Our Parasha relates, that after the wondrous event of the splitting of the sea, and the demise of the Egyptians - (15:22-26):
"Moshe caused Israel to journey from the Sea of Reeds ‘ - the Red Sea -‘and they went out to the Wilderness of Shut; they went for a three day period in the Wilderness, but did not find water.
"They came to Marah, but they could not drink the waters of Marah because they were bitter; therefore they named it Marah.
"The people complained to Moshe, saying:’What shall we drink?’
"He cried out to Hashem, and Hashem showed him a tree; he threw it into the water and the water became sweet.
"There he established for the nation a decree and an ordinance, snd there he tested them.
"He said:’אם שמוע תשמעו: If you hearken diligently to the voice of Hashem, your G-d, and do what is just in His eyes, give ear to His commandments and observe all His decrees, then any of the diseases that I placed in Egypt, I will not bring upon you, for I am Hashem, your healer.’"
Rav Shimon Schwab comments: The Gemara ( Baba Kama 82. ) expounds: ‘They went for a three day period in the Wilderness, but did not find water’: Water means Torah, as the Prophet ( Isaiah 45. ) says:’Whoever is thirsty, go to the water’.
As they went for three days without Torah, נלאו: they became worn out - the prophets among them set for them that they should read in the Torah on Shabbat, on Monday and on Thursday, so that they should not be three days without Torah.
At first glance, this exposition seems far from the literal meaning of the words - however, if the Sages expounded in this way, they must have found an allusion to it in the literal sense of the words.
Perhaps this can be expounded, that they had just departed from the Sea of Reeds, where great miracles were wrought for them, and they saw prophetic visions greater even than Yechezkiel ben Buzi had merited- the prophet - as the Torah states, they were able to testify: ’This is my G-d and I shall be an adornment to Him’, and :’Hashem will reign forever’.
Despite this, when they went for three days and did not find water, they did not search their deeds, to cast the fault in themselves, nor did they submissively ask Moshe to pray for them, but - instead - came with a complaint to him:’What shall we drink?’
We learn from this, that the great impression of the events at the splitting of the Sea, had already lost their potency, after three days.
Our Sages deduced that, similarly, the potency of reading the Torah in public, loses its potency after three days, and they therefore established that we should not go for three days, without reading in the Torah.
Rav Yitzchak Karo wonders: How were they - including women and children - able to go without water, for three days?
Rabbeinu Chananel explains: They traversed the distance that usually takes three days, in one day - and for the one day, they had adequate water.
‘We might surmise - that their donkeys had been laden with water, in the manner of wayfarers traversing deserts, and on the third day, the water they had brought, ran out, from the containers.’
The Abarbanel introduces his commentary, by asking: Why did Hashem, in starting this long journey in the desert, bring Israel to a lack of water - which is a necessity for life, more so, for such a large number of people.
How were they able to go for three days without water, Marah being at the end of this journey - and when He brought them there, the waters were bitter and not fit for drinking?
Had Hashem wanted to perform a miracle, would it not have been preferable to have provided them with all their needs in the desert, from beginning to end - not that the beginning should be difficult, and hard to bear, as it was in the matter of the water.
A number of drashot have been proffered on this matter, but - in my eyes - the answer is, that since Hashem intended to give them the Torah at Sinai, it was necessary in this first journey, for them to face difficulties, so that Hashem would fill their needs, and they would know thar the G-d of Israel, would provide for all their needs.
This was an essential preparation, to perfect their Emunah in Him, for the acceptance of the Torah - it was for this reason, that Hashem brought these tests on the, and why they were not punished when they spoke disrespectfully.
Therefore, in their ‘complaint’ to Moshe:’What shall we drink?, they did not demand:’Give us water’- but spoke in the manner of: 'Moshe, our Master, look at these bitter waters, we cannot drink from them’ - they were therefore not punished for these words, nor did Moshe include this incident in his rebuke in Devarim.
Rather - as we read - ‘Moshe cried out to Hashem’, on seeing the distress of his people, and Hashem ‘showed him a tree; he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet’ - this to induce in the people trust in Hashem.
What then was ‘the decree and the ordinance (that) Hashem established, and therefore He tested’?
The truth is, that in this, Hashem taught the people the true Torah way - which to them was new, truly a חוק: a decree, as it was beyond their intellect - that one who puts his trust in Hashem, would be answered, and that whenever they called to Hashem, He would hear their cry, and would answer them - performing miracles and wonders - as they saw there, with the bitter waters, which turned to being sweet, when Moshe beseeched Hashem, concerning them.
The Alshich Hakadosh - like the Abarbanel we brought - also opens his commentary, with the same question: Why did Hashem cause them to worry, by the lack of water, and - further - bring them to a place of bitter waters - and then, miraculously turn the bitter waters, sweet?
Expounds the Sage: This clearly was not the natural order of things - contrary to human understanding.
‘This was precisely the Divine message: the ways and minds of people, are not the ways of Hashem - that which may appear in our eyes, as having no benefit, is the true and blessed way in Hashem’s eyes.
This was the הוראה : the lesson of the tree which turned the bitter waters, to being sweet - this, because whatever Hashem commands us to do, though it appears strange and bitter in our eyes - is good, so that man should seek to do that which Hashem commands, trusting in Him.
Rav Zalman Sorotzkin elucidates:The ordinance and decrees that Hashem gave them at Marah - Shabbat, honoring parents and judgements ( Sanh’ 54 ) - though Rashi substitutes the Red Heifer instead of honoring parents - can be understood, as there was an immediate need to learn the laws of judgements between man and man, as the people were numerous, and inevitably disputes would arise, which needed to be resolved.
