The Philosophy and Understanding of a Miracle

Smack in the middle of the narrative of the story of the Jewish people’s departure from Egypt, the Torah decides to pause and present to us the mitzvah of wearing teffilin. Why does the Torah choose to do this, especially at the very moment we have all been waiting for; the climax of the exodus. It seems like a rather unnecessary pause in the story?

The Ramban, Nachmonides, on the spot comes forward with an answer. The Ramban states that the entire purpose of the exodus from Egypt and the miracle of the splitting of the Red Sea was solely for the mitzvah of tefillin. He explains that the boxes of tefillin contain within them the passages from the Torah recount the Exodus from Egypt. Therefore, tefillin should be worn every day in order to remind ones self about the miracles performed for the Jewish people, especially since miracles are not done in front of our eyes on a daily basis. He adds that a box is placed on the brain in order to logically comprehend the rare occurrence performed in from of our eyes, and therefore perceive the act as a miracle. He also states that a box is placed by the heart, in order that the miracle should permeate the body and trigger emotion and excitement from the miracle that was witnessed; that the person should be affected by such an act. The Ramban concludes by calling the remembrance of the splitting of the sea the “root of Judasim and Torah”, a profound and exalted title.

According to the Ramban, the role of a miracle is to serve as support and as a “reminder” to mundane situations in everyday life.

There are two distinct moments in time. The first being the point in time where God performed a miracle, and the second time being our everyday normal life. Our goal is to inject moment A, the miracle into regular nature, and refer back to the original moment where God’s divine hand was clearly at work. We must always focus ourselves and constantly refer back to that moment, hence the purpose of the Pesach seder, where we pass on our mesorah to our children and keep our miracle alive.

The Rambam, Maimonides, has a completely different understanding of the philosophy behind the miracle that took place at the Red Sea. To the Rambam, the phrase “God changed nature” has no meaning and is absurd. According the Rambam, everything is nature. There is not Moment A and Moment B. God did not chance nature’s course in any direction in order to perform this event. The splitting of the sea was initially programmed into nature from the beginning of time. The only difference between what we refer to as a miracle and what goes on every day is simply a difference in how frequent this act occurs. One is routine to seeing a flowing ocean, however is not accustom to seeing a sea split. God therefore occasionally lets nature act in rare occurrences in order to astonish people and catch their attention.

The ramifications of the Rambam’s definition of a miracle is enormous. What the Rambam is essentially saying is that everything in the history of the world, miracle or everyday life, emanates from the same point. If the only thing separating a miracle and the mundane is irregularity, that this implies that everything stems from the direct hand of God. There is no true distention between miracles and nature. It’s all the same thing.

With this in mind, the significance of the miracle of Kriyat Yam Suf according to the Rambam has a completely different meaning than that of the Ramban. The point of the splitting of the sea was to serve as a wakeup call towards the rest of the world in order to show that there is someone constantly running the show. That when a person looks at the sky, a bird, a moose, they refer back to the miracle of the sea, where the divine hand of God was revealed, and appreciate that there is a constant force behind nature.

This is one of the main reasons why there is a commandment to eliminate the nation of Amalek. Directly after the Jews were saved from the Egyptians openly through God’s hand, Amalek had the nerve to attack them. This shows that Amalek decided to ignore the open act of God and have enough courage to challenge the Jews. This attribute of blindness and insensitivity towards God’s open hand is the opposite message God is trying to portray. One should be cognizant of God’s constant control over nature, and therefore let to the commandment to eradicate such an insensitive nation.

Through the Rambam’s understanding, one can understand the entire essence of prayer. When one approaches tefilla, one must have in mind that his prayers will be heard, and therefore potentially have some type of effect on the world. A person is forced to expand their reality and accept God’s divine hand in the world. This action requires the proper sensitivity and understanding of the role God plays in the world. This is the meaning of when Chazal states that God is constantly recreating the world every second. God is always controlling and having His impact on everything, therefore giving our prayers an opportunity to have a sensitive impact.

One may go through their entire life without ever being able to raise their eyes above nature and truly identify its source. The key is to strive to reach the point where one acquires this sensitivity towards life and invites God into their daily life.