Rashi was bothered as to why the reaction of the Jewish people, when faced with Pharaoh at their heels, was to pray, as this reaction seems like a conundrum.
If the Jewish people were confident in their promise from G-d to take them out of the land of Egypt, why would they show fear at this time and cry out? G-d had already assured them through Moshe that he would ultimately bring them to the Land of Israel:
Text 12
And I said, 'I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, the Chittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Chivvites, and the Yevusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.
Shemos 3:17
Why were they scared of Pharaoh, when the Almighty had already assured them that He would bring them to the land flowing with milk and honey?
Conversely, if the Israelites prayed to G-d because they did not trust His word, their crying seems out of place as well. If they had lost their faith in G-d’s assurance and indeed were fearful that Pharaoh would overtake them, why would they then pray to the same G-d that they weren’t trusting in?
If they trusted G-d would save them why did they pray to Him, and if they didn’t trust in Him, why would they pray to a G-d that they didn’t trust?!
Rashi therefore resolves this point by explaining, that their act of crying out to G-d was similar to prayer by the forefathers; the Patriarchs did not only turn to G-d in prayer when faced with adversary, but prayer was rather a “profession” of theirs.
They did not only pray when they had something specifically to pray for. They were in the habit of praying often.
So too, the Jewish people also prayed because it was their nature and “profession,” and not because they were worried about the outcome.
The Jewish people did not lose trust that G-d would save them from the hands of Pharaoh, but even though they trusted in their salvation, they prayed, as this is what Jews are inclined to do.
In the footsteps of their fathers
In each of the scenarios of the Patriarchs that Rashi cited, they were not in a stressful situation where they needed to pray for G-d’s salvation. Rather, each of those instances were in situations where there was nothing specific for them to pray for. It portrays their habit and “profession” of turning to G-d in prayer in all times.
In the same way, the Jewish people were indeed confident that the Almighty would fulfill his promise to take them out of Egypt, and that they wouldn’t be harmed by Pharaoh and his army.
However, being that their instinct was to turn to G-d at all times, they as well lifted their voices to the Almighty at this time, as Pharaoh and his troops advanced.
The trust of the Jewish people
It does seem though, that the Jewish people did lose some of their faith in the Almighty. As the verse tells us very soon after this time, that the Jewish people complained about G-d and did not believe that he would save them. The Torah relates:
Text 13
They said to Moshe, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us to die in the desert? What is this that you have done to us to take us out of Egypt? Isn't this the thing [about] which we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone, and we will serve the Egyptians, because we would rather serve the Egyptians than die in the desert.’?”
Shemos 14:11-12
While this verse may indeed express a lack of faith, this was after they had turned to G-d and yet they hadn’t received a response. Initially, they did trust in G-d, but once they had prayed and G-d had still not saved them, they began to lose hope.
In addition, it is also possible to explain that these words “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us to die in the desert,” were not an expression of a lack of faith, but rather an expression of their exasperation, and were words that they did not truly mean.
The Sages explain this idea as follows:
Text 14
Iyov speaks without knowledge, and his words are without wisdom. Raba said: “This teaches that a man is not held responsible for what he says when in distress.”
Talmud, Bava Basra 16b
When a person is overwhelmed, they often say things that they do not truly mean. The same too with the Jewish people—although they truly trusted in G-d and His deliverance, they still said words that implied otherwise.
We can see that G-d Himself attests to the faith that the Israelites had in Him. In His instruction to the Israelites to travel onward toward the direction of the sea, G-d instructed Moshe:
“Speak to the children of Israel and let them travel.” Rashi explains these words as an expression of the faith that the Jewish people had in the Almighty:
Text 15
They have nothing to do but to travel, for the sea will not stand in their way. The merit of their forefathers and their own [merit], and the faith they had in Me when they came out [of Egypt] are sufficient to split the sea for them.
Rashi, Shemos 14:15
G-d says that the merit that the Jewish people had was their faith in G-d. Their words that seemed to express otherwise were merely words said in frustration, when they were not in a proper state of mind.
Three verses
According to this understanding, we can appreciate why Rashi specifically brought the three verses that he did, in regard to the prayers of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.
Each of these scenarios brings support to Rashi’s statement that prayer was a “profession” by the Patriarchs, being that they portray the Patriarchs’ tendency to turn to G-d frequently in their lives, not only praying to Him in specific times of need.
Text 16
He prophesied that his sons were destined to stumble there because of the iniquity of Achan, and he prayed there for them.
Rashi, Bereishis 12:8
Similarly, when Avraham beseeched G-d to spare the cities of Sedom and Amorah, he was also obviously praying to accomplish a particular goal, and not merely turning to the Almighty as a “profession.”
Yitzchak: In the same way, Yitzchak’s entreaty to the Almighty for his wife to bear children was a prayer for a specific need, and also not a prayer expressed as his “profession.”
Yaakov: Yaakov’s prayer for the Almighty to save him from his brother Esav, was a supplication for salvation, as opposed to expressing his regular occurrence of prayer.
Therefore, Rashi brings the other three verses, each of which depict more everyday examples. In these instances, the Patriarchs also prayed to G-d, being that this was their “profession” and something they were accustomed to doing often.
With this understanding of Rashi’s original query, it is also evident why Rashi only brought his commentary regarding the Jewish people’s cries here, as opposed to the earlier time that their cries were mentioned, regarding the tremendous burdens that they suffered with in Egypt.
When the Jewish people “sighed from the labor, and they cried out,” their prayers were due to the burden of their labor. They were praying as a result of certain distress, and therefore Rashi did not find it necessary to explain the intent of their prayer.
Only later, by the crossing of the sea, when the Jewish people cried out despite their trust in the Almighty, did Rashi find it necessary to explain that they followed the footsteps of their forefathers and prayed for no specific purpose.
They seized the profession of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov and prayed, although they had trust in the Almighty.
The lesson
Each one of us must realize that the ultimate “profession” of the Jewish people is to serve G-d in prayer, in learning Torah and in doing mitzvos.
When we pray, when we study Torah, or when we fulfill any mitzvah, we must not only perform these for a specific purpose, but we should do so because this is our profession.
We should pray because this is our identity—to connect to the Almighty! We should learn Torah not only for the purpose of understanding which activities we should be doing or which we should stay away from.
Learning Torah and prayer themselves, should be our profession, being that our entire identity is G-dly and it is in a Jew’s nature learn and pray to G-d.
In the same way, we must realize that the Torah life is the profession of each and every Jew, no matter what they may appear to be on the outside; no matter if it may seem that this is not their real identity.
Even if externally, a person may not seem to be the type who is involved with Torah and mitzvos, we must realize that the Patriarchs bequeathed this “profession” to each and every one of their descendants; to each and every Jewish soul. We only need to reveal this desire from its hidden state.
(Based on Likutei Sichos 11, Beshalach 1, reworked by Rabbi Dovid Markel. To see other projects and to partner in our work, see: www.Neirot.com.)
