Beshalach (2c): Follow the Light

In the last post we explained that the Jews had such a pining to stay at the shore after Kriyas Yam Suf because the experience of their connection was so deep and so real that they never wanted to let it go. But we know that in the end Moshe Rabeinu convinced them to leave. What happened?

The aforementioned Zohar relates as follows. We know that spiritual revelation is often compared to light (see here). Hashem took the 'light' that was shining at the sea shore and pushed it deep into the Midbar. The Jews now saw that if any connection was possible, it was out there in the wilderness. The fact that they would have to traverse long and far before their next revelation was a non-issue. The thirst and the longing generated in the experience of Kriyas Yam Suf created a vacuum in their souls that needed to be filled, thus they were willing to go to great lengths to find it.

This is how the Navi describes Israel's loving trek into the desert: כה אמר יהוה זכרתי לך חסד נעוריך אהבת כלולתיך לכתך אחרי במדבר בארץ לא זרועה - So says Hashem! I have remembered the kindness of your youth and you bride-like love. You followed me into a barren land.

The simple explanation is that just as an impressionable child trusts a parent or a new bride is completely given over to her prince-in-shining-armor, so too the Jews were willing to follow Hashem into a place where there was no guarantee of food, an בארץ לא זרועה - an barren land.

However, Rav Yitzchak Schmidman zatza"l explained בארץ לא זרועה with a twist. These words can be literally translated to mean "A land where 'no' has taken root" - a space that engenders negativity.

We explained earlier that the main goal of any test is to see if we can follow Ratzon Hashem even when we experience constricted consciousness, מוחין דקטנות. We explained that this is hinted to in the words למען אנסנו הילך בתורתי אם לא, which we explained to mean 'to test if you will go after my Torah even when things feel 'no', even when we are not at our best.

The retraction of the light of Kriyas Yam Suf created a massive shift into 'לא' for the Jewish people. It dropped them from the elevated status that they were on and left them with profound מוחין דקטנות, and they were willing to go along with Ratzon Hashem and follow Him into the bleak desert, בארץ 'לא' זרועה - A place where 'no' has taken root, a space that engenders מוחין דקטנות. Am Yisrael's test was 'למען אנסנו הילך בתורתי אם לא' - and the Navi testifies that they passed with flying colors.

When we fully engage our Avodas Hashem even when things feel 'לא', even when we experience מוחין דקטנות we are displaying the Jewish soul's innate desire to find Hashem no matter where He may be hiding Himself. Just as a father steps back to encourage his son to learn to walk towards him, so too Hashem 'retreated' deep into the desert to instil this quality into the spiritual makeup of the Jewish people.

'למען אנסנו הילך בתורתי אם 'לא

לכתך אחרי במדבר בארץ 'לא' זרועה