A Midrash for the 6th Day of Passover

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<p>Nachshon</p>

<p>And the Israelites made it to the Red Sea. And it wasn’t budging.</p>

<p>Word had come that the armies of Pharoah were following close behind. In chariots.</p>

<p>And so the people prayed, and meditated, and sacrificed. And nothing happened. And then they did some more of the same.</p>

<p>And then Moses got this great idea. He got his staff, the one that had turned into a serpent, and, in full anachronistic imitation, you know what came next. He raised his rod, and, lo and behold, awaited the word of God (or Cecil B. DeMille) to make it happen. And then, according to the Talmudic rabbis – it didn’t. Nothing in fact happened. Nothing at all.</p>

<p>Now Moses didn’t have a spare rod, so he kept raising the same one again and again, waving his arms wildly like someone alerting a helicopter rescue to his whereabouts, and the people prayed and moaned and gnashed their teeth and killed a few more birds and goats and sheep. And nothing happened. And they could now see the dust being kicked up by Pharoah’s chariots.</p>

<p>Now, the rabbis tell us, there was a man by the name of Nachshon (some say he was Aaron’s brother-in-law, but that might just be window dressing after the fact). And he was fed up with all this praying and meditating and sacrificing, and all this waiting for Moses’ magic wand to get new batteries. It didn’t seem to be getting them anywhere quickly.</p>

<p>And somehow he decided that he’d rather be covered over by the waters than by the wheels of Pharoah’s chariots. And so he headed off to the water and stuck a toe in. It was warm enough, and then he got in as deep as his ankles. And waded further up to his hips. And nothing particular happened. Now up to his chest. And then he took another step, and the water lapped over his shoulders. One more step and it was right under his nose. All red and everything. </p>

<p>Nachson was about to take his next (and probably last) step, when a reed tickled his nose, and he sneezed. And “at the blast of his nostrils, the waters piled up, the floods stood up in a heap; and the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.” Or some such. At any rate, the waters parted, just like in the movies, and the Israelites, all 600,000 of them, plus their wives (average 2.2 for each man), and all their children, their remaining goats and sheep and chickens, their slaves, and the matzoh remnants tied into neat little bundles. And they made it across, and Pharoah’s chariots following, and every one of them, horse and rider, was drowned in the sea.</p>

<p>After that, we don’t know what happened to Nachson. Maybe he was asked to help lead the celebration, with the prayers and meditation and sacrifices. Or maybe he just wandered off anonymously, having fulfilled his historical potential, having done the one right thing in his life he was called on to do, at the right time, and in the right place. Maybe he got a cold. Or maybe he was just drowned in the sea, whilst the others got across to dry land.</p>

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<p>Mini, I enjoyed reading your version. Probably just as accurate as the version in my Haggadah.</p>

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<p>We happen to like this story, too.</p>

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<p>One thing I like about that story is it highlights the necessity of action and how action is what defines you and your relation to God. </p>

<p>This is one of the huge differences between Judaic and Christian approaches. In the Hebrew/Israelite stories, you are evil if you do evil. Egyptians aren’t evil. Persians aren’t evil, though Haman is and then only because he does evil. Even the Moabites, who are named as enemies, aren’t evil, as shown by Ruth the Moabite proving her worthiness and becoming part of the people by her actions.</p>

<p>What became Christian belief is different. To discuss this historically only - trying to be clear about that - when the expected end of the world didn’t happen, those believers had to create something that would continue if the world stuck around. They used the Passover - and the Isaac story - but changed it significantly. They believed the death and resurrection was extremely important so they turned the execution into a sacrifice and thus into what I think of as the bridge to heaven that can only be crossed by believers. An aspect is that just like with Passover, you need to experience the sacrifice personally in your life. But the suffering and the idea that Jesus was killed because the world is wicked has meant through history that those who don’t believe are inherently wicked. They are not wicked because of what they do but by what they believe because it is not believing which becomes the action. And this action causes Jesus to suffer on the Cross in each moment. That is to me the essential transformation into Christianity. </p>

<p>It’s fascinating to read history through a lens that characterizes the quality of belief. It makes it easier to understand The Inquisition and the vast numbers of massacres in Christian history. The hatred of heretics is rooted not in the actual doctrinal differences but in the belief these reflect unbelief that is inherently wicked and which must be eliminated. If you don’t, then you must be put to the sword and all trace of you eliminated to wipe out the stain. I find it interesting the call to action we see in the story of Nachson becomes a call not to act for yourself but to act against the wickedness of others.</p>

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<p>A friend of mine says I am going to he’ll because I am a non believer. He is a believer.</p>

<p>He was my ex boss and we worked in a small office. My wife walked into the office one day and said, “It is hot in here”.</p>

<p>And my boss looked at her and said, “It is not as hot as where you are going”.</p>

<p>Lergnom,I like your post, but I don’t know if it is going to last…</p>

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<p>" I find it interesting the call to action we see in the story of Nachson becomes a call not to act for yourself but to act against the wickedness of others."</p>

<p>Maybe he got trampled by the Israelites rushing on through. ;)</p>