“God said to Moses, Behold! I shall rain down for you food from heaven; let the people go out and pick each day’s portion on its day, so that I can test them, whether they will follow My Teaching or not. And it shall be that on the sixth day when they prepare what they will bring, it will be double what they pick every day.” (Exodus 16:4-5)

When a drop of water drips onto the surface of water it bounces many times, each time shrinking in size as it melts into the water. (Bouncing Water) Every single raindrop bounces up and down. There are countless bouncing drops all around us every time it rains. (See Dripping Water)

Did the Manna rain bounce? It too, fell onto a surface of moisture; the bottom layer of dew. Did it simply rain from the sky, or did it have the same essence as rain?

The Children of Israel were placed into a situation in which they had to pray everyday for the next day’s manna. They acknowledged the need for God’s constant involvement in the world. This rings of Adam’s first job, which was to pray for rain. Everything that God had planted was waiting just below the surface for rain, and God did not send the rain until Adam prayed.

In fact, when God wanted moisture to mix from the earth in order to form the physical body of the Primal man, He had a mist rise from the surface of the earth to moisten the land.

There were actually three stages: The lower moisture that rose, the mixture of earth and water to form the man, and then the rain for which Adam prayed. Three stages; three levels, just as the Manna was only one of three levels: Dew, Manna, and a covering of dew.

The Manna represents the man, who was formed from the mixture of lower moisture and earth. So, I ask again? Did the Manna bounce?

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A great debate raged in early 18th century London: Was the lion battled by the Cavalliere Nicolini Grimaldi in the opera “Rinaldo” live, a real beast of the jungle, or was it only an actor in disguise?

I often wonder about the lions we battle in our religious lives; are they real or imagined? There are numerous terrifying threats to our spiritual being. But still, I wonder whether we are focused on the live or imagined lions. We can point at society with its values and mores and pinpoint how it differs from our image of a spiritual existence. I don’t want my children to watch television and learn that children may speak to their parents as if they were idiots. That is a very real threat. I do not want my children and grandchildren to grow up in a world in which relationships are casual and all too often, meaningless. However, the most fearsome lions I face are all internal. My own confusion, questions, desires, and inner battles all are greater threats to my relationship with God than those lions and threats outside the walls of my home.

Judaism has always focused on our internal development in order to face the lions outside on the street. Torah, Mitzvot and prayer all nurture our internal growth. They cultivate the clarity necessary to face the far more dangerous internal lions.

This week’s Haftarah, “A Mother In Israel” is the story of a woman who achieved such inner clarity that she was able to share her internal light with an entire nation and lead them to a generation of peace.

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Moshe was bothered by the way we danced and rejoiced over the crushed bodies of our former masters. “Listen,” he said, “Do you hear the angels singing?’

I didn’t hear anything. No one heard.

“God did not allow them to sing while His creations were drowning. How can you dance and rejoice like that?”

Easy for him to say; he was never a slave!

We were so drained from the day’s experiences (see Highs & Lows) that we didn’t have the strength to argue.

He does keep on mentioning the Egyptians and telling us that we should not hate them. “They took you into their country.” All this from the man who brought ten plagues on them!

Why should we be grateful to them when they “forgot” what Joseph did for them? I just want to forget them.

My wife and kids say that we can’t forget them if we want to remember the miracles. We cannot forget such an important part of our past. My five year old says that if we forget the Egyptians we will forget the Patriarchs.

OK, but why do we have to be grateful?

My wife says, “If you remember you have to remember everything. Once you pick and choose, you will forget. Whether you like it or not, we are connected to them forever.”

Here I am trying to adjust to a whole new life and everyone is telling me that I can’t let go of the past. Help!!!!

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After the Egyptians drowned in the Red Sea, the freed slaves became the Jewish chorus. They sang the famous song at the sea.   The first sentence was: “I will sing to the L-rd for He is highly exalted, the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”   They continued for another 17 sentences.

Then the women took over. Miriam, the prophet, led the women in song, dance and playing a musical instrument.  They only sang the first verse. But the first word was different. It was not

“I will sing.”

Overture.

It was “Sing.”

Imperative.

Immediate .

No preparation, no practice, no warming up was necessary.

Because this sentence went straight to the heart of the matter.

Thank you for my life!

Song.

The joyous uplifting of voices belting out heartfelt feelings of gratitude.

Dance.

