Question: The pasuk says: ויראו העם ויאמינו – “The people saw, and they believed”, after the miracles that occurred at Kriyas Yam Suf, the Yidden saw, and they believed. What type of belief is this? If they were able to see, why did they need to believe?
Answer: The Chiddushei HaRim explains that our eyes often fool us. Even if we see something, it is possible we are wrong. We are so used to seeing teva, natural occurrences, that we assume that everything we see will fit this pattern. Even if we see a miracle, we usually try to find some natural process to explain it. For this reason, even when Hashem performs miracles, He adds a natural component as well. The pasuk says that there was a strong eastern wind blowing during Kriyas Yam Suf and the Sefer HaChinuch explains that this was the small amount of teva mixed in to hide the miracle. Since we need to have bechirah [free choice], Hashem need to keep the option for someone to chas vesholam deny the miracles and attribute them to natural causes.
Therefore, the pasuk says that they saw the nes, AND they believed – they did not try to explain it away. They realized that it was the Yad Hashem, and they recognized the great miracle.
