08 Apr THE MIRACLE AT THE RED SEA

In the blessings that we
say after Krias Shema
in the morning liturgy,
we include a puzzling
statement. “V’Yam Suf
bakata, v’zeidim tibata,
vy’didim he’evarta,
vay’chasu mayim
tzoreihem – Hashem split
the Red Sea, drowned the sinners, His beloved
he brought across safely, and then caused the
waters of the Red Sea to cover over the heads
of our adversaries.” The obvious question
is in the sequence of these events. We say
that Hashem drowned the Egyptians and
then crossed us over while we know that the
opposite happened. We crossed first and then
the Egyptians were drowned!
The simple answer is that the Egyptians
entered into the Red Sea while we were still
in the waters. We actually were the bait to lure
them inside. And, as they began to drown,
it was only then that we safely exited the
Red Sea. Afterwards, the waters completely
covered over them.
Rav Yaakov Ben Yakar offers another
explanation. He clarifies this stanza by posing
another question. What was the real purpose of
the miracle of the Red Sea? To save the Jews
or to drown the Egyptians? He answers that it
was certainly the latter, to punish the Egyptians
measure for measure for drowning our children
in the Nile, burying our babies in the walls of

Pitom and Ramses and, as the Maharil Diskin
explains, for attempting to drive us into the
Red Sea. After all, the purpose could not be
for the benefit of the Jews for Chazal teach us
that we exited from the Red Sea on the same
side we entered. We only went into the Red
Sea to serve as enticement for the Egyptians to
follow us and then go to their watery graves.
Thus, Rav Yaakov Ben Yakar concludes, we
say in our prayer, ‘v’zeidim tibata,’ and only
then, ‘vy’didim he’evarta,’ since the primary
purpose of the entire Red Sea episode was to
drown the willful sinners.
Others explain that as soon as we entered
the Red Sea, a ferocious stream of water
miraculously shot out from the Red Sea and
made its way as a projectile into mainland
Egypt and executed many who remained
at home in Mitzraiyim. As the verse says,
“Hashem yilocheim lachem b’Mitzrayim
– Hashem will do battle for you in Egypt.”
Thus, the verse says, ‘v’zeidim tibata,’ that
the wicked ones drowned in Egypt, only then
‘vy’didim he’evarta,’ we crossed the Red Sea
and afterwards, ‘vay’chasu mayim tzoreihem,’
the waters covered our adversaries, the
Egyptians, in the Red Sea.
The Yalkut Chodosh offers a fourth
explanation. We are taught that when Hashem
does battle with a nation, He attacks its
guardian angel first. Thus, the Yalkut states that
first Hashem plunged the Sar shel Mitzraiyim,
the angel of Egypt, into the Red Sea, and only

then did the nine million Egyptians drown.
Thus, ‘v’zeidim tibata,’ refers to the Sar shel
Mitzraiyim, and then ‘vy’didim he’evarta,’ He
crossed over His beloved Bnei Yisorel, and
only then ‘vay’chasu mayim tzoreihem,’ did
the waters cover the Egyptians themselves and
they went to their well-deserved deaths.
It is interesting to note that while everyone
assumes that the drowning of the Egyptians
in the Red Sea was a measure for measure
punishment for drowning our children in
the Nile, this is really not such a simple
explanation. For, the last baby that was put in
the Nile was Moshe Rabbeinu. After that, the
Egyptians stopped drowning the Jewish babies
because the astrologers informed Paroh that
the savior of Yisroel had already been put into
the sea. Since Moshe Rabbeinu was eighty
years old when we exited Egypt, that means
that any Egyptian who was actually guilty of
throwing a Jewish baby into the Nile had to be
a hundred years old at the time of the miracles
at the Red Sea and we can safely assume
that the nine million person militia sent out
from Egypt did not contain centenarians. So
then, how do we understand the measure for
measure of the drowning at the Red Sea?
The Maharil Diskin offers one novel
explanation that the nine million Egyptians
were gilgulim of those who had drowned our
babies. He offers a second explanation that the
punishment was measure for measure for the
Egyptians trying to drive us into the Red Sea

as they pursued us when we didn’t return back
to Egypt.
The Medrash relates that when the Egyptians
were about to drown, the guardian angel of
Egypt petitioned Hashem for mercy on behalf
of the Egyptians. The angel Gavriel responded
by taking a crushed Jewish baby out from the
walls of Pitom and Ramses and brought it
as evidence against the Egyptians. This is
what sealed their fate. Thus, we see that the
Medrash explains the measure for measure of
the Red Sea was that the Egyptians sunk into
the clay and boiling river bed of the Yam Suf
for bringing our babies in the clay and mortar
of Pitom and Ramses.
May it be the will of Hashem that we
successfully understand all of our prayers
and in that merit may Hashem answer all
of our tefilos for long life, good health, and
everything wonderful.