One of the continuing regrets I have in my work as the K-1 teacher in a Sunday morning Hebrew school is that I feel compelled to spend an inordinate amount of time on the children that act out, shout out, and/or just can’t seem to sit in their seats. The wholly ‘good’ kids – the ones who are eager to learn, sit in their seats, and play by the rules – consistently get less attention than I’d like to give them.
As I see in this week’s Torah reading, Moshe faced a similar challenge as the leader of the Jewish people. In at least one situation, he managed to apportion his attention fairly and ‘reward’ the faithful.
The Jews have escaped Egypt, traveled for a few days, and are now encamped by the Red Sea. Then they see that the Egyptian army has pursued them and fast approaches. “The Children of Israel raised their eyes and behold - Egypt was traveling after them and they (the Jews) were very frightened; the Children of Israel cried out to God. And they said to Moshe: Were there no graves in Egypt that you took us to die in the wilderness? What did you do to us, to take us out of Egypt? Didn’t we tell you in Egypt: Let us be and we will serve Egypt, for it is better that we should serve Egypt than we should die in the wilderness.” (14: 10-12).
Ramban and other commentators read these verses and discern that the reactions to the approaching threat reflect two different groups within the nation of Israel. One group, the faithful (the “Children of Israel”), saw the threat and “cried out to God” – as Rashi interprets this phrase, they prayed. The other group (referred to more dismissively as “they”) saw the threat and complained cynically to Moshe.
But look at Moshe’s response. “Moshe said to the people: Do not fear! Stand firm and see the salvation of God that He will perform for you today; for as you have seen Egypt today, you shall not see them ever again. God will make war for you. And you (emphasis added), shall remain silent.” (14:13-14)
We can interpret Moshe’s reply as addressing both groups’ distinctly. The prayerful group gets ample assurance. The grumbling group is told, basically, to shut up (although they had, of course, just heard the reassuring message too). In his attention and speech, Moshe is able to ‘reward’ the faithful and not so subtly both reassure & chide the cynics.
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