„The basis of our faith does not stand upon miracles:”

In this week's Torah portion we read the Song of the Sea, after the great miracle that occurred to the people of Israel as they went out of Egypt. A people of slaves saw the sea open for them, and with it a new life, which begins after the death of the enemy in the depths. The Midrash relates that during the miraculous event: 'A maidservant saw at the sea what Ezekiel son of Buzi did not see,' describing that the simplest of the people saw what prophets and holy ones would not merit to see. In the passage we have attached, the sudden answer appears like lightning from the heavens—an immense miracle in which a person sees and feels the Divine presence all at once. Alongside the great wonder and the need for this miracle in its hour, it is important to know that this is not the essence of Judaism. Miracles are not the thing that makes up the Jewish day-to-day, and faith is built upon constant work and building, not upon mystical wonders. That same maidservant who saw the miracle of the Red Sea vanished from consciousness a moment later. Immediately after the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, the Torah describes the sin at Marah. For what comes easily goes easily. By contrast, what comes through hard work remains, is absorbed, and seeps into the depths.

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