The  physical manifestation of releasing anxiety and fear, giving way to rapturous movements of the body in order to fully express gratitude.

Instrument. Fusing the body’s rhythm and intensity with something outside itself , magnifying the feelings of the moment.

It  was concert.

It was ballet.

It was symphony.

A focused, joyous and sensuous expression of thank you.

How can we apply this?  Let me you about Jae. During a visit, she was busy wrapping a package. Curious, I enquired”Who’s getting a present?” She answered, “My parents”.  “Oh, an anniversary present” I said. She replied, “No. It’s for my birthday. On my birthday I give my parents a gift…

To thank them for giving me the gift of life.”

Jae sang her own song. She understood what her birth meant and acknowledged it with a present.

There are times when no overture, no preamble, no introductory remarks are necessary.

Just a total expression of thank you.

One of the more well-known verses in the Torah is found at the beginning of parshas Eikev - “Man does not live by bread alone.” As is the case with many well-known verses in Judaism, not only is this quote not the entire verse that it comes from, but that which is left out expresses fundamental differences between the traditional Jewish perspective and that of the world at large. Since bread symbolizes physicality, livelihood, and sustenance, these basic differences will relate to all three of these important areas of our lives.

The entire verse (Devarim 8:3) is – “And He afflicted you and made you hungry, and fed you the Manna which you didn’t know and your father didn’t know, in order to make you know – that not by bread alone does man live, but [rather] by all that comes out of the mouth of G-d does man live.”

First of all, what is the message of the part of the verse that is most commonly quoted?

Mankind needs more than just bread (physicality, livelihood, and sustenance) to be able to live a full life. While that is an obviously true and important message which Judaism would agree with, it is also somewhat limited. As important as it is to have a spiritual element in one’s life, what must be the nature of that spirituality? Can I define it however I like, or must it be defined independently of me?

Today we find a curious phenomenon of celebrities that are attracted to the study of what they call “Kaballah.” This shouldn’t really be so surprising. After all, every human being has a soul, and therefore a need for a spiritual dimension in their life. By defining this spiritual aspect themselves, however, they ensure that it won’t intrude on their lifestyle, thereby rendering it largely irrelevant to themselves.

Judaism, on the other hand, is clear that we can not be the ones that define the spiritual element in our lives. It must both be defined by “all that comes out of the mouth of G-d”, and it must govern how “man lives.” We need to realize that Judaism is not only concerned with how one relates to G-d, it is just as concerned with the myriad issues involved in physicality, livelihood, and sustenance. The guidelines are just as detailed, and the consequences just as serious.

Why is the preamble to this – “And He afflicted you and made you hungry”? Rav Motty Berger often says that we view G-d as a sort of Divine superman. When we get into difficulties, we see G-d’s role as the One to swoop down and rescue us. The true Torah perspective is that not only does G-d swoop down and rescue us, even the “problem” itself came from Him – and also for our benefit.

A simple way to see this is our very need for eating to sustain ourselves. Why were we designed with the need to eat about three times every day? G-d could obviously have made us to only need to eat once a day, once a week, or once a month, or not at all. It seems that the reminder of our mortality and absolute dependence on G-d is best delivered to us three times each day. That is not a problem, but a benefit to help keep us all in touch with reality. And while the topic of Yissurim (challenges and difficulties) is massive and certainly beyond the scope of this essay, this is really the model for how we are supposed to try and view all of our “problems” – they are all opportunities that we were given by G-d for our benefit and growth.

In summary, we all need spirituality in our lives, the nature of that spirituality must be defined by G-d (not ourselves), and not only does G-d help us with the “problems” in our lives, He gives them to us for our benefit as well.

As we all lift up the two loaves of bread at each of the three meals this Shabbos that symbolize G-d’s supervision of our physicality, livelihood, and sustenance, let’s try to remember and incorporate within our lives all of these critically important lessons.

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We have seen in Battle Formations that this portion is a reenactment of the second day of Creation when God split the Upper and Lower Waters. I find it fascinating that rather than the Children of Israel finding themselves between water above and below, they walk between two walls of water. I can understand why the Sages taught that the waters of the split Sea formed a roof over their heads; they too want to find the vertical crush of the Upper and Lower Waters, rather than a 90 Degree flip to a horizontal confrontation.

