Parashat HaShavua - Beshalach
וַיַּרְא יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־הַיָּד הַגְּדֹלָה אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה יְהֹוָה בְּמִצְרַיִם וַיִּירְאוּ הָעָם אֶת־יְהֹוָה וַיַּאֲמִינוּ בַּיהֹוָה וּבְמֹשֶׁה עַבְדּוֹ׃
The story of the miracle at the Red Sea is bookended by verses that contain words which look very similar: וַיִּירְאוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל and וַיַּרְא יִשְׂרָאֵל. But the meaning of these two verbs is very different. At the beginning of the story, the Israelites are terrified, from the verb י-ר-א, which means to feel dread (or in other cases, awe). But by the end of the story, they are no longer afraid, because they see – from the root ר-א-ה – God’s power, having parted the Red Sea for them to cross safely.
My colleague, Rabbi Shuli Passow, writes that the word יראה, as opposed to another Hebrew word for being afraid, פחד, connotes something deeper than just fear. יראה is more forward looking, it is not just about fear in the moment. It is also about despair, about the conviction that things will never change, that fear will be ever present. At the moment when the Israelites realize that Pharaoh is chasing after them again, they are afraid of what will happen in the moment, but perhaps more importantly, they despair for their future. If Pharaoh captures them, their dreams will have been dashed. They will return to slavery, this time with no hope for a better life for their children.
But by the end of the parasha, their despair is gone. It has been replaced with vision. They literally see what God is capable of. But they also now have the possibility of a vision for the future, something to live for. How to account for such a complete transformation?
I would argue that the one word that changes everything for the Israelites is this: אמונה, faith. The people have gained faith to counter the cynicism that is so easy to fall into when we look around and see all the troubles in the world around us. Rabbi Keren Apfelbaum Riff argues that to develop faith, it is critical to be connected to a community of faith. Faith is not a birthright, it must be cultivated, and the people and leaders with whom we choose to surround ourselves play a crucial role in our ability to cultivate a pose of faith.
As we enter Shabbat it is with the hope and intention that our Heschel community can be a wellspring from which we can nourish the quality of faith in our children.
Rabbi Anne Ebersman
EC/LS Director of Jewish Life/Director of Hesed (Community Service) and Tzedek (Social Responsibility)
