Bnei Yisrael were surrounded by danger on all sides. Moshe, their leader, cried out to G-d in prayer. G-d replied, “Why do you cry out to Me? Speak to Bnei Yisrael and have them journey forth. And you, raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and split it, and the children of Israel shall come in the midst of the sea on dry land.”
Rashi notes that before G-d instructed Moshe to split the sea, He reprimanded him, saying, “Why do you cry out to Me?” As Rashi explains, “Moshe was standing and praying. G-d said to him, ‘Now is not a time to pray at length, when Israel is in distress.’”
We can only imagine the profound union with G-d that Moshe experienced during prayer. Nevertheless, G-d reprimanded Moshe for his lengthy prayers here. For notwithstanding the value of Moshe’s Divine worship, the moment had come for him to lead Bnei Yisrael to salvation—it was not time to engage in anything else.
With the words “Why do you cry out to Me,” G-d was teaching Moshe, and in turn each and every one of us, that our responsibilities toward our fellow Jews may not be treated as an afterthought. When a Jew is at risk of devastation, whether physical or spiritual, we must put everything else aside and devote ourselves to saving him, even if this means sacrificing opportunities for our personal growth.
—Toras Menachem, vol. 25, pp. 42–45