The Mishna (Avot 5:6) teaches that in the “World In Between,” the world of Bein Hashemashot, when it is neither night or day, weekday or Shabbat, God created Ten Things that exist “In Between,” including the Manna and the Mazikin, or, destructive forces. The Mazikin have no spiritual existence of their own. They feed and thrive from wasted spiritual force and energy. Manna has no physical existence of its own. The Children of Israel were able to experience the taste of Manna in their Pesach Mitzvot even while in Egypt. (Kiddushin 38a) This is similar to the expression that Shabbat is a Taste of the World to Come; it has no physical form or taste, but we can give it physical expression in our Shabbat. We can experience the Manna taste in our Shabbat food, based on how we prepare, as the Children of Israel prepared their food.

The walls formed by the split sea were reminders that we who live in the midst of the battle between the Upper and Lower Waters, live in the World in Between.

We are about to land and I have to shut off my computer. Hopefully, I’ll finish later…

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Battle seems to be one of the major themes in this week’s portion: I won’t quote the verses verbatim as I am on a plane and am not permitted to write Torah verses from memory – The Lord does not lead the Children of Israel on the quickest and most direct route from Egypt to Israel because He is concerned that the fragile people will be so terrified of the Philistine wars that they would run back to Egypt. God leads them on an indirect route until they are stuck between Pharaoh’s chariots and the Sea. The Egyptians are ready to battle God. The portion ends with the Amalekite war.

It’s interesting that this portion, filled with battles, also has a great deal of water: The Sea, the bitter waters of Marah, the Twelve Springs, and the Well of Miriam.

It is even more noteworthy that battle was introduced into creation through water, when the Lord, on the second day of creation, split the Upper and Lower Waters; the first split, the first duality, on the second day of creation. Our portion of water and battles is taking us back to that day.

Creation must be reunified. The Upper and Lower waters must reconnect.

There are two ways that can happen: We can escape the physical limitations of the physical world – the Lower Waters, – and reveal God’s Presence – the Upper Waters – hidden in the physical, such as when we recite a blessing. We can also transform the physical into Upper Waters by allowing the Lower Waters to be as powerful an expression of God’s Presence as the Upper Waters, such as when we use something physical for a MItzvah.

When the Sages describe God’s voice as issuing forth from Moshe’s throat, they are describing the former process; there is a separation between the physical and the spiritual. The physical, in this case, Moshe’s throat, is a Lower Waters vehicle for the spiritual Upper Waters, but does not become part of the Upper Waters.

However, when Moshe’s being is so elevated that he can converse with God, “Mouth to mouth as a man speaking with a friend,” the physical, Lower Waters Moshe literally becomes part of the spiritual world, connected with the Upper Waters.

This portion of waters and battles, the portion of the Second day of Creation, the portion of the Upper and Lower Waters, is also the portion of Moshe and Joshua, the Written and Oral Laws : Moshe is told that Joshua will lead the people into the Land of Israel. Moshe, the teacher of the Written Law, will hand over the reigns to Joshua, the first link in the Oral Law. Moshe of the Written Law, would not have had to fight to conquer Israel. Joshua of the Oral Law is the one who must lead the people in battle.

Moshe, of the Written Law, the Upper Waters, speaking “Mouth to Mouth,” could have taught us how to transform the Lower Waters into Upper Waters, healing the split of the Second Day (hinted to in the bitter wood used to sweeten the bitter waters of Marah), the Splitting of the Sea. There would have been no more battle between the Upper and Lower Waters. We would not have had to fight to conquer Israel.

What happened?

Was it Moshe’s delay in informing the people about the double Shabbat portion Manna (sandwiched between Upper and Lower Waters)? Or, perhaps it was when Moshe split the roles of warrior and Master of Prayer when he sent Joshua into battle against Amalek while he went to the top of the mountain reaching his arms up from the Lower to the Upper Waters?

I wonder…

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My father zt”l came to San Jose a few months before Yeshivat Kerem officially opened and agreed to speak at, what was at the time, the only local traditional congregation. The topic, “Women in Judaism,” one of the most controversial on the Jewish lecture circuit during the mid-seventies, was specifically chosen to introduce a Rosh Yeshiva comfortable and adept at addressing any topic.

The lecture was fascinating. I was in awe of my father’s ability to majestically weave together numerous Talmudic and Midrashic sources that seemed to address the most modern questions. I was bothered when I noticed a couple sitting in the row just before mine, who were making a display of not paying attention to a word my father was saying. The woman was reading a magazine and crocheting, while her husband righteously opened a volume of Talmud translated into English.

