A couple of days ago it was the seventh day of Passover.

On that day, a bit over thirty-three centuries ago, a million people stood trapped against a swampy sea.

Over four hundred years before, facing a massive drought, their forbears had entered Egypt, and “sojourned” there of their own volition… at least initially.

Their status as guests had gradually changed into that of slaves.   So had their mindset.  Worse, they had progressively abandoned much of their heritage and adopted that of the Egyptians.

A few days before, the Israelites had been thrust out from the Land of Egypt after an escalating series of ten stunning plagues afflicted their captors. Pharaoh relented and ordered them out.

Within a few days Pharaoh, believing them to be merely attending a three day religious pilgrimage in the desert, noticed they had not returned. Furious that “his” slaves had outwitted the god-king of the Nile, he led his Army to either retrieve them or annihilate them at Yam Suf (The Sea of Reeds).

We are told that a strong wind blew all night from the wilderness to the East, drawing back the waters and provided a passageway for them to escape certain re-enslavement or death.

The Israelites and those who joined in their escape made it through to dry land on the other side.

The pursuing chariots of Pharaoh’s Army followed them into the seabed, only to become stuck fast in the mud, and, as the winds abated, they drowned in the returning waters.

The men broke into ecstatic song and dance at the incredible series of miracles wrought on their behalf. Their song noted both the escape, and the total destruction of their enemy pursuers.

Then Moses’ older sister, the prophetess Miriam, joined in the singing and dancing. The other women joined as well.

It is said that the (naturally superior) spiritual nature of women carried the song of praise up through the Heavens, until the Angels themselves joined in the recounting.

This song; the Shirat HaYam, was also a mystical “betrothal” between the People of Israel, and G-d, as bride and groom. The “wedding” took place less than two months later at Sinai.

Suddenly, the thundering voice of G-d himself rang out. “The Egyptians who have just drowned are also my children.” “Do you think I do not weep for their deaths?”

A mild rebuke perhaps, but an important point: The special nature of the Jew lay not in themselves, but in the crucial mission for which they were being prepared.

These past few weeks it has become easy to become callous as some Mohammedans in the Mideast and Africa seem more focused on wanton, orgiastic, slaughter of their brothers, rather than primarily of Christians and Jews.

Perhaps the time will come when they will mature to a point where this hallmark will no longer be central to their culture. This change should be encouraged, as, if they do not, the world will not stand by and wait patiently forever.

Meanwhile, two interesting articles from the past few days have stood out for me; an interesting book review, and a story of being one’s own worst enemy.

Thank you all for reading and for supporting our efforts towards freedom here at The Zelman Partisans!