What’s a Little Hyperbole Among Friends

It is hard not to find the hyperbolic use of numbers in the Seder a bit over the top. It is, of course, all a game aimed at showing our enthusiasm over God’s redemptive power in the story and and is especially evident when talking about the plagues which start at ten before the midrashic mind takes over raising the number ever higher and higher. And if this passion served well for the events in Egypt, shouldn’t we expect the same for the miracle of the splitting of the sea? This is exactly what we find in the Mishnah:

Ten miracles were done for our ancestors in Egypt and ten on the sea; Ten plagues the Holy One Blessed be He brought on the Egyptians and ten on the sea. (Mishnah Avot 5:5-6)

The Mishnah does not go on to list the miracles or the plagues which occurred at the sea, but the Avot d’Rabbi Natan, the earliest commentary to Mishnah Avot, does thrash out a list of the miracles, presenting them in a very interesting way. It cites each of the miracles on the sea as a part of a narrative in which Moshe commands the people to begin their journey through the sea and each time Moshe commands, the people demur, making new demands upon God and Moshe until each of the miracles at the sea is explicitly spelled out:

When our ancestors stood at the Red Sea, Moshe said to them: “Rise, go across!” They said to him: “We shall not go across until tunnels are made in the sea.” Moshe took his staff and struck the sea, and tunnels were made in it, as it is said: You have stricken the head of his rulers (Habakkuk 3:15) Moshe replied to them: “Rise, go across!” They said to him: “We shall not go across until the sea is turned into a valley before us.” Moshe took the staff and struck the sea, and it became a valley before them, as it is said: He made a valley of the sea, and caused them to pass through (Psalms 78:13), and it is said: As the cattle that go down into the valley, so did You lead Your people (Isaiah 63:14). Said Moshe to them: “Rise, go across!” They said to him: “We shall not go across until the sea is cut into pieces.” Moshe took the staff and smote the sea, and it was cut into pieces, it is said: [He] who split apart the Sea of Reeds (Psalms 136:13). Said Moshe to them: “Rise, go across!” [Again,] they declared: “We shall not go across until it is turned into clay for us.” Moshe took the rod and struck the sea, and it became clay, as it is said: You made your steeds trad the sea with Thy horses, through the clay of mighty waters (Habakkuk 3:15). Moshe said to them: “Rise, go across!” They replied: “We shall not go across until it is made into a desert before us.” Moshe took the staff and struck the sea, and it became a desert, as it is said: And He led them through the deep as through it was a desert (Psalms 106:9). Said Moshe to them: “Rise, go across!” [Again,] they replied: “We shall not go across until it is broken into little pieces before us.” Moshe took the staff and struck the sea, and it was broken into many little pieces, as it is said: You smashed the sea into pieces (Psalms 74:13). Said Moshe to them: “Rise, go across!” They replied: “We shall not go across unless it is turned into rocks before us.” Moshe took the staff and struck the sea, and it turned into rocks, as it is said: You shattered the heads of the sea monsters on the waters (ibid.). And how were the heads of sea monsters dashed? Say surely, the heads of sea monsters would not be dashed save on rocks. [A midrashic attempt at humor.] Moshe said to them: “Rise, go across!” They