The rabbi of the congregation rose immediately after the extended and excited applause ended, and offered to open the floor to any and all questions. The couple in the row before me put away all their stuff, took out lists of prepared questions, and jumped up to challenge my father. The man began by quoting a Talmudic saying that my father had raised in his lecture and explained. It was clear that the questioner had paid no attention to the lecture. The entire crowd was embarrassed. The man and his wife were oblivious. My friends and I were almost apoplectic. The chutzpah!

My father respectfully listened, and responded with seeming admiration, “It is clear, dear sir, that you have studied Talmud!”

The man began to float, “Yes, Rabbi. Thank you.” He glanced around the crowd with a smug smile, and then turned back to face my father, eager for more words of praise.

“Some Talmud, yes. Obviously, not enough!”

I don’t remember much of the specifics of what followed. I do recall that the man got what he deserved.

I saw my father’s greatness in contrast to the man’s insignificance.

I witnessed many such occasions, but they all pale in comparison to observing my father’s greatness contrasted with the greatness of others. Listening and observing his interactions with my grandfather zt”l, his Rebbi, Rav Hutner zt”l, and his chavrusa, Rav Freifeld zt”l, I learned far more about his greatness. Greatness contrasted with greatness is far more impressive than greatness contrasted with the insignificant.

I think of the Song of the Sea as greatness contrasted with insignificance. God manifested His Presence, saved the Children of Israel, crushed the Egyptians, and allowed the newly freed slaves to observe the bloated, broken corpses of their former masters float was ashore. The people looked at what they considered great and mighty just a few moments earlier and realized how insignificant it all was when confronted by God’s awesome power. They sang of what they now understood about God’s “Great arm,” and they committed themselves to glorify God forever. They sang and they continued to sing. How can you possibly express all they witnessed and understood in words?

The men finished their song. Miriam rose and took a small drum in her hand, and began to dance with the other women. They too, sang, but only of singing. The women were not contrasting God’s greatness with the Egyptian’s insignificance. They were singing of the contrast between what they had seen of God’s greatness in Egypt with what they had just witnessed of God’s greatness at the Sea. Their musical instruments were always at the ready to sing new songs of God’s praises. Each song was a statement that there is always more to come. “Who can speak of God’s powers? One who can make all His praises heard.” (Psalms 106:2 – I think; I typing this while sitting on a plane) The verse does not say, “Who can express all God’s praises,” but, “Who can make all His praises heard.” Only the person who can sing a song that promises there’s more to follow, may begin to speak of God’s strength.

Miriam and the women did not attempt to sing of the contrast between God and Egypt; they sang a promise: “If we saw this, imagine how much more there is to follow!” Greatness compared to greatness.

How do we pray? Are our words an attempt to express what we understand? Or, are they in the spirit of Miriam and the women, a promise, and opening whisper, of all that is to come?

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It’s very difficult to keep a diary while moving so much and so quickly. So much has happened since I last wrote in you that I haven’t been able to update you. Sorry!

I can tell you about the locusts, darkness, the Pesach Offering, rushing out the next morning, and, hopefully I will. But my soul has been shaken by my reactions and I must first share my most recent experiences.

When I was a small boy, I would accompany my father to his work on the pyramids. One day as we were walking to the worksite we saw posters for a carnival that was coming to town. There were drawings of people looking at their twisted images in all sorts of mirrors. Some mirrors made you look short and fat, and others stretched you out so that you looked like a giant. I was most intrigued by the drawing of a mirror that made your body twist and turn and move in waves. I was so taken that I did something I usually would not; I expressed my desire to go to the carnival to see that mirror.

I was upset with myself the minute the words came out of my mouth. My father’s eyes would usually tear up when I asked to do something that he, as a slave, could not do for me.

This time, Dad looked at me in surprise and said, “It’s good for the Egyptians to see themselves as twisted and crooked as they are. I want you to always see yourself as you are, not how others see you.”

I remembered Dad’s words as I went to sleep after an extraordinary day; extraordinary even for us who have experienced the most unbelievable miracles over the past year. A year ago, all I had to look forward to was another day of back bending labor. Tonight, I look forward to tomorrow with expectation, excitement, and, I’ll admit, some fear of the unknown.

