right hand, HaShem, glorious in power, Your right hand, HaShem, shatters the foe!” (Ex 15:6)
Midrash BeChiddush
אלו קרע לנו את־הים ולא העבירנו בתוכו בחרבה, דיינו “If God had split the Sea for us but had not taken us through it on dry land (haravah), it would have been enough for us.” If God had left the sea bed as muck and mud (it would have been enough). Also, even if we had to struggle to pass through the sea bed it would have been enough since we were being redeemed. But God wanted to bring us through the sea on dry land; that is, there was water to their right and left and above them; only below them was (the sea bed) dry and parched. The reason that the Maggid chose the word haravah, rather than yevashah, as is stated, “But the Israelites marched through the sea on (yabashah) dry ground. ” (Ex. 14:29) It is because haravah243In Ex. 14:21 it uses the other word: “Drove back the sea with a strong east wind all that night, and turned the sea into dry ground (b’haravah).” alludes to the water taking the form of a tent, as is stated, אֶת־הַיָּם לֶחָרָבָה “God turned the sea into dry land.” (Ex. 14:21) The abbreviation of the phrase is אה’’ל, ohel, tent.
However it is also more exacting to ask why the Maggid chose the word קרע, as in the statement, “had not split קרע the sea for us” split instead of וַיִּבָּקְעוּ as in the verse, “The waters were split (יִּבָּקְעוּ)” (Ex. 14:21) Regarding this matter we will understand what my teacher of blessed memory said regarding the verse, “The sea returned to its normal state (לְאֵיתָנוֹ).” (Ex. 14:27) לְאֵיתָנוֹ means “to its original condition.” What is the “condition,” תנאי here? Are not the stipulations of a condition based (on the Mishnah in Kiddushin), “Any condition that is not like the condition Moses stipulated with the children of Gad and the children of Reuben is not a valid condition and is not taken into account.” 244Mishnah Kiddushin 3:4 Which does not specify both the result of fulfilling the condition and the result of the condition remaining unfulfilled.
When God created the world, what conditions were met? The sages inform us, “At the time when the Holy One sought to create the world, He said to the minister of the sea: “Open your mouth and swallow all the waters of the world,” so that there will be room for land.” The minister of the sea said before God: “Master of the Universe, it is enough that I will stay within my own waters.”245BT Bava Batra 79b This is surprising - how could the minister of the sea refuse to accept a gift from its Master? However it is fitting to believe that the minister of the sea was the group of ministering angels who opposed the creation of humanity. And the angels said that the person who was about to be created would eventually sin. When God told the sea to receive all the waters of the world in order to prepare a dwelling place (for humanity), he said, “Since man would eventually sin, it will be necessary to drown him; therefore take back the gift that you are giving me. It is better that I stand in my own water!” This was a great transgression; even though humanity was created after the separating of the waters, when God said he wanted to create a space on which to place humanity, the minister of the seas gave a reason to prevent it and did not want to accept the waters, as has been said. “God immediately struck the minister and killed him; as it is stated: “By His understanding He smites Rahab” (Job 26:12)246Ibid Bava Batra The gathering of waters was the condition that it would continue to ebb and flow, as if it were going to spill on to the earth. And the gift was that the tide would return to its original place periodically. This is what we now see, the waters go forth and recede every six hours.
When Israel came close to the sea, God said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to go forward.” (Ex. 14:15) Moses then spoke to the sea and said, “Split your waters!” The sea said to him, “I don’t want to!” Since this matter seemed wrong (to the sea), it said, “It is not enough that you obligate me to return the waters that were given to me, but you are taking from me my personal portion and making it dry so that the Israelites can pass through. Was it not the stipulation to give me back only my portion? In great fury the sea wanted to drown all the Israelites. Thus it is written, “The waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.” (Ex. 14:22) The word is written as חֹמָ֔ה247The word chomah, wall, is written without a vav, and is interpreted as cheimah, fury. wall, without a vav, meaning cheimah, fury. Moses then went to the Holy One and said, “The sea doesn’t want to divide its waters.” God immediately appeared to the sea. When the sea saw God and Moses, it fled before them, as is written, “The sea saw them and fled.” (Ps. 114:3) But God’s anger was not assuaged because the minister of the sea refused God’s commandments and was recalcitrant. What did God do? God grabbed hold of the sea and tore it into twelve pieces, just as a person tears up a garment. And at the sound of the tearing the water raised its voice and cried out, as is stated, “Above the voice of the mighty waters, more terrible than the breakers of the sea.” (Ps. 93:4) That is, the mighty waters raised their voice when they heard the splitting and smashing of the sea. The sea in particular raised its voice and cried, as Scripture states, “Have you penetrated the crying of the sea.” (Job 38:16) But since the gates of tears are never closed, the waters returned to their original “stipulation,” and the gift was returned to them as has been mentioned and it never again rebelled against any commandment that came to it from the righteous, those who are ruled over by fear of God.
