Parashas Beshalach - 5778 -
Miracles
It is this
Shabbos, "Shabbos Shirah," and
this week's Parashah, Beshalach,
which contains one of history's
undoubtedly greatest Miracles,
"Krias Yam Suf," the Splitting
of the Sea, which creates the
Path of Redemption from Egypt
for the People of Israel and the
agency for destruction of the
Egyptian Army. That forces us to
confront one of the great
questions that serious students
of the Bible and of Life must
address: "Precisely what is a
Miracle?"
This leads to
another important related
question: Is a Miracle an event
that occurs within the
boundaries of Natural Law or can
it be an event that occurs
outside those boundaries? It
turns out that Jewish Tradition
recognizes both types of events
as Miracles. Those that are
within the boundaries of Natural
Law and the miraculous aspect is
a matter of timing are called
"Nissim Nistarim," Hidden
Miracles, and those which are
outside of Natural Law are
called "Nissim Niglim," Revealed
Miracles.
Examples in the
Torah of Hidden Miracles,
occurring within Natural Law,
include most of the Ten Plagues:
Frogs, Lice, Wild Animals,
Locusts - differing only in that
their onset and removal are
forecast. Surprisingly, even the
Splitting of the Yam Suf was a
Hidden Miracle, as we find:
"Moshe stretched out his hand
over the sea, and HaShem moved
the sea with a strong east wind
all the night, and He turned the
seabed to dry land, and the
waters split. The Children of
Israel came within the sea on
dry land; and the water was a
wall for them, on their right
and on their left." (Shemos
14:21-22)
Some would even
say that the Six-Day War in June
of 1967, before which the entire
Jewish world held their breath
in fear of another Holocaust,
but the Israeli forces went on
to defeat three formidable Arab
armies - the armies of Egypt,
Syria and Jordan, and liberate
Jerusalem and the Temple Mount,
was a Hidden Miracle.
The second type
of Miracle is the "Nes Nigleh,"
the Revealed Miracle, that only
HaShem can perform. The "Makkas
Bechoros," the destruction of
the firstborn of Egypt, from
human to animal, was such a
Miracle, for after all, who
could know besides HaShem
whether a particular individual
was firstborn? Another Revealed
Miracle was the Falling of the
"Mohn," the bread from Heaven,
with a double portion on Friday
and none on Shabbos, following
this pattern for 40 years in the
Wilderness. Also in the category
of Revealed Miracle was the
restoration to life of the boys
that were promised to righteous,
childless women by the Prophet
Eliyahu and his disciple,
Elisha, each in his time, by the
lifesaving efforts of those
prophets.
Also in the
Category of Revealed Miracle,
something that only HaShem could
have done, but which was not
really revealed, because there
were no witnesses, was the
"Brias HaOlam," the Creation of
the Universe "ex nihilo," in the
manner of "something from
nothing," some 15 billion years
ago.
The Creation of
Life was also an act which could
only have been done by HaShem.
Supervision of
the Evolution of species of
living creatures in an upward
path from bacteria to primitive
fish, to birds, to reptiles to
mammals to the human being, was
a continuous miraculous act
performed by HaShem.
Extinction of
the dinosaurs to make room for
the human being by means of a
convenient asteroid.
Creation of the
human being by combining a
physical body, subject to death
and decay, with an Eternal Soul,
a "Neshama," about which we say
each morning "My G-d, the
'Neshama' which You gave to me
is pure..."
Creation of the
unique intellect of the human
being which is capable of
"Bechirah Chofshis," Free Will.
Creation of
Woman as a recipient of love
from Man and as partner in joy
for the human couple in each
other.
Creation of
emotions, such as joy and
gladness, the mutual love of
groom and bride, mirth, glad
song, pleasure, delight, love,
brotherhood, peace and
companionship.
Creation of an
extremely unlikely partner for
HaShem; the earthbound, mortal,
limited in intellect and
physical strength human being,
with the Eternal, Omniscient,
Omnipresent and Omnipotent Holy
One; in the "Image of Himself."
Shabbos Shirah
has two Songs: Shiras HaYam, the
Song of the Sea, and Shiras
Devorah, the Song of the
Prophetess Devorah.
The first was
sung by Moshe and the Men of
Israel and by Miriam and the
Women of Israel on the occasion
of their Salvation by the waters
of the Yam Suf, directed by
HaShem. It contains the verse
"May HaShem rule forever!"
(Shemos 15:18)
The second was
sung by Devorah and the general,
Barak, on the occasion of the
miraculous defeat of Yavin, King
of Chatzor, and the defeat and
death of Sisera, his general.
Its concluding verse is, "So may
all Your enemies be destroyed,
HaShem; and let those who love
Him be like the powerfully
rising sun." (Shophtim 5:31)
L'Illuy Nishmas
beni, Aharon Baruch Mordechai
ben Pinchas Menachem