In our Parasha Beshalach the hero at the splitting of the sea according to Jewish tradition was Nachshon ben Aminadav, he was a prince of the tribe of Judah. He was the brother-in-law of Aaron, the high priest- Cohen Gadol.

After 7 days the Israelites found themselves in front of the red sea without possibility to cross it and the pursuing Egyptian army behind them, in this moment Moses supplicates to God for a miracle and the response from God is: “Why do you cry out to me? Speak to the children of Israel and let them journey!”

Rashi, the most famous Torah commentator explains that at this moment Moses was engaged in standing and praying, God answered that now is not the correct time for prayer but rather for immediate action – to lead the people in faith into the sea despite the enormity of the situation before them.

There exists a time not to pray – but a time to take action.

Apparently it seems at first sight a contradiction: Is it not that prayer can answer all things? Should our faith not provide the support for our lives?

Judaism is an extremely pragmatic faith, while we believe in divine intervention and the power of prayer, the existence of angels and miracles: we hold another value very close to our hearts:

We believe in taking actions.

Not only do we believe in powerful influential individuals, but we believe in the power the immortality of each action and ultimately that all life is inherently meaningful.

According to the Midrash, the iconic miracle of the splitting of the sea is not attributed to Moses and Aaron, but rather to Aaron’s brother-in-law:

The call for action, for inspiration, for doing goes out beyond the realm of our leaders to each member of our people – in a situation that calls for action everyone should answer and  act.

Let’s learn to be more active in our congregation, to feel our mutual responsibility toward our community making all possible to assure our and our children’s Jewish identity.

The continuation of our traditions will transcend in the heart and the actions of our future generations.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Refael Cohen