The Gift Hidden in Plain Sight
Freedom. That is where we start this week's parsha — with full freedom.
Paro attacks. G-d responds. We sing. And now we are free.
But then what?
First things first — we travel three days into the desert and don't find any water. That, of course, is a problem.
We travel further — to Marah — and we do find water. But we can't drink it; it's bitter. The problem persists. And we complain (וַיִּלֹּ֧נוּ): 'What will we drink (מה נשתה)?'
As far as I can tell, this is a perfectly reasonable question. There is no indication that God, or Moshe, or anyone else is upset by it. And indeed, there is a solution.
Moshe davens. God instructs — throw a certain tree into the water. And we have water to drink.
Problem solved.
But it gets better.
We then arrive at Elim and find twelve springs of water.
At this point, we have clearly moved beyond crisis. This is no longer a story of scarcity or emergency. In the desert, water is life — and here there is abundance.
But of course, it seems like there is something more going on here than our technical needs being taken care of. After all, there are twelve springs. It is hard to read Chumash and come across the number twelve without taking note. That number carries meaning in the literary way God guides the Jewish people.
Something is being hinted at here.
And when we move beyond water into the world of food, that suspicion only grows stronger. For not only are there twelve springs of water — there are also seventy date palms.
Twelve and seventy.
Could this have anything to do with the twelve names and seventy souls that came down to — and were freed from — Egypt?
Let us recall:
וְאֵ֗לֶּה שְׁמוֹת֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל הַבָּאִ֖ים מִצְרָ֑יְמָה אֵ֣ת יַעֲקֹ֔ב אִ֥ישׁ וּבֵית֖וֹ בָּֽאוּ׃ רְאוּבֵ֣ן שִׁמְע֔וֹן לֵוִ֖י וִיהוּדָֽה׃ יִשָּׂשכָ֥ר זְבוּלֻ֖ן וּבִנְיָמִֽן׃ דָּ֥ן וְנַפְתָּלִ֖י גָּ֥ד וְאָשֵֽׁר׃ וַֽיְהִ֗י כׇּל־נֶ֛פֶשׁ יֹצְאֵ֥י יֶֽרֶךְ־יַעֲקֹ֖ב שִׁבְעִ֣ים נָ֑פֶשׁ וְיוֹסֵ֖ף הָיָ֥ה בְמִצְרָֽיִם׃
Shemos · 1:1-5And these are the names of Bnei Yisrael who came to Mitzrayim — with Yaakov, each man and his household they came: Reuven, Shimon, Levi and Yehudah; Yissachar, Zevulun and Binyamin; Dan and Naftali, Gad and Asher. And all the souls issuing from Yaakov's loins were seventy souls — and Yosef was in Mitzrayim.
English translation:
And these are the names of the children of Israel, who were coming into Egypt — with Yaakov, each man and his household came.
Reuven, Shimon, Levi, and Yehudah. Yissachar, Zevulun, and Binyamin. Dan and Naftali, Gad and Asher.
And all the souls who came forth from the loins of Yaakov were seventy souls; and Yosef was already in Egypt.
Indeed, let's take this one step further — these dates trees were able to grow because of these springs of water. They literally drew water from these springs and used them to blossom.
So too, the seventy souls sprang up from the twelve sons of Yaakov. And just as the water of the streams are literally present within the fruit of the date palms, so too the 12 sons of Yaakov — — are themselves counted among the seventy souls who went down to Egypt.
Now, as compelling as this is — it's worth noting that the Midrash Halacha (which Rashi brings down) has a different understanding of the significance of the number seventy — they hold that it relates to the seventy elders (presumably of the Sanhedrin).
Seems a bit out of left field.
For now, though, let's just note that this does not seem to be a coincidence — there is clearly something going on with these twelve springs and seventy date palms. For some reason or other — right here, right now — at the beginning of our journey, we need to encounter these springs and these trees.
Why?
We don't know — and hopefully I will someday be able to delve into this aspect of the story further. For now, we'll note it and move on.
We travel from Elim and arrive in Midbar Sin — on the fifteenth day of the second month after leaving Egypt. In other words, on the day that will eventually become Pesach Sheni.
Is there any connection? I don't know yet. I'm just reading and wondering.
Either way, we once again complain (וַיִּלּ֜וֹנוּ). But this time, it sounds anything but reasonable:
וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ אֲלֵהֶ֜ם בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל מִֽי־יִתֵּ֨ן מוּתֵ֤נוּ בְיַד־יְהֹוָה֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם בְּשִׁבְתֵּ֙נוּ֙ עַל־סִ֣יר הַבָּשָׂ֔ר בְּאׇכְלֵ֥נוּ לֶ֖חֶם לָשֹׂ֑בַע כִּֽי־הוֹצֵאתֶ֤ם אֹתָ֙נוּ֙ אֶל־הַמִּדְבָּ֣ר הַזֶּ֔ה לְהָמִ֛ית אֶת־כׇּל־הַקָּהָ֥ל הַזֶּ֖ה בָּרָעָֽב׃
Shemos · 16:3And Bnei Yisrael said to them: Who would give that we had died by the hand of Hashem in the land of Mitzrayim — when we sat by the pot of meat, when we ate bread to the full. For you have brought us out to this wilderness, to put this whole assembly to death by hunger.
English translation:
And the children of Israel said to them: 'Would that we had died by the hand of Hashem in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pot of meat, when we ate bread to fullness; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to put to death this entire assembly in hunger.'
Whoa — what happened?
Why not simply ask, 'What will we eat?' — just as they earlier asked, 'What will we drink?' Why this extreme response?
And did they forgot that just a week or two ago they had no water — and that, in the end, they found not just water, but abundance: **twelve **springs of water?
