The Crossing of the Reed Sea, which we commemorate today, was a strategic trap, planned by G-d. G-d tells Moses to lead the people back towards the sea, in order that the Egyptians should think they were lost and pursue them. G-d and Moses knew that this was in order to trap and destroy them, but this was not obvious to the Jews. They merely saw the pursuing Egyptian army bearing down upon them, with no obvious avenue of escape. They believed that this was the end. The rest is history. Contemplating this story I have always been reminded of the way people felt in the weeks preceding the Six Day war, when it looked that Israel was surrounded and would be annihilated. Yet in the end it was her enemies who were deceived by their false confidence and routed. Then, too, many felt the end had come, but G-d had other ideas. As we approach the sixtieth anniversary of the State of Israel, and regard with some trepidation the problems that face it, we should reflect on these stories in light of the history of Zionism. The whole history of the Zionist movement is one of seeming disaster leading to greater achievement. After the entry of Turkey to the First World War, and the subsequent persecution of the settlement in the Land, people thought Zionism was finished. Yet out of that war came the Balfour declaration and all that followed. The destruction of the Arab riots of the thirties led to the nucleus of Jewish self defence and a renewed impetus to immigration. Every trough or seeming disaster has led to a greater triumph. As in the case of the Jews standing by the sea, we only see the dangers facing us, not the hand that guides them. G-d lulls our enemies into a false sense of security, in order to more completely destroy them. We are made to seem weak, so our foes think they can attack us, but in the end they are falling into a trap. That is the lesson we should take from this Yom Tov. Many design plans against us, but G-d is a better strategist. We shall, like the Jews standing at the edge of the sea, see how our present troubles were merely a prelude to greatness, and like them, live to sing a song of triumph.
TORAH PREVIEW
SEVENTH DAY: 121-126 HAFTORAH: 126-129
The Torah Reading is from Exodus and deals with the crossing of the Red Sea. The Haftorah from Samuel is a vision of the Messianic age.
EIGHTH DAY: 129-131 HAFTORAH: 124-135
The Torah Reading is from Deuteronomy and deals with the three Pilgrim Festivals. The Haftorah from Isaiah and relates Josiah’s observance of Pesach.
