Don’t Stand on Ceremony

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Who Jumped First?

According to the Talmud and Midrash, the differences amongst our people began to develop at the very beginning of our emergence as a nation and they continue to this day.

Even before we crossed the Sea of Reeds, and were totally out of the grasp of Pharaoh and his pursuing armies, we were already divided about what we should do.

At first the Jewish nation was split four ways as to what they should do when they found themselves squeezed between the sea and the onslaught of the Egyptian army. The first group said they should return to slavery. The second group insisted they should fight the Egyptians, while the third despaired and wanted to drown themselves. The fourth PASSOVER group decided to pray to G-d for salvation. In the end G-d decided that they continue their journey towards Sinai.

Even at that point, the Talmud (Sotah 36b) records that a dispute broke out as to who should be the first tribe to jump into the sea.

According to the opinion of Rabbi Meir, “One tribe declared, ‘I will jump into the sea first,’ while the other tribe said, ‘I will jump into the sea first.’ At that point, the tribe of Benjamin jumped into the sea first…”

Rabbi Yehudah, however, disagreed with Rabbi Meir and said to him: “No, this was not what happened! Rather, this one said: ‘I will not go into the sea first,’ while the other one said, ‘I will not go into the sea first.’ At that point, Nachshon, the son of Aminadav, jumped into the sea first.”

In other words, there was a dispute amongst the Talmudic Sages about the dispute of the Jews! According to the opinion of Rabbi Meir, they were divided as to which tribe will be the first to jump into the raging waters. Each tribe vied for this honor. And it was the PASSOVER tribe of Benjamin that did not wait for a formal announcement. They took the initiative and jumped first.

No Protocol in Times of Crisis

The obvious lesson from this approach to the narrative of the Jews going into the sea is that in times of crises there is no time to stand on ceremony. True, in times of peace and calm, it is important that there is a protocol. There must be a system of priority, who goes first and who follows. And each tribe is entitled to vie for the responsibility and honor of being first.

When it comes to times of crises, even Benjamin, the youngest of the tribes can override the system and jump into the sea. For this heroic and pioneering gesture on their part, the Talmud declares, the holiest section of the Temple—the place where the Ark and the Tablets were placed—was situated in the territory of Israel that belonged to the tribe of Benjamin.

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The Power of the Individual

Rabbi Yehudah, however, disagrees. In his opinion, the heroes are rarely, if ever, tribes as a whole. Communal entities, many will argue, must subscribe to a system, or else chaos will ensue. Furthermore, a tribe, government, or any bureaucracy is like a massive ship that cannot quickly maneuver itself into a new direction. Thus, each tribe insisted that it cannot do anything rash and be the first to jump into the sea without authorization. Committees have to be formed, votes have to be taken and the decision whether to jump or not must be a deliberate and slow process.

In these times of crises, a community depends on a Nachshon the son of Aminadav; a man who overrides the system and acts quickly and unceremoniously. And at that point the sea did split for everyone.

The lesson for our times is clear. While we should always try to work within the community for the well being of its constituents, we will always need individuals PASSOVER who cannot rest and cannot wait for the community to take the initiative. In every community there is a Nachshon who jumps into the sea and thereby saves the Jewish people. In modern as well as classical Hebrew, a pioneer is known as a Nachshon.

We can now appreciate why it was Nachshon who merited to be the ancestor of King David and all subsequent great Jewish leaders, from King David until the Moshiach.

The Two Nachshons of Our Century

While Judaism believes very strongly in community and collective action, it also believes that in every generation there is a great Jewish leader who does not wait for the community to decide, but takes the initiative and, figuratively, causes the sea to split, enabling the Jewish people to forge ahead towards our national and universal goal of bringing Moshiach and Redemption.

In our generation it was the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Joseph Schneerson and his successor Rabbi Menachem M.

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Schneerson, who, followed the model of Nachshon, and served as the impetus for a the explosion of Jewish life throughout the world, paving the way for Redemption.

In addition to their scholarship, piety and love for the Jewish people and humanity, they were/are the Nachshon’s of our modern age, fighting Communist oppression on one side of the ocean and American indifference on the other side. They single-handedly jumped into the raging waters that threatened to engulf the Jewish people and succeeded in getting these waters to split, reversing the trend that allowed the Jewish people to direct their energies towards the ultimate Messianic Age.

But the Rebbe was/is not content with serving as a leader who caused others to follow. The Rebbe as one prominent Jewish leader remarked “cultivated leaders not followers.”

The Rebbe’s efforts are directed towards revealing the Nachson and Moshiach within all of us, so that we can all collectively—not PASSOVER only as individuals—do the unconventional and make the plunge and bring Moshiach.

Indeed, the Rebbe in the year 5751 declared: “I have done all I can do to bring Moshiach, and now I am handing it over to you.” The Rebbe endeavored to reconcile the two opinions if the plunge was a collective effort or an individual initiative. The Rebbe, the Nachshon individual par excellence, revealed and activated the Nachshon within all of us. With this power we will surely bring the Redemption imminently.

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From the book Light from the Future: Last Days of Passover by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.