Shabbat is the foundation of Emunah, and was stilll in its early stages among many of the people - yet, until it was firmly instilled in all of them, they could not be given the Torah.
Observing the Shabbat, in all of its details, requires close supervision ans teaching by the parents, as it says: ’Do not perform any labor, you, your son and your daughter’ - an obligation we do not find in any other Mitzvah.
Rav Ahron Kotler adds: We need to find a reason why they were not given water to drink, before they had to call out to Moshe - it is, after all, a necessity for existence.
‘The explanation is, that the objective of creation was that we should recognize the benevolence of Hashem - this being, apart from a good attribute, also the basis for our service of Hashem, as is said many times, in regard to this obligation, for Hashem redeeming us from our servitude in Egypt, from which we learned to ‘recognize’ Hashem, and His Divine Providence in all that we do.
We usually only feel the receipt of benevolence, after we had undergone tribulation.
The Kuzari sagely teaches that everything comes from Hashem in his benevolence, and this obligates one to give praise and thanks to Hashem - by doing so, one truly feels that he owes a debt of gratitude to Hashem.
One who is traversing the desert, and whose water has run out, there is no limit to his joy and gratitude, when his need is met - this would not have been the case, had he been in a settled area, with plenty of water available.
Yet, had the Creator not ‘renewed the act of Creation’, each and every day, we would be thirsty for water in a settled area, no less than in a desert - so how much more should our gratitude to Hashem be, in that case, for meeting our need, without us being in distress?
In all of the aspects of the exodus from Egypt - be it in food, drink, or clothing - the needs were met, so that they would recognize the Divine Providence, and that what might appear to be ‘the natural order’, is from the benevolence of Hashem - no less than the miracles wrought in Egypt.
This was instilled in the people, in their forty years travels in the desert.
Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch comments: The opening words: ‘Moshe caused Israel to journey’, do not appear in any of their other journeys, and suggests that they needed a push - as it were - which is understandable, as they were presently in a place where miracles had been wrought for them, and were now required to traverse the very different desert.
The exodus from Egypt and the splitting of the Sea, led them to feel the closeness of Hashem; the journey across the desert - on which they were about to embark - was necessary to teach them, that their everyday life, was equally subject to Hashem’s Divine Providence - as is every breath that we take.
The purpose of their exodus - as Hashem told Moshe, at the ‘burning bush’ - was to receive the Torah, which governs all we do, in every time and in every place - knowing that in their merit of the observance of the Torah, He will see us safely through deserts, and sweeten any bitterness.
The foundation of ‘decree and ordinance’ seems to be connected with the sweetening of the bitter water, by the ‘drug’ that Hashem instructed - the objective of this trial was to establish in the eyes of the people, of the Torah in our daily lives.
‘This is emphasized by the word שם:: ‘there they were given the foundation - the Torah prevents not only physical ailment, but, equally, spiritual ailments - which were what mainly struck the idolatrous Egyptians.’
Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl, brings the exposition of our Sages, that what Bnei Israel lacked, was not water - as is written - but Torah, which is likened to water - and this is why Hashem, there, established for them the Mitzvot which our Sages laid out, in the Midrash.
The Rav asks: ‘Granted that these new Mitzvot were import ant ones, why were they given here, now? Had Bnei Israel not already received - in Egypt - mitzvot: sanctification of the New Month and the myriad mitzvot of Pesach? ‘Why does the Torah therefore say that ‘THERE Bnei IsraeL received ordinances and decrees - as if telling us, that only from that point, began the giving of the Torah and of Mitzvot?
‘It would seem, from the repetition of the word שם: ‘there’, that what occurred there - the miracle of the water - more than all the preceding miracles - was required, before the giving of thd Torah - only after this miracle, the propitious time for giving Mitzvot to Israel, had arrived.
‘This can be seen from their observance being commanded in our parsha, in the juxtaposition of this passuk.
‘What was the unique aspect of this miracle, that was not found in all of the preceding miracles?
‘All the other miracles, did not effect a change in nature- there was nothing in the natural order of things, for instance, in the waters in Egypt turning to blood - which was not the case of what occurred with the waters, at Marah.
‘That something bitter, should turn something bitter, to be sweet, was the very opposite of the natural order of things - and was therefore the perfect preparaion for the receipt of the Torah.
‘Why?’ Let us recall that this miracle occurred three days after the events at the Sea, when Bnei Israel saw the last of the Egyptians. Since the purpose of taking Bnei Israel out of Egypt - as Hashem told Moshe, at the ‘burnIng bush’ - was that they should receive the Torah.
‘True, they should have received it immediately upon leaving Egypt, but their spiritual level required healing, before this could occur.
‘Only now, after the necessary period of healing, in the desert, were they able to be taught the necessary preceding lesson: in the usual order, we sweeten something bitter, by something sweet, not so with the Torah- you sweeten something bitter, by something bitter!
‘Why was this lesson so critical for those engaged in learning Torah? Because the Torah is ‘bitter’ initially - requiring many hours of toil, at the expense of all one’s mundane pleasures - this requires that the toiler believe, that that which appears bitter, will turn out to be the sweetest of things.
‘If he does not truly believe this, he is likely to turn to other, less demanding pursuits.
‘Only after learning this essential lesson at the waters of Marah, could Bnei Israel be given ‘ordinances and decrees’ , and, as they passed that ‘test’, receive the Torah at Sinai.’
לרפואת נועם עליזה בת זהבה רבקה ונחום אלימלך רפאל בן זהבה רבקה, בתוך שאר חולי עמנו.