An atheist was visiting Scotland. While boating on the famed Loch Ness he sees a giant slithering eel-like creature undulating through the water. With a whack of its tail, the creature launches the man and the boat high into the air. What does the atheist yell out? “God, save me!” A miracle! The man is suspended 200 feet in the air. The Loch Ness monster is immediately below him, jaws wide open, ready to swallow. A booming voice comes from Heaven, “Give Me one good reason why I should save you. You haven’t believed in Me a day in your life!” The atheist replies, “G-d, please — cut me some slack. Until a few minutes ago I didn’t believe in the Loch Ness monster either!”
Now, imagine you are an Ancient Egyptian who does not believe in G-d. Suddenly before your very own eyes, the sea splits into two mighty pillars of water, forming a tremendous highway and escape route for the Jews. Would it even cross your mind to chase after them? Are you not afraid that (as EMINEM said) ‘snap back to reality. Oh, there goes gravity’ and the miraculous water wall might come crashing down! Some supernatural power is clearly looking out for the Jews – surely this cannot be a natural phenomenon! No one in their right mind could suggest such a thing – or, hummm, perhaps they could…
Surprisingly, commentator Ramban (died 1270) says exactly that! Hashem does not want His existence to be overly obvious – He always wishes for there to be an element of choice. By the splitting of the sea the Egyptians would have had no choice but to accept G-d – how else did it happen? The verse therefore says that Hashem caused a mighty wind to blow over the sea the entire night. This wind was set up as a means for the Egyptians to rationalise the miracle if they so wished! Says Ramban, since they were so set on denying Hashem they bit the bullet! They convinced themselves that the water wall was merely a natural phenomenon – a freak of nature! It was for this reason that the army chased after the Jews, for wind does not favour one nation over another.
Ramban wrote this 800 years ago, long before 1859 when Darwin published ‘Origin of the Species’. But I think the principle is equally applicable to contemporary times. Hashem provides every generation with its ‘wind’ – with a feeble alternative to belief in G-d. For the Egyptian people it was a wind, for many today it is evolution. Both are almost statistical impossibilities – but someone seeking any means to deny Hashem could foolishly put his faith in them. Hashem is a fair G-d – He wishes to maintain free choice, even for the wicked.
However, for us the message is clear, we must take lesson from our ancestors who were not fooled by the winds, as the narrative concludes ‘they believed in Hashem and in Moshe his servant’ – our ancestors rose above the ‘winds’ so should we.
Shabbat Shalom