Why G-d Told Moshe to Stop Praying - Radical Faith in the Jews by the Sea | Parshas Beshalach

Okay friends, paras bashah the next phase of the exodus begins. Up until this point, we've been uh we've we've learned to become, I guess, inherently free or at least free from work, at least behaviorally free because starting with the plagues, they've already had began to to stop working even though they were technically enslaved and technically Fah didn't let them go. At this point, it's the para of bishak means to send. It's bash parro sends them out. He goes from total refusal to guys get out of here. And what happened was we were supposed to I mean God promised to Abraham that we're going to be slaves in a land that does not belong to us for a definite amount of time. Then we're going to go to the promised land and Egypt borders the promised land. But Hashem takes us through a detour. And there's two reasons for this detour. He takes us through the land of the Philistines. Um, not to be confused with the Palestinians. He takes us through the land of the Philistines, which means uh it's sim similar area. In other words, rather than going straight through Egypt, we basically go all the way around. When we finally enter through Israel, when we finally enter Israel 40 years later with Joshua, with Yahosua, we enter through the uh the eastern border of Israel rather than the southern border through Egypt, essentially through Jordan. So, we take a long way around. And there's two reasons for this roundabout. Um there's the long-term reason because we had to receive the Torah and that had to have been in Sinai. And for whatever reason, God didn't want us to receive the Torah in the land of Israel. He wanted us to receive it in the Sinai desert. We could talk about that next week in next week's para. But then there's the more short-term reason, which was that even though Pyro had sent us out, and even though we haven't been working, there was still a bit of a slavery mindset. And there was this fear that if it's too easy to get into the land, it's going to be just as easy to revert back to slavery. Sometimes the place where you shouldn't be, the place that is unhealthy for you, which is Egyptian slavery, is the more comfortable place because that's what we know. We know slavery. And even though it's not a good thing, on some level, it could be the easier thing. How many times did you say, "Take us back to Egypt. Is there not enough graves here?" It's not good to be in Egypt, but at least it's familiar. And God foresaw that challenge and said, "We're going to take the long route." So you don't think it's just too easy to go back. But what is pyro? Pyro sees. Oh, are they confused? [snorts] Why are they going the long route? Why are they going through the land of the Philistines? Maybe they're confused. And when Pyro sees confusion, he says, "Let's infiltrate. They're not really free." Turns out they're just geographically free. We sent them out, but they're still a little confused. And that confusion may represent not just uh navigational confusion, but spiritual confusion maybe unsettled with idea of being free, the idea of being on their own. Freedom is not easy by the way. Freedom comes with responsibility because if there because there's no such thing as like total freedom. It's you're you're always going to be subservient to something. Being subservient to parro is painful and is inconvenient. Being subservient to God requires an immense amount of responsibility. And now there's like this confusion. Buyer's remorse. And I'm kidding. But but Pyro sensed that and he says, "Let's get him." And finally he corners us at the Red Sea. We're stuck there and we're terrified. Which, by the way, that's a crazy thing. What are we afraid of? Pyro and his 600 chariots were terrified because they're chasing us. We're back. They're back. And it's like, what are we going to do? Right. The miracle comes and the sea splits. But before that even took place, they didn't know the sea was going to split. Why were they afraid? Just ju and I mean like just from a militant perspective, a a a from the perspect just a mathematical perspective. How many Jews were there? There were 600,000 Jews from the age of 20 to 60. 600,000 male Jews from the age of 20 to 60, plus the females, plus males under 20, males over 60. You had close to 3 million Jewish people. They had all their livestock. They had all their animals. They had weapons. They were armed. That's what the Torah says. The the language used they were armed. They had weapons. You have 3 million Jewish people with weapons and 600 Egyptian chariots come and they're terrified. And it's like, bro, what are you afraid of? Why were they afraid? The answer is it's it's the mindset. They didn't have the freedom mindset yet. if they would have been thinking and not just reacting. Literally, just think about it for a second. Like h how often, by the way, do we face this in our life where there's a certain fear and if you focus just on the fear, it's reasonable. 