Crossing the Sea

When you pass through the waters, I am with you, yes, I am with you.
I won’t let the rivers overwhelm you, I will be with you. (Isaiah 43:2, Chant by Rabbi Shefa Gold)

I lead a weekly Jewish meditation group on Tuesday mornings, which includes 20 minutes of silence together. This morning, we opened with chanting Through the Waters, a powerful chant practice for remembering that we are not alone in this journey of embodied life. Here is the teaching I shared before our silence:

We are approaching the final days of Passover.  There is a tradition that on the 7th day of Passover, which begins tonight, the Israelites cross the Sea.  

The Israelites flee Egypt following the 10th plague, the death of the firstborn of Egypt, and we might imagine that this is the dramatic end of the story of the Israelite’s exodus from Egypt, but no!  Pharaoh has another change of heart about releasing them from his service and he and his army pursue the fleeing Israelites with chariots.  

An angel of God intervenes—the pillar of cloud that had been in front of the Israelites, guiding them, shifts from in front to behind them, to separate the Egyptians from the Israelites by a cloud of darkness.   Then a strong east wind blows and turns the sea into dry ground, the waters forming two walls to the right and left, leaving a tunnel, or birth canal, for the Israelites to walk through.   

How do I imagine our experience of crossing the sea?

Here we are, together, in this tunnel in the sea

Nobody talking or singing or even humming

We are silent, together, not knowing what comes next

Will we make it to the other side?

Will the walls close in and drown us all? 

Will there be anyone left to remember us?  

Why did we leave?  Did we have a choice? 

Here we are, together

Future generations will say that we lived through a miracle

When we get to the other side, we will sing and dance

Yet for this moment, here we are, in this tunnel in the sea

Each step, each breath, a miracle