 ... The Hidden Depths ... ... Recommend this page to a friend. Each year we read the famous story of the Splitting of the Red Sea. Like all stories in our Torah, it is not a mere historical event, but one that has its parallel in the microcosm that is the human being throughout the ages. The Talmud tells us that ‘everything that exists on land also exists in the sea.’ The difference is that whereas on land we see every creature and in full detail, the sea appears to us as a uniform body of water, all its inhabitants buried deep within. In mystical, Kabalistic terms, there is a ‘revealed world’ and a ‘hidden world’. Just as the sea contains all that the land does, but in a hidden state, so the hidden spiritual world contains all that the physical world does. The same is true of the human intellect – the conscious, rational mind is a reflection of the hidden, sub-conscious realm of the soul. Although the two are like chalk and cheese, they are inextricably linked. Even when we are seemingly utilizing only our mundane, revealed potential, we are tapping into the vast pool of resources concealed deep within. How are the two linked …the Splitting of the Sea, and the human intellect (the vast pool of resources concealed deep within us; sometimes referred to as "The Wellsprings of Wisdom")? When the sea split, the entire underwater world was revealed, albeit briefly, for all to see. Brief it may have been, but the seeds were sown. Like any other Torah event, it resounds throughout the generations. It is that brief, miraculous glimpse of the hidden depths, as we stood by the Sea, waiting to cross through the waters, which provides the impetus through to the present-day. One of the challenges we face in life is realizing this connection between the concealed and the revealed, and ringing it to the fore. Through our own personal "Splitting of the Sea", by tapping into our own hidden reservoir, the potential to perceive things with greater depth and profundity, both within our own psyche and in the world around us, becomes real. What's interesting is that the story is simple; you don't even have to take it literally (splitting the sea?) ... but what we can learn from these stories is of infinite value (is that G-d's wisdom?) ... the story (that's right, you too can visit Wikipedia): G-d chooses Moses to lead the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and into the land of Canaan, which he has promised to them. Pharaoh agrees to their departure, and they travel from Ramesses to Succoth and then to Etham on the edge of the desert, led by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. There G-d tells Moses to turn back and camp by the sea at Pi-Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. But G-d caused Pharaoh to pursue the Israelites with his chariots, and he overtook them at Pi-Hahiroth. When the Israelites saw Pharaoh's army they were afraid, but Yahweh told Moses to raise his staff and stretch out his hand over the sea to divide the waters so that the Israelites would pass through on dry land. The pillar of fire and the cloud interposed themselves between the Israelites and the Egyptians, and all that night the Egyptians were in darkness and the Israelites in light, and a strong east wind drove the sea back so that the dry land was exposed, and the Israelites passed through the sea with a wall of water on either hand. The Egyptians pursued them, but G-d clogged their chariot-wheels, and at daybreak G-d commanded Moses to hold his hand out over the water, and the sea returned and the army of the Egyptians was destroyed. And when the Israelites saw the power of G-d, they put their faith in G-d and in Moses, and sang a song of praise to G-d for the crossing of the sea and the destruction of their enemies. Comments, questions, suggestions, and criticisms are always welcomed.  Now this way to the ... Index of Jewish Studies ... there is plenty more. This'll bring us to the ... Navigator ... the heart of this site. |