600 Egyptian chariots are scary. But if you look at the context in which that fear is taking place, look how powerful you are. Look how strong you are. Look at what God has equipped you with. Look at what God has given you. You realize, oh, maybe I can handle this. Okay, they weren't totally free yet, so they didn't fully see that yet. And at this point, they're cornered at the sea. And God says something to Moshe. You know what God says to Moshe? I will read the text and I'll translate it into English. Moshe, God says to Moshe, Why are you screaming out to me? Why are you crying out to me? Speak to the children of Israel and go, go forth, travel, keep going. Oh, where do where should they keep going and keep going into the sea? Because it's eventually going to split. Well, if you look at the text, if you look at the context uh of what's going on here, the Jews are cornered at the sea. Moshe is explaining that God is going to be taking care of us and this war is going to be fought by God. Guys, don't worry. And God says to Moshe, "Moshe, why are you crying out to me? Tell them to go forth." That sounds like gaslighting. It doesn't say anywhere that Moshe was crying out to God. He was crying out to the Jewish people. But where does it say he was crying out to God? Why does God out of nowhere say, "Moshe, don't cry out to me. Now is not the time. Just keep going." The most frustrating thing you could ever do to somebody is accuse them of something they're not doing and then tell them that's your problem. The fact that you're and you're not actually doing it. Moshe wasn't crying out to God. Okay. So Rashi fills us in uh based on uh midrashik or tamudic teachings and says that Moshe was actually mit praying to God. And what God was saying to Moshe was stop praying. Now is not the time to pray. Now is the time to go. But what I'd like to do is share a couple of perspectives of other commentaries that sort of complement this rashi that will give us insight into what leadership is. Not all of us are Moses's Moses eye, but we all have a Moses within ourselves. We all have the ability to lead. We all have the opportunity and the need to lead. Whether that means on a very small scale leading our own lives. Whether that means leading a relationship that you're in because you want it to be better or you want it to continue to be as good as it is. Whether that means in the context of an employer or employee. We all find ourselves in leadership positions. But we all find ourselves behind a steering wheel on some level. And in this position of leadership we find ourselves in, we're cornered at the sea. We're stuck. Don't know what to do. And God says, "Why are you crying out to me? Go forth." [snorts] So these theo one of the commentaries is known as theo points out something interesting. Theo says that what is the context in which this takes place the Jewish people complained to Moshe? Look, look where you brought us. Look where you got us so far. Great. You got us stuck at the sea, cornered by Egyptians, which again, the whole fear in the first place was not super rational. Um, but it's like, look where you got us in the first place. And Moshe starts explaining Some may even say, if I dare say mansplaining, and you'll soon see why I'm saying that. Moshe starts, I say that with all due respect, because this is how some of the commentaries interpret it. As you'll soon see, Moshe starts explaining that God is going to fight this war. Don't worry. God says, Moshe, don't cry out to me because Moshe was praying. And the Sperno brings out a good asks an interesting question. What's wrong with praying? Isn't that a good time to pray? Isn't that a good time to cry out to God? You're cornered at the sea. You're stuck. You're being chased by Egyptians. Who should you talk to if not God? So, here's what theo says. Theo fills us in. Why was Mosha praying? That was the problem. The problem wasn't that he was praying, but the problem was why he was compelled to pray. Because the Jewish people were complaining, "Oh my gosh, look where you brought us, Moshe. Moshe's praying because he's intimidated. And you know how God interprets Moshe's intimidation? Moshe, do you not believe that these people are capable of believing in miracles? Why are you praying to me that you shouldn't be attacked by these people as if you don't believe that they're capable of of of miracle of believing in miracles? Like don't like relax, man. We've had this already in paramos where God met God when God met Moshe at the burning bush and he says you're going to lead the Jewish people. You're going to tell them that freedom is coming, redemption is coming. And Moshe says, "But they're not going to believe me." And we we asked this question back then. How could Moshe doubt them? Moshe doubted whether they were capable of believing in freedom under such oppression. And again, the same pattern emerges according to Moshe says, "God, they're complaining. They're scared. They're frightened. What