Trust Him

Instead of smiting Egypt, wouldn’t it have been easier to cover the nation in darkness first, and lead the Jews out? Why was the process of humbling Pharaoh and his people done in stages? Before the Torah was given to us, we were commanded to keep certain mitzvot. One of the mitzvot was to trust in Hashem. Our entire Exodus from Egypt was one giant test of Emunah.
 
The plagues were as much for us as they were for the Egyptians. Ten times over, we saw how Hashem took the mightiest nation on earth and reduced it to rubble. From the first plague of blood, where the waters of Goshen remained clean, to the final plague of the firstborn, we also saw how Hashem miraculously protected the Jewish People. After witnessing these wonders, there could be no question about the certainty of our Redemption.
 
Then we approached the sea.
 
Pharaoh’s army was right behind us. Sandwiched between the mightiest of armies and the water, that certainty of Redemption was tested. G-d just overturned every law of Heaven and earth to free us. He didn’t do it so we would die. He sent us on a mission. As long as we continued on that mission, we could trust that Hashem would do the rest. One man led the way. He showed his complete faith in G-d by walking into the water. Even as the water was about to suffocate him, he still kept going. If G-d wouldn’t let nature get in the way of the mission, neither would he.
 
The sea split.
 
A month later we ran out of food. This was another test. It wasn’t a quick trial that lasted for an hour. The dread of going without sustenance is a moment-to-moment fear that burdens our minds for days, years, even an entire lifetime. After experiencing all that Hashem did for us, one thing was certain: we were not going to starve. Based on everything we just saw, and everything Hashem promised us – there was nothing to worry about.
 
Time got the better of us. We complained. We worried about our income. Hashem, in His compassion, didn’t punish us. He gave us a chance to correct ourselves. We would be given enough Manna – heaven-sent bread – for just one day. By nightfall, there would be no food in any Jewish kitchen. We would have to have faith – every 24 hours – that Hashem would provide another day’s worth of bread by sunrise.
 
He always did.
 
It wasn’t the Jews who built the golden calf. It was the riffraff of Egypt that switched sides at the last moment, and left with us. When they decided to build the idol, we should have stood up to them. There were 3,000 of them, and 600,000 of us. If Hashem would destroy a nation of idolaters, surely He would subdue a handful of hypocrites.
 
It was up to us to have faith in Hashem that He would deliver us from the hands of the evildoers. Wasn’t this the very faith David ben Yishai showed by challenging a giant to a fight to the death after he profaned G-d’s Name? We should have put a stop to it.
 
To this day we fight these very same battles. As the economy sours, we worry about where our next meal will come from. With a new government planning all types of sanctions against the Torah-observant public, no one knows what the future will hold. It is up to us to trust that Hashem will provide our every need, every day, no matter what.
 
Each day we are commanded to remember all that Hashem did to redeem us from Egypt. If G-d changed the very nature of His universe for us to exist until now, why worry about the illusion of uncertainties that might face us tomorrow? We are commanded to remember how our Emuna became our first national war – the conflict with Amalek. Amalek is the nation of doubt. It’s the nation that spews the message that G-d isn’t everywhere. The world is a random place, and if you don’t have what it takes to survive in the rat race – you won’t. Their message is so revolting we are commanded to blot out even the memory of this wretched people. We did not defeat them with might. We won while Moshe raised his arms to G-d in supplication. What is the exact word the Torah uses to describe Moshe’s prayers?
 
Emuna.
 
In our generation, we are also leaving Egypt. We are making our personal Exodus from a state of chaos and materialism, to a place of clarity and G-dliness. G-d willing, we will all see great success and joy in our journey to the Promised Land. May our paths meet at the guaranteed destination. How will we know the promise is guaranteed?
 
Trust Him.
 
 
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Veteran educator Rabbi Dovid Charlop teaches at Yeshivat Neve Tzion in Telzstone, Israel