The Israelites are trapped, with the sea before them and the Egyptians in close pursuit. We hear cries of despair and helplessness (Shemot 14:9-12). Moshe is commanded to raise up his staff and point it so that the sea should split and allow the Israelites to enter on dry land.
The sages understood the verse “so that the Israelites may march into the sea on dry ground” (verse 16) as involving a complicated story. The Israelites reach the shores of the sea before it has split, and only when they enter does it open before them and become a path of dry land.
Entering the sea, according to the sages, was a somewhat violent, human decision made in the face of furious waves; it was not a simple entrance onto a dry path with solid walls of water on either side. Entering in this manner involved some level of resentment, given the complexity of the problem that the people faced, with no small measure of a sense of injustice. This is what succeeded in turning the sea into dry land. The sages of the mishnah were divided over the social situation that preceded it:
“So that the Israelites may march into the sea on dry ground,” Rabbi Meir explained this in one way, while Rabbi Yehudah explained it in another way.
Rabbi Meir explained this in one way: When the tribes were standing at the shore of the sea, this tribe said ‘I will enter the sea first’ and this one said ‘I will enter the sea first.’ While they were standing and arguing, the tribe of Binyamin jumped up and entered the sea first…The elders of the tribe of Yehudah began to throw stones at them…
Rabbi Yehudah explained it in another way: When the tribes were standing at the shore of the sea, this tribe said ‘I will not enter the sea first’ and this one said ‘I will not enter the sea first.’ While they were standing and discussing this, Nahshon ben Aminadav jumped up and entered the sea.
(Mekhilta BeShalah Parasha 5)
According to Rabbi Meir, all of the tribes wanted to jump into the sea, but in the end it was the tribe of Binyamin which took the initiative, while suffering the rebuke of the tribe of Yehudah, which felt that they had unfairly taken the opportunity from the others. In the continuation of the midrash we are told that both tribes were rewarded for their actions – the Tribe of Binyamin merited to have the Temple in its territory and the Tribe of Yehudah received the monarchy. According to Rabbi Yehudah, on the other hand, none of the tribes wanted to jump into the sea, and during the delay, while they searched for a volunteer, Nahshon ben Aminadav of the Tribe of Yehudah jumped in.
The act of jumping into the sea is a daring act according to Rabbi Meir, in which the initiative is grasped in an avant-garde manner. In opposition to the brash jumpers from the tribe of Binyamin stand the law-abiding elders of the Tribe of Yehudah who protest the revolution. In the end, both groups are seen as fulfilling the mission of the Holy One Blessed be He.
In contrast, Rabbi Yehudah sees the act of jumping into the sea as an act of leadership – of boldness and courage. (It appears that the Hebrew language accepts this approach, since in modern Hebrew Nahshon’s name has become an adjective meaning a heroic act).
In Midrash Tehillim we find yet another opinion, which begins with a different set of assumptions. There we find the transcript of a discussion that took place in Yavneh between Rabbi Tarfon and his students, revolving around the question of why the Tribe of Yehudah merited to receive the monarchy. Rabbi Tarfon offers a number of suggestions, all of which are disproven by his students. In the end, Rabbi Tarfon turns to his students and asks them for their suggestions:
He said to them: In that case, why do you think that they merited it?
They said to him: They merited it because they jumped into the waves of the sea. For all of the tribes were standing without entering the sea. This one said ‘I will enter first,’ and this one said ‘I will enter first.’ And the Tribe of Yehudah sanctified the Name of the Holy One Blessed be He and entered, and this is why they merited the monarchy, as it says “Yehudah stands firm with God” (Hoshea 12:1). He made peace with the Holy One Blessed be He and sanctified His Name by entering the sea, which is why he merited the monarchy, as it says “Yehudah became His holy one” (Tehillim 114:2) – because Yehudah sanctified His Name, therefore he rules over Israel (Tehillim 114). Because “God has made Himself known in Yehudah” therefore “His name is great in Israel” (Tehillim 76:2).
(Midrash Tehillim Buber 76)
According to Rabbi Tarfon’s students, the reason that the Tribe of Yehudah merited monarchy is because they jumped into the sea first at a time when everyone else was talking about doing so. Grasping the opportunity to be first – which Rabbi Meir attributed to the Tribe of Binyamin and presented as an event that occurred prematurely and with some level of defiance – is, in the eyes of Rabbi Tarfon’s students, an appropriate act performed by the Tribe of Yehudah that ultimately serves as a credit to the tribe, making it the choice for leadership.
These three perspectives document different mental states from which the "jump" was made -
- According to Rabbi Tarfon’s students, the claim that each tribe truly wanted to volunteer to be the first to jump is ridiculous. The discussions and arguments attest to the fact that all of them were reluctant to do so. A leader is someone who doesn’t just talk – a leader acts. A leader doesn’t wait for processes and developments – a leader drives the process and creates it.
- Rabbi Meir views the willingness to jump as an expression of audacity that goes beyond acceptable limits and shows no consideration to others. Even if it turns out to have been the correct thing to do, it still requires societal balancing.
- According to Rabbi Yehudah, jumping in is indicative of a positive willingness to go against the stream and to reject the fear of change. It serves as a sharp reversal in the perception of reality and establishes immediate transformation.
Every generation experiences its own reality of being caught between the proverbial “rock and hard place.” It is not always the Egyptians coming from behind and the threatening sea ahead. The dilemmas change, but their common denominator is that they add up to what appears to be a dead end. Those who are reluctant to move forward and who live in fear of change – fearing the plunge into the sea – are not the ones who will create solutions to these challenges. Challenges will be overcome only by entering the sea and turning it into a dry land by force. Rav Kook writes the following about those who are reluctant to take groundbreaking actions:
There are weak individuals in the contemporary world whose lives are built on civility and politeness who speak fearfully: “Who of us can dwell with the devouring fire; Who of us can dwell with the never-dying blaze?” But, in truth, the fear belongs only to the sinners and to those with weakened souls. They are the ones who live in fear and are seized with trembling.
(Orot, Zeronim, pp. 121-123)
There are different types of people who do not despair, but choose to search for an escape – even if that escape is “wet” and dangerous. Some of them incite quarrels and arguments, but they succeed in improving the situation by means of force, if only because of the limits that are placed on them by others. The upheaval that they cause takes place over time, step-by-step, and does not serve to solve the problem immediately. These people are described by Rav Kook as follows:
Their active ferment never quiets, and expresses itself in the angry faces of the generation. These are evildoers on principle; they sin – not because of the desire for pleasure, but to anger God…nevertheless, the essence of the courage latent in their desire is a spark of holiness.
The last type are those who also break with convention and create the opening for escape. These, however, succeed in doing so with deep intelligence:
Righteous ones, strong as lions, succeed in uncovering the truth in repair and rebuilding. They do so with the courage of a clear and courageous mind and with the emotional effort of feeling and with practical revelation that is solid and clear.
These righteous individuals are willing to accept upon themselves – trials and travails notwithstanding – the task of breaking through and paving a path with which everyone is in agreement.