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Drash
for Shabbat Pesach This Shabbat we chant the special portion called Shirat Hayam (Song of the Sea) assigned for the Seventh day of Passover. Moses sings it in praise of God for having delivered the Israelites from slavery to freedom. In contrast his sister, Miriam, leads the dancing of joy which should never be done for we do not celebrate the dying of our enemies, for those people are also God's creatures. The Israelites now face the unknown future and soon they begin to complain about the food and the lack of water. They even state that it was better in Egypt as slaves than facing death in the desert. This brings to mind a story which we shall call - The Bridge. A young man living in a small village in Poland dreams one night that if he were to leave for the big city his life would turn for the better. The next morning he takes his few belongings and proceeds with his journey. He is about to cross a bridge over a raging river when he notices another person approaching him from the other side. The other person looks very much like him except for one difference - the way he was dressed. As they come face to face he sees that the other has a rope wound around his waist. The other person proceeds to unwind the rope and handing him one end, he very politely asks the young man to hold the rope very tightly which he does. At that moment the other man jumps off the bridge and it seems that the length of the rope is such that he dangles just above the water. "Have you gone mad? I am trying to hold on and pull you up and I can't hold on much longer." The other replies "You must try for if you let go I'll die and you will have to live with the memory for the rest of your life." The young man shouts again. "Let's do it together. I'll wind the rope around my waist and you do the same and that way I'll bring you back up". At the same time the young man has a fleeting thought. Let me teach him a lesson. I shall go over the bridge myself and both of us will be done in. However since there is no reply, he lets go of the rope and sends the other to oblivion. The three elements of the story lend themselves to interpretation. The bridge is the desert for the Israelites. It has to be crossed with all its dangers. We also have bridges to cross. For us the bridge also represents time. The other person represents the events in our life that tend to delay our crossing. Anger after a failed relationship. A sense of failure having lost our job. Or having been a care-giver to a loved one, only to having left behind, having to get on with our lives. Some of us need the help of others because we can't do it alone. The rope is that which ties us to these events. We have to let go of the rope so that we may go on to a future with a better life. Hopefully we can let go of the rope. On this the last evening of the festival of freedom lets go on to a new future and also find the freedom from all that is holding us up. Ken Yehi Ratzon. Shabbat Shalom.
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