Parashat Beshalach: Ask Your “Ma”

According to the most recent data from UNESCO, only 5 percent of the ocean has been explored. This is also interesting when you consider that the ocean makes up 71 percent of Earth’s surface (and likely more in the future). In the Zohar, sources of water like the seas are often compared to the mind. This deeper part of us is where we connect the most with Gd. The mind has also barely been explored! As much as there is more to learn about our waters, so too there is of our minds. This reminds me of the Zohar (Idra Zuta 22:94) which says that “all is within, and within is everything.” I believe God wants us to remember to delight together in the continuous discovery of Gd’s magnificence. 

Rav Eli Munk, a 20th Century German-born French scholar, explains in The Seven Days of the Beginning that the word for water in Hebrew is always plural (-im ending). He also says how phonetically “mayim” contains the word “ma,” which means “what?” and “mayim” may even be the plural of “ma.” In our longstanding midrashic tradition involving creative explanations of Torah text, we also take words that sound alike and make connections.  

The word “Ma” (מה) in Hebrew has the numerical value (gematria) of 45. According to The Sacred Alphabet by Josy Eisenberg and Adin Steinsaltz, the 40 (מ, Mem) represents stability, while the 5 (ה, Hey) signifies transformation. They also postulate that Mem at the beginning of a phrase symbolizes an open world. Additionally, they explain that in chassidut, water symbolizes serene love. “Ma” appears at the beginning of words like “malkhut” (kingship), “matanah” (gift), “matzah”, “mazal” (luck), “matzav” (situation), “mahut” (essence or “what is-it-ness”), and “Mashiach” (Messiah/deliverace). On the other hand, they explain that a Mem at the end of the word signifies death, and, in fact, water (which has a Mem on both ends) can give life or destroy. We saw what happened at the Sea to the Egyptians versus the Israelites. The authors also say that the “Hey”, the last letter of Gd’s four-letter name, represents the divine breath and imparts the power of creation. 

When we are trying to reach new horizons in our personal development, “what?” is a particularly introspective question. For example: “What do we truly desire?”, “What do we want to discover?”, or “What are we living for?”. “What” is a very expansive state of mind. Can it be the most introspective pronoun of the question words? When we look at other ones like: “Who?”, “Where?”, “When?” and “Why?”, they are connected to physical existing characteristics like identity, labels, place, time, or memory. To be fair, “Why?“ (“la-ma”) is also a deep question that makes you think somewhat in the present, but we can’t always know “Why?”. The others are all important questions that should always be considered, but “What?” and “Why?” (both containing “ma”) are metaphysical and allow you to also go further than physical limitations, thinking more in the present. This is metaphorically similar to water, which can take any shape. 

We can either say, “Who am I living for?”, which is perhaps Gd, but what is more helpful is the the question “What am I living for?”. Gd has infinite strength – much more than a thing or being. We are meant to emulate Gd to some extent, so today, instead of thinking about   “Who am I”, try asking “What am I living for?” and “What do you have?”. The word “What?” helps us to keep seeing inside your soul, for example: “What do I honestly feel right now?”, “What do I want to give?”, “What can I give this person at this moment?”, “What is happening in the world right now?”, and “What do I want to create or align with right now?”.These types of questions are not only flexible but also renewing of our capabilities and spiritually satisfying.

“Ma” is also what inspired the Israelites to call “manna” (or “mahn” in Hebrew) by that name: “what is it?” (Shemot 16:15, 31). Likely, “manna” was another process of self-exploration; one of sustenance. The Zohar on Beshalach (63b) explains that every day we ideally should ask for everyone’s sustenance, and that each day gives us something different. The Talmud (Yoma 75b) suggests that the manna (which the Torah describes as having a specific flavor) would actually taste like whatever people needed. As with the manna, we can make each day a new exploration of Gd’s blessings.

Many languages seem to use the sound “ma” at the beginning of essential words. In the largest ocean in the world, the Pacific, civilizations there that are far from each other have the same term, “mana” to describe the physiological and spiritual energy that connects all things together. Perhaps the most logical explanation of this common “ma” is that it’s easy to pronounce and a natural expression of curiosity and to get attention verbally, especially when very young. In many languages and cultures, that syllable is used in some form of “mother” word like “mama” or any number of variations on that term of endearment. Perhaps there is something universal and motherly about the sound: “ma”, “ima” (Hebrew), or “mater” (Latin). In a way, the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt was similar to a baby being born – like the child being separated from the placenta water.

The “Malbim”, a famous Hebrew grammarian and commentator says regarding the splitting of the sea (14:16): a cold wind froze the water on their side, making two walls, and keeping the waters from returning to the middle. He also adds that it was like shining glass. Why did he have to say, like shining glass? To see something?  Perhaps as you read this week’s parasha about walking through the split sea, you can imagine yourself seeing the deepest parts of your “water” (mind). 

Water has universal symbolism that connects us to spirituality, renewal and discovery. Rav Munk also mentions how even in English, the word “water” phonetically contains “what”, and makes connections between the German “wasser” and “was” and the Latin “aqua” and “qua”. Across cultures we have shared symbolisms. This also makes me think of a theory (not scientifically proven), called “morphic resonance.” The theory postulates among different things that we can affect each other’s learning even metaphysically without physical connection and helps explain how several cultures that never knew each other developed similar practices. But it also could be that there was a little linguistic cross-pollination. According to some linguists, even Latin has been influenced, to some degree, by Hebrew (even though it’s a different language family), and so too, German from Latin. According to my uncle Franco Paris, who is a university professor, researcher, and translator of Dutch, Hebrew also influenced some Dutch words. All of this is interesting, given that in the Torah, according to the story of the Tower of Babel, all the languages began as one (and that language must have been something like Hebrew for the name Adam from “adamah” (earth) and other name wordplays to make sense). 

There are many questions you can ask yourself that start with “What? and that keep you grounded in the present as you walk through your “water”. “What do I have?” is a great way to stay present and grateful, which is “full” of “great”, as the word grateful. With these introspective questions, you might just be surprised by what you can achieve! 

For other writing of mine and meditations to help you explore your “What”, check out my book: Better Than You Wished For