ּּB'kiat (Kriyat) Yam Suf

Three questions we'll try to address:

1. Why is Kriyat Yam Suf not considered the "11th plague" grouped with the plagues preceding it?

2. Why did Kriyat Yam Suf need to happen at all?

3. What about Kriyat Yam Suf makes it worthy as the culminating event of the exodus?

Setting the Stage

What Happened at the Sea?

The Merit by which the Sea Split

Excerpt from "Why Did the Sea Split?" By Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen

"With regard to Yosef, one possible approach is that, when faced with the test with Potiphar’s wife, Yosef rose above his nature by resisting his natural human desires in a super-natural way and ran out of the room. In this merit, the sea went against its nature and ‘fled’ from itself so to speak, by splitting. A similar approach can be applied to Nachson – he went against the natural way of acting by walking straight into a raging sea until it reached the point where he could no longer breathe. So again, by rising above the natural mode of behavior, he merited that the sea act in an ‘unnatural’ manner and split."

Kriyat Yam Suf as the climax of not only the exodus, but of all creation

Excerpt from "The Parting of the Sea" by R. Yisrael Isser Herczeg

"The Baalei HaTosafos ask (Tosafos HaShalem, vol. 1, pp. 40-41), what need was there for God to say, “Let the dry land appear”? Once the waters collected into one place, the dry land would have appeared automatically even if God had not said anything more. The Baalei HaTosafos answer that with the words “let the dry land appear,” God alluded to the Parting of the Red Sea. The verse means, let the waters collect permanently into one place, but on the condition that they will part and let the dry land appear when Israel enters the sea.

...

The conventional wisdom, and indeed, the opinion of most rishonim (medieval commentators), is that failure to fulfill a condition renders an act invalid because of a lack of consent on the part of the parties doing the act. Take, for example, a transaction such as purchasing an object. In order for such a transaction to take effect, both the buyer and the seller must consent to it. If the buyer says to the seller, “I buy this object only on condition that you do such-and-such tomorrow,” if the seller does not fulfill the condition, the purchase does not take effect because the buyer does not consent to it. Fulfillment of the condition is thus the culmination of the transaction.

With this in mind we can begin to understand why God made a condition with the sea to part before Israel. For it was only when this took place and Israel sang out to God that Creation was completed. It was at this point that the formation of the Jewish soul was completed. From then on, the world was whole, with all of its components. Its evolution would progress through their perfection, not through the introduction of new types of entities."

Conclusion

To answer the three questions we started with:

1. Why is Kriyat Yam Suf not considered the 11th plague grouped with the ones preceding it?

• Unlike the first ten plagues in which G-d took care of everything and the Jews observed, Kriyat Yam Suf required the Jews to take their first steps forward, through their own actions, in bringing about their redemption.

2. Why did Kriyat Yam Suf need to happen at all?

• Without Kriyat Yam Suf, the Jews could not have secured their freedom, because they hadn't had the opportunity to step up to the plate and demonstrate their ability and will to be partners with G-d – G-d had done it alone until then. With Nachshon and the people walking into the sea, Am Yisrael capitalized on the opportunity to elevate themselves and earn freedom. It was the first foray in exercising our own agency to achieve what was possible.

3. What about Kriyat Yam Suf makes it worthy as the culminating event of the exodus?

• Pesach is zman cherutenu, the time of our freedom and as such only concludes once the Am Yisrael utilized their freedom to break free of mental bondage. Not only the climax of the exodus but of all creation, Kriyat Yam Suf is where Bnei Yisrael took hold of their role as an active partner alongside G-d in the world, able to transcend nature to transform the world around them, the ultimate expression of a free people.

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Pesach, Am Yisrael's divine redemption and national origin story, is undoubtedly G-d's spotlight when He makes Himself fully known to the world via unprecedented phenomena, carrying out divine justice. Through the ten plagues, the Jews are rescued from Egypt, witnessing miracles testifying to G-d's power and role in redeeming them from servitude. Pesach is a time to celebrate that – to recognize G-d's wonders and glory that bring the Jews out of the depths of slavery in Egypt.

But Kriyat Yam Suf, the climax of the exodus, is the needed, final component that secures Am Yisrael their new status as a free people: the courageous demonstration that we can and will transcend our pre-conceived natural limitations to achieve improbable and even seemingly impossible feats, with G-d by our side.

This is found by the actions that merited the sea to split: Nachson taking those steps into the sea before it parted, rising above his hestitations; Yosef resisting Potiphar's wife, elevating himself above his natural inclinations; and Avraham acting with alacrity to chop wood in preparation of sacrificing Yitzchak, the ultimate contrast to what human instinct would dictate.

As Moshe cries out to G-d with the Egyptians in pursuit at the sea and the Jews complaining of their supposedly impending doom, G-d responds that the time for prayer is not now. It was time for the people to breaking the barriers of bondage constraining them both physically and, more importanrly, mentally. In order to take agency over their lives and complete their role in creation, Am Yisrael had to take action themselves in a way that acknowledged and leveraged their ability to transcend human nature. Doing so reveals Am Yisrael's ability to subsequently change the nature of the world around them. G-d had superseded nature alone to that point – now was Am Yisrael's time to emulate G-d and take part.

Kriyat Yam Suf offers insight into Am Yisrael's emergence as a truly free people, only possible by proceeding undauntedly, guided by their faith in G-d's guiding hand. The freedom earned then is the freedom we must strive to attain each day. Doing so inevitably asks of us to take bold action – plunging into the depths of seas, empowered by the embrace of G-d by our side orchestrating wonders, both miraculous and seemingly normal, before us. May we never underestimate ourselves, and always recognize our divinely endowed ability to go beyond what we thought was possible, with the potential to transform the world around us in the same way, attaining ultimate freedom.

Appendix A: 'בקע' - 'Splitting' elsewhere in the Torah, signifying a supernatural event

Appendix B: Yam Suf as the climax to the exodus

Appendix C: Why did the exodus finale happen as it did by the sea with the Egyptians drowning?

The Vilna Gaon (quoted in Kol Eliyahu, Parshas Bo) adds that the ge'ulah was not complete until kriyas Yam Suf when the Mitzrim were punished in the water, middah k'neged middah, in return for the evil they perpetrated against Klal Yisrael when they decreed that every Jewish newborn male child should be thrown into the river

Appendix D: In what merit did the Jews deserve to be taken out of Egypt at all?

Appendix E: The Haggadah mentioning Kriyat Yam Suf as a "plague"