The world seems to grow more polarised every year. Israel/Palestine, antisemitism, gender, Brexit, Russia vs Ukraine. The only thing safe to paste on social media is a kitten or a baby. How can we move the world, or even just ourselves, back from this increasingly poisonous precipice?
Maybe we can find a hint in the Song at the Sea, that was sung by our ancestors at the moment they saw their enemies defeated and knew that they were finally freed from slavery. It is a powerful moment. Just imagine the relief, the exhilaration, the moment of triumph as the waters of the Yam Suf crashed back behind them, drowning their pursuers.
And yet, there is a deliberate pause in the Torah text that is picked up by midrashim and later commentators. You can see how it plays out in slow motion in Chapter 14 of Exodus (the Song is Chapter 15). In verse 28, “The waters turned back and covered the chariots and the riders of Pharaoh’s army”. In verse 29, the Israelites have marched through safely on dry ground, and, in verse 30, “Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore of the sea.”
Then in verse 31 the people “feared the Eternal” and only in the next verse do they sing: “Az yashir – and so Moses and the Israelites sang…” It is this frame-by-frame narrative that to me would be powerfully dramatised in black-and-white film – the dead soldiers on the shore of the sea, the people realising they are alive and free, fearing G-d’s wrath and then singing their redemption song.
This slowdown of events is picked up in the Talmud (BT Megillah 29a, Sanhedrin 39a). The angels join the Israelites in their song, only for G-d to reprimand them: “My handiwork is drowning in the sea, and you would sing a song before me…?”. How can we rejoice when those who are made in the Divine Image, however much they have twisted that image, are now dead? What was the mindset of those charioteers and soldiers – were they ideologically sold on Pharaoh’s quest to recapture the slaves? Were they conscripted soldiers obeying orders as unjust and cruel as they were? What was their life like, their fears, their dreams of the future? Because of the price of our freedom, their families would never see them again.
It is graphically enacted at every Pesach seder when we remove 10 drops of wine for the suffering caused to the Egyptians for the 10 plagues.
And here lies the way forward for the world right now. If we want to be free, if we want to sing our song or redemption, we need to cultivate empathy. Yes, there is a time for us to rejoice in our own success, to cheer our team, our tribe, our own achievements – but never at the expense of our own humanity, of seeing the bigger picture. War is not about who wins – everyone loses. Everyone suffers loss, destruction and trauma. Yes, one army will emerge victorious, but at what cost?
May we live to see speedily in our time, soon in the coming days or weeks, a reality of shalom, peace and wholeness descend in this world. As we prepare for Pesach, may we have cause to sing a song of peace, a song of global redemption, in a time when “every family shall sit under its own vine and fig tree, with no one to disturb them.” (Micah 4:4) ●
Chag Sameach
- For the current edition of the Cape Jewish Chronicle, click here.
- Subscribe to the Cape Jewish Chronicle: R450/year, or R38/month via debit order. Simply email us at subscriptions@ctjc.co.za and click here for payment info.
- The Cape Jewish Chronicle reaches over 6 000 readers monthly across print and digital platforms.
- To book advertising space or discuss a custom package contact Adéle Gradner Mobile: 083 321 5222 | Office: 021 464 6736 | Email advertising@ctjc.co.za