Yes, it took a moment. But the problem was solved.
Why the doom and gloom? Why the death wish? Why the sense of no hope.
After all, lack of water is far more dangerous than lack of food. And yet here, in the desert, the (seeming) absence of food is perceived as a death sentence for the nation as a whole.
Why?
Clearly, they viewed this situation as significantly worse than the lack of drinkable — or any — water that they had experienced not long before. And interestingly, G-d's response suggests that they may have a point.
Because this time, G-d does not lead to them to a place of bounty. He does not reveal a hidden resource. Instead, He bends — or suspends — the natural order itself and rains food down from the heavens.
Which suggest that, on some level, their assessment of reality was correct.
From a natural perspective, there was no way to bring an entire nation through this desert and have them survive. And from that perspective, the complaint has a certain logic to it. They were not interested in freedom for freedoms sake if the cost of that freedom was national suicide.
But I suspect that this was precisely the point.
G-d intentionally brought them into a place where logic, experience and reason all said: this cannot work.
And it was precisely there — in that arational space — that G-d introduces a test: whether or not we could walk in His Torah:
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה הִנְנִ֨י מַמְטִ֥יר לָכֶ֛ם לֶ֖חֶם מִן־הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וְיָצָ֨א הָעָ֤ם וְלָֽקְטוּ֙ דְּבַר־י֣וֹם בְּיוֹמ֔וֹ לְמַ֧עַן אֲנַסֶּ֛נּוּ הֲיֵלֵ֥ךְ בְּתוֹרָתִ֖י אִם־לֹֽא
Shemos · 16:4And Hashem said to Moshe: Behold, I am raining down for you bread from the heavens. And the people shall go out and gather each day's portion in its day — so that I may test them: will they go in My Torah, or not?
English translation:
And Hashem said to Moshe: 'Behold, I am about to rain down for you bread from the heavens; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion on its day, in order that I may test them — whether they will walk in My Torah or not.'
Which brings us to the questions.
Why the need for a test at all? Why is the test through food? What is the connection between food and the Torah? What is the connection between food and Shabbos? And why now?
- Why not immediately create this test?
- Why wait until after Marah — after the twelve springs and seventy date trees?
I hope to deal with some of these questions this week (others will have to wait to another time).
And while we're asking: what is the deal with Marah and the twelve springs and seventy date trees.
Those stories go almost as quickly as they come. A brief mention and that is it. **But **— and this is an important but — let's note what is hiding in plain site within those stories.
At Marah, there is Torah:
וַיִּצְעַ֣ק אֶל־יְהֹוָ֗ה וַיּוֹרֵ֤הוּ יְהֹוָה֙ עֵ֔ץ וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ֙ אֶל־הַמַּ֔יִם וַֽיִּמְתְּק֖וּ הַמָּ֑יִם
שָׁ֣ם שָׂ֥ם ל֛וֹ חֹ֥ק וּמִשְׁפָּ֖ט וְשָׁ֥ם נִסָּֽהוּ׃
וַיֹּ֩אמֶר֩ אִם־שָׁמ֨וֹעַ תִּשְׁמַ֜ע לְק֣וֹל ׀ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ וְהַיָּשָׁ֤ר בְּעֵינָיו֙ תַּעֲשֶׂ֔ה וְהַֽאֲזַנְתָּ֙ לְמִצְוֺתָ֔יו וְשָׁמַרְתָּ֖ כׇּל־חֻקָּ֑יו כׇּֽל־הַמַּחֲלָ֞ה אֲשֶׁר־שַׂ֤מְתִּי בְמִצְרַ֙יִם֙ לֹא־אָשִׂ֣ים עָלֶ֔יךָ כִּ֛י אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה רֹפְאֶֽךָ
Shemos · 15:25-26And he cried out to Hashem, and Hashem showed him a tree, and he threw it into the water — and the water became sweet.
There He set for him a statute and a law, and there He tested him.
And He said: If you will surely listen to the voice of Hashem your G-d, and do what is upright in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments, and guard all His statutes — every illness that I set upon Mitzrayim I will not set upon you. For I am Hashem, your Healer.
English translation:
And Moshe cried out to Hashem; and Hashem showed him a tree. He cast it into the waters, and the waters became sweet.
There He set for them statute and judgment, and there He tested them.
And He said: 'If you will surely listen to the voice of Hashem your God, and do what is upright in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments, and guard all His statutes, all the illness that I placed upon Egypt I will not place upon you— for I am Hashem, your healer.'
Here we see some sort of connection between water and Torah. Okay, it's not food — but food and water are essentially two sides of the same coin. And we have already noted the (seeming) connection between the twelve springs and seventy date trees on the one hand and the twelve names and seventy souls that came down to Egypt on the other.
And now we note that it is the descendants of those twelve sons and seventy souls who are here, at this moment in this desert, being given this Torah.
They are the ones who are receiving the *chok u'mishpat *(חֹ֥ק וּמִשְׁפָּ֖ט). They are the ones who G-d will test — to see whether or not they will walk in G-d's Torah. They are the ones who will soon stand at Har Sinai, hear G-d declare that He is Hashem, their G-d. And they — or their children — will be the ones who fully receive the Torah at the end of forty years in the desert.
And it is here — at Marah and Elim, the first two post-Yam Suf stops in this forty-year journey — that we are given an introduction to the story of the manna, and to its test: whether we will walk in G-d's Torah.
It all seems pretty connected to me.
The Torah connection we will have to explore another time — but just note, it is there and it needs to be understood.
For now, though, I just want to focus on the element of food. And I would like to do so by first going back to the beginning. The very beginning. As in day one beginning.