Beshalach 5631 Fourth Ma'amar

The nation of Israel is standing at the sea, trapped. The sea is in front of them and the Egyptian army is in hot pursuit behind them. The nation seeing this cried out to God. Moshe Rabbeinu, as well, cried out to God. The Ibn Ezra and the Ramban both have difficulty with Moshe Rabbeinu crying out to God. God had just finished telling him exactly what would happen. There were no surprises here. God told Moshe to bring the nation back to camp by the sea. He told Moshe clearly that Pharaoh would pursue them and that God would be glorified by the destruction of the Egyptians before their eyes. The nation may not have known all this. It is not clear from the pesukim that Moshe Rabbeinu told them this. They certainly had every reason to cry to God in prayer. Why, though, did Moshe Rabbeinu cry out to God?

The Sfas Emes explains that the righteous cry out to God even after they are promised salvation. As a vehicle for serving God and coming close to Him, prayer is relevant and required even after God promises to fulfill a request. This is the meaning of the Midrash that there are no guarantees for the righteous. According to the Sfas Emes, this means that the righteous understand that they must turn to God even after assurances are given. In fact, the Sfas Emes takes this idea a step further and says that God only makes the promise to those who will continue to turn to God in prayer even after the promise. Moshe Rabbeinu, therefore, cried out to got even after the promise. For this very reason, God made the promise known to him.

The nation, on the other hand, apparently would not have continued to pray for salvation had we known God’s promise to destroy the Egyptians. It is possible that for this reason God did not command Moshe Rabbeinu to convey the promise of Egypt’s destruction to the nation. God wanted our prayers, as it were. Chazal teach us that God wants us to cry out to Him. In Shir HaShirim we find, “יוֹנָתִי בְּחַגְוֵי הַסֶּלַע ... הַשְׁמִיעִנִי אֶת-קוֹלֵךְ .../My dove, in the clefts of the rock … let me hear your voice …” The Midrash in this week’s parsha explains that this is an allegory. It refers to God telling the nation of Israel at the sea that He wants to hear our voice in prayer.

God wants us to turn to Him always. The Sfas Emes teaches in a different ma’amar that we are required to turn to God in prayer even after our prayers are answered. This approach to prayer is very different from the conventional approach. This approach to prayer is based on the concept that prayer is primarily a tool for coming close to God, may we merit it.