The place of the split is still known. As is stated in Berachot, Perek HaRoeh (ch. 9) “One who sees the crossings of the Red Sea and the crossings of the Jordan; and the crossings of the streams of Arnon...must give thanks and offer praise before God.”248Berachot 54a Granted that the place of the splitting of the Jordan was known to them - this was because the Israelites placed twelve stones there. Also the location of Arnon was known because it was between two mountains. But even if there was an impression left by the splitting of the Red Sea, how could one recognize it? Actually, the sea never returned to the way it was and its place (of the splitting) was recognizable. Regarding this the sages stated, “The task of providing a person’s food is as difficult as the splitting of the Red Sea…”249BT Pesachim 118a because God had to talk to the sea and force it to split. Similarly, it was difficult for the Holy One to provide food for someone who deserves to die of hunger because of his evil deeds. It is for this reason that the sages used this expression (“it is as difficult as splitting the sea…) since the statement, “The waters were split,” (Ex. 14:21) implies that it was split forever to publicize this matter. But Dayyenu states קָרַע, “the sea split” (and not וַיִּבָּקְעוּ). The Maggid chose this language to imply that God performed the splitting of the sea for our sake, and that God did so in the way that is implied by a full verse, as is stated, “For your ruin is vast as the sea: who can heal you?” (Lam. 2:13) The Midrash250Pekikta D’Rav Kahanah 16:3 interprets this to mean, The one in the future who will heal the broken sea, will also heal you. Certainly the sea was broken, and it is still broken until God comes to heal it, as Scripture states, “The floods stood straight like a wall.” (Ex. 15:8) The Maggid implies that the sea no longer ebbed and flowed, but stood still and cried.
However it is also more exacting to ask why the Maggid chose the word קרע, as in the statement, “had not split קרע the sea for us” split instead of וַיִּבָּקְעוּ as in the verse, “The waters were split (יִּבָּקְעוּ)” (Ex. 14:21) Regarding this matter we will understand what my teacher of blessed memory said regarding the verse, “The sea returned to its normal state (לְאֵיתָנוֹ).” (Ex. 14:27) לְאֵיתָנוֹ means “to its original condition.” What is the “condition,” תנאי here? Are not the stipulations of a condition based (on the Mishnah in Kiddushin), “Any condition that is not like the condition Moses stipulated with the children of Gad and the children of Reuben is not a valid condition and is not taken into account.” 244Mishnah Kiddushin 3:4 Which does not specify both the result of fulfilling the condition and the result of the condition remaining unfulfilled.
When God created the world, what conditions were met? The sages inform us, “At the time when the Holy One sought to create the world, He said to the minister of the sea: “Open your mouth and swallow all the waters of the world,” so that there will be room for land.” The minister of the sea said before God: “Master of the Universe, it is enough that I will stay within my own waters.”245BT Bava Batra 79b This is surprising - how could the minister of the sea refuse to accept a gift from its Master? However it is fitting to believe that the minister of the sea was the group of ministering angels who opposed the creation of humanity. And the angels said that the person who was about to be created would eventually sin. When God told the sea to receive all the waters of the world in order to prepare a dwelling place (for humanity), he said, “Since man would eventually sin, it will be necessary to drown him; therefore take back the gift that you are giving me. It is better that I stand in my own water!” This was a great transgression; even though humanity was created after the separating of the waters, when God said he wanted to create a space on which to place humanity, the minister of the seas gave a reason to prevent it and did not want to accept the waters, as has been said. “God immediately struck the minister and killed him; as it is stated: “By His understanding He smites Rahab” (Job 26:12)246Ibid Bava Batra The gathering of waters was the condition that it would continue to ebb and flow, as if it were going to spill on to the earth. And the gift was that the tide would return to its original place periodically. This is what we now see, the waters go forth and recede every six hours.