We woke up to a terrible situation this morning. We were camped in front of the Sea, without ships to help us cross. We couldn’t turn back because the Egyptians had gathered whatever was left of their armies and were camped out just behind us, waiting to attack.

We were furious. Moshe seemed to be taking us in circles and now, after everything that happened and tasting freedom, we were stuck between the Egyptians and the waters. We all rushed to the head of the camp and began yelling at Moshe, “Was it for this that you took us out of Egypt?”

Moshe was taken by our words and began praying himself. All of a sudden he raised his staff in the air and cried out, “Move!”

We were stunned; how? Where? We were frozen.

The prince of Judah, Nachson, simply started walking into the water! And then, the water split. Paths opened up before us with large flashing signs with the names of the tribes at the entrance to each path.

We were so overwhelmed that we forgot about the Egyptians, and very calmly began moving down the paths in an orderly manner. We were walking on dry land in middle of the sea! The ground was perfectly dry. The water rose on both sides of each path like giant walls.

We looked at the seabed and saw all the minerals dry and beautiful. It appeared as if they had been laid out in a mosaic. We felt as if we were walking in a palace. We, who were slaves just a few months ago, who could never even dream of walking into Pharaoh’s palace, felt as if we were walking in God’s palace. This was cool!

When the last person exited the path, we turned around and saw that the Egyptians had followed us into the sea. We were terrified, but just for a moment. The minute we finished crossing, the waters crashed down over the Egyptians. We saw men, horses and chariots tossed in the air and smashed by the waves. They were screaming, and we realized that we would never have to fear the Egyptians again.

We were speechless. We were inspired. We felt as if God had lifted and carried us to the most magnificent places in the heavens. We were unaware of being in the desert. We were trembling with joy and inspiration.

Moshe began to sing, and I have to tell you, all the men began to sing with him. We sang of God’s greatness, His miracles and strength, His love for us, and we sang of our dreams for the future. We felt like angels singing to God.

Yes, I did say “the men.” The women stood on the side and watched as we sang. When we finished our song, with tears in our eyes, our souls soaring, excited and wondering what could ever top this feeling, Miriam, Aaron’s sister, ran to the side of the camp, away from the men, with a drum in her hand. The women began to follow her. My wife wasn’t the only one who had gone to the music store, because all the women had drums or cymbals. They knew that something like this would happen. They danced with ecstasy, emanating an unbelievable light and sang a short song, but whose words continue to ring in my ears, now, hours later.

The women finished their dance. All was silent. We were absorbing the great spiritual heights we had experienced, when someone yelled out, “Gold!”

We woke from our reveries and saw that piles of gold, silver and jewels were floating up from the sea. In a single second we forgot all the spiritual joy and rushed to collect as much money as possible.

As I was hungrily gathering as much as I could, I saw one of my old foreman’s body broken and shattered on the edge of the water. I turned my wealth collection into a dance of joy. He got what he deserved.

A few minutes earlier I was an angel soaring with inspiration and spiritual ecstasy. Now I was a money hungry human being dancing in a mix of hatred and joy over the broken body of an Egyptian. Moshe was commanding us to start moving and no one wanted to listen. We wanted more gold, more silver, more jewels, more money. We didn’t want to leave a penny behind.

What happened to me?

How did I change so quickly?

Is it really that simple to lose a high spiritual state?

And then I remembered the drawing of the carnival mirror and the twisted image of a body. I guess I got to see myself in that mirror after all, unfortunately, I was seeing myself as I really was, exactly as my father told me. I didn’t need to go to a carnival. I only had to look at myself.

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We know well the terrible story of Moshe hitting the rock to which he was supposed to speak.

This week is the story of the rock he was ordered to strike with his staff.

Why was he told to hit the rock of this week’s portion, but only to speak to the rock after Miriam’s death almost 40 years later ?

Rabbi Jacob Schachter answered that the Children of Israel in this week’s portion were like very young children – 40 years later they had matured. Moses could not deal with them 40 years later as he dealt with them now. Young children may not understand certain dangers and must learn by force, but one cannot teach an older child the same way; we must speak to them and explain.

Now, Moshe could hit the rock. 40 years later, there could be no more hitting, or signs of force. Moshe had to speak, to teach and explain.

Torah, our relationship with God and to His Mitzvot, must be taught differently at each stage of life.

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