…The Lord said to Moses: Stretch forth thy hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and horsemen. And when Moses had stretched forth his hand towards the sea, it returned…and as the Egyptians were fleeing away, the waters came upon them, and the Lord shut them up in the middle of the waves.
And the waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen of all the army of Pharao, who had come into the sea after them, neither did there so much as one of them remain. But the children of Israel marched through the midst of the sea upon dry land, and the waters were to them as a wall on the right hand and on the left:
And the Lord delivered Israel in that day out of the hands of the Egyptians.
–Exodus 14
Lately I keep thinking back to the Midrash that explains why praises are not said on the last day of Passover. This is traditionally the day of crossing the red sea, and the explanation is that God said: my creatures are drowning in the sea and you are singing praises?
I wish we had more of that in the Hagadda and in general.
That’s one of my favorite midrashim.
It’s unfortunate that Pharaoh didn’t have the same sentiments!
“Many rabbis and professionals have told me recently that they fear for their jobs should they even begin to articulate their doubts about Israeli policy–much less give explicit support to calls for an end to the occupation.”
— Rabbi Michael Lerner
April 28, 2002 in the Los Angeles Times