When Israel came close to the sea, God said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to go forward.” (Ex. 14:15) Moses then spoke to the sea and said, “Split your waters!” The sea said to him, “I don’t want to!” Since this matter seemed wrong (to the sea), it said, “It is not enough that you obligate me to return the waters that were given to me, but you are taking from me my personal portion and making it dry so that the Israelites can pass through. Was it not the stipulation to give me back only my portion? In great fury the sea wanted to drown all the Israelites. Thus it is written, “The waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.” (Ex. 14:22) The word is written as חֹמָ֔ה247The word chomah, wall, is written without a vav, and is interpreted as cheimah, fury. wall, without a vav, meaning cheimah, fury. Moses then went to the Holy One and said, “The sea doesn’t want to divide its waters.” God immediately appeared to the sea. When the sea saw God and Moses, it fled before them, as is written, “The sea saw them and fled.” (Ps. 114:3) But God’s anger was not assuaged because the minister of the sea refused God’s commandments and was recalcitrant. What did God do? God grabbed hold of the sea and tore it into twelve pieces, just as a person tears up a garment. And at the sound of the tearing the water raised its voice and cried out, as is stated, “Above the voice of the mighty waters, more terrible than the breakers of the sea.” (Ps. 93:4) That is, the mighty waters raised their voice when they heard the splitting and smashing of the sea. The sea in particular raised its voice and cried, as Scripture states, “Have you penetrated the crying of the sea.” (Job 38:16) But since the gates of tears are never closed, the waters returned to their original “stipulation,” and the gift was returned to them as has been mentioned and it never again rebelled against any commandment that came to it from the righteous, those who are ruled over by fear of God.
The place of the split is still known. As is stated in Berachot, Perek HaRoeh (ch. 9) “One who sees the crossings of the Red Sea and the crossings of the Jordan; and the crossings of the streams of Arnon...must give thanks and offer praise before God.”248Berachot 54a Granted that the place of the splitting of the Jordan was known to them - this was because the Israelites placed twelve stones there. Also the location of Arnon was known because it was between two mountains. But even if there was an impression left by the splitting of the Red Sea, how could one recognize it? Actually, the sea never returned to the way it was and its place (of the splitting) was recognizable. Regarding this the sages stated, “The task of providing a person’s food is as difficult as the splitting of the Red Sea…”249BT Pesachim 118a because God had to talk to the sea and force it to split. Similarly, it was difficult for the Holy One to provide food for someone who deserves to die of hunger because of his evil deeds. It is for this reason that the sages used this expression (“it is as difficult as splitting the sea…) since the statement, “The waters were split,” (Ex. 14:21) implies that it was split forever to publicize this matter. But Dayyenu states קָרַע, “the sea split” (and not וַיִּבָּקְעוּ). The Maggid chose this language to imply that God performed the splitting of the sea for our sake, and that God did so in the way that is implied by a full verse, as is stated, “For your ruin is vast as the sea: who can heal you?” (Lam. 2:13) The Midrash250Pekikta D’Rav Kahanah 16:3 interprets this to mean, The one in the future who will heal the broken sea, will also heal you. Certainly the sea was broken, and it is still broken until God comes to heal it, as Scripture states, “The floods stood straight like a wall.” (Ex. 15:8) The Maggid implies that the sea no longer ebbed and flowed, but stood still and cried.
Midrash BeChiddush
29. “But the Israelites had marched through the sea on dry ground,” (Ex. 14:26) This is written another time: “And the Israelites went into the sea on dry ground,” (Ex. 14:22) The reason for the repetition is, to teach us that despite the Egyptians being drowned in the sea and being turned upside down by the powerful waters, they saw the Israelites marching through the dry ground. God gave the Egyptians the power to see this to increase their suffering. They would see the great love for Israel by God and would be humiliated by what God did for them. Among the thing (they saw) was the Israelites eating and drinking as they marched along. Thus, it is written in the Mekhilta: The Israelites ate and drank and rejoiced (as they walked through the sea). God caused fresh water to come out from the salty water,218See Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael 14:16:1, Mekhilta DeRabbi Ishmael 14:15, 15:8 as it says, “He brought forth streams from a rock…” (Ps. 78:16) Nozlim (“brought streams”) always refers to fresh living waters. Scripture states, “Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.” (Pro. 5:15) “Sixty discomforts come to one who hears his friend eating and he cannot eat” 219BT Baba Kama 92b - in other words the discomfort for the Egyptians was that they saw the Israelites drinking fresh water and eating when they could not.