do we do? How am I going to get them to buy in? And God is effectively saying, "Stop crying to me about the state of the Jewish people." Like, you're you're taking their fears way too seriously. I one of my favorite lessons I've learned from one of my mentors in the world world of counseling is don't believe your clients. Believe in your clients. Yes, it's a scary moment. Of course, they're going to dump all their fears on you. Of course, they're going to cry out and doubt you because it's a scary moment. But why do you have to see that moment as the entirety of these people? Like Moshe, believe in them a little bit. It's okay. Let them hash out at you. Let them complain. Let them You don't have to take it so seriously. Relax. It's going to be good. Don't cry to me. Just go. Don't say it. Show it. Or the way the I'll give you an example actually. I was once in touch with a therapist um that I was networking with sharing my perspective and ideas on counseling and helping people and I I have unconventional views, unconventional ways of doing things just because I my the whole stance is different. It's a stance of not what's wrong with you, let's solve it. It's a stance of you're probably awesome. Let's get you to a point where this is either irrelevant or or isn't going to stop you because you're amazing. And when it comes to couples, couples going through a very difficult time in their marriage, I mean, it's it's the same thing. I got to believe that they're capable of figuring this out of not just figuring out what to do but figuring out who they need to become because when they discover a shared identity things just click. So, I was sharing this idea and the therapist says to me, "Well, what about people who are just totally incapable?" And I um in less direct language cuz was a little nice and I said, but I I said something to the effect of who decided they were incapable [snorts] like where are we getting that decision from? Why are we deciding what people can't do if they're coming because they they think they're capable? So why are we deciding for them that they're incapable, that they're incapable, that they can't do it? And on some level, this seems to be the dialogue between Moshe and God. Moshe is intimidated by the Jewish people complaining, "Hey, is there not enough graves in Egypt? Look what you did now. And now Moshe says, "Are they capable of believing in that a miracle is going to happen?" And God says, "Can you stop praying to me about this as if you don't believe in them? Just go forth, man. Just do it. You got this. You got this. You You can do this." The way the shalahadush explains it similar idea basically saying Moshe if you keep praying to me right now they're going to think that you doubt yourself but Moshe this isn't about you not the one who took him out of Egypt you were my messenger but it was me God. But these are two powerful leadership lessons. Number one, believe in people. Believe that people are capable. Believe that we are capable. So much so that sometimes praying in this context was an expression of doubt, not an expression of comfort or or or strength seeking. like try trying to justify a doubt or or satiate or comfort a doubt and it's like [sighs] now is not the time for that kind of doubt. Now you got to just go forth. You got to keep on going. You got to plow forth. The Abarbanel explains a similar idea. The Barbanel explains the wider context of what's taking place over here. The Jewish people are cornered at the sea. 600 Egyptian chariots come. They're afraid. They're terrified. And Moshe is trying to do damage control. Explaining that it's God who's leading us here. God is going to fight this war. Don't worry. And God says to Moshe, "Ali, why are you screaming to me?" And the way the barbaranel explains it is Moshe, why are you screaming for me like on my behalf? That's another way to translate it in Hebrew. Why are you trying to defend me to the Jewish people? Why are you trying to explain God's position? Why are you trying to be God's lawyer? Being God's lawyer actually places doubt. now is not Oh man, audio is breaking up. You said hold on. Hold on. Is that better? Is that any good? Can you guys hear me? Can't hear me? >> Can hear you, but it's breaking up a lot. >> How's this? Is that better? >> No, it's still bad. >> Still bad. Oh man. >> Say again. >> Yeah. Can you hear me now? >> Oh no. Yeah. >> Okay. I switched microphones. Okay. Thank you. The the way the Albaranella explains it is >> still not working. >> Man, >> I think it's your Wi-Fi. >> Uh could be. The first microphone is better audio, but it's both. It's like when a cell phone call breaks up. >> Yeah, they're both breaking up. How's this? >> Yeah, the picture is breaking up also. >> Oh, really? >> Pretty much frozen. >> I don't know. So the Abarbanel is explaining that God is essentially saying to Moshe, you don't need to explain or manplain every little step. As they say, tell don't show don't tell. just instead of explaining that God is going to do miracles and starting to trying to justify what's going on and justify your existence and justify the fact that you took just go just do what you got to do. Split the sea already like move it. when we find ourselves at difficult moments, whether it be in a relationship, whether it be um by the way, this is so true, like on a geopolitical level where Jews feel the need to justify their existence um either the existence of the land of Israel, either their existence um just as their human their human existence to an anti-semite. [sighs] It's like you don't need to get into this now. We don't need to justify our existence, right? And that's why the Torah says, God says to Moshe, "Mitakuli, why are you crying out to to me like on my behalf? Why are you trying to explain who I am to the Jewish people? Just do what you got to do. Just focus. Now is not the time for debate. Now is the time for action. I I'll give you a practical example and we'll we'll leave off with this historical example. Who is the first to jump into the sea? Because it wasn't going to split right away. You first got to go in and then it splits, which is often how life works. Um, sometimes we're waiting for like the perfect moment, like when I have time, I'll start to learn more Torah. And sometimes we got to just learn more Torah and God will give us the time. And that's very difficult. Or when I have the money and the budget, I'll start giving or when I have when it's socially comfortable, I'll start doing whatever it is. Right? When it's a more opportune times, I'll I'll I'll start investing this relationship better. And sometimes we have to jump into the sea first in order for it to split. And the first to jump in was benad who was Miriam, sorry, who was Aaron's um nephew. Aaron's wife's nephew. Non was the first to jump in. And he jumps in and nothing happens. He went deeper and deeper and deeper all the way till his nose. Almost drowned. Then the sea split. everybody followed. And is like this um example in midrashic literature of what it means to dive in trusting and believing that God's miracles are going to take place. But here's the beautiful thing. There's two things. Number one, what do we know about aon? Like we know about Moshe. We know about Aaron. We know about Miriam. We know about Abraham, Yseph, David Schlommo. What do we know about Nakshan? Nothing other than this. And that's part of the beauty here that Nun is just like a regular guy. He's just a regular dude. If Moshe was the one to jump into the sea first, he say, "Okay, that's Moshe." Non actually did it. Non actually jumped all the way in. And here's the here's the kicker. There is a debate among the sages when Judaism begins. Like at what point are we Jewish? What point are we bound by Jewish law? Was it from the in the original inception of Judaism, which is Abraham, or is it at the giving of the Torah? In other words, from Abraham until Revelation at Sinai. Were they technically Jewish yet or were they Noahites? And and I mean the practical difference is are they bound by Jewish law? If they're bound by Jewish law, so you know, you got to keep Shabas. You got to If they're not bound by Jewish law, there's all sorts of questions that emerge like how could they keep Shabas? Non-Jews aren't supposed to keep Shabas, right? How could they? I mean, there's all sorts of questions that emerge if they were considered Noelides. And one of the questions is the concept of mess nephacrifice of being a martyr for your faith. Uh, a Noahide is not supposed to do that because life is sacred. It's given by God. You can't kill yourself. A Jew has permission to do that for God. But a non-Jew does not. A Noahide does not. So if they were considered Noahides, maybe they weren't, but if you were to take that position, it's a debate. Then the question becomes, how did Nun dive into that sea potentially risking his life? That's not allowed. That's against the Noahide laws and their Noahides. at least according to one view. So one way to look at it is the sea. This is Nun's perspective. What sea? What are you talking about? Why are you so focused on the sea? God told us to go forth. God told us he's taking us to the promised land. God told us he's going to give us the Torah at Mount Si. There happens to be a sea in the way, but that wasn't his focus. That wasn't what mattered to him. The challenge wasn't just easier because there was a meaningful reason to endure that challenge. The challenge was irrelevant. So much so that it was evenly irrelevant because there was a meaningful reason. And this is really what Moshe was there to inspire us to to experience to totally dive into that scene, totally jump in and totally connect on every level because there's total faith like we got this. And God is effectively telling Moshe, don't be too afraid of their fear of that sea. inspire them to go forth because they are totally capable of hearing that message even at difficult moments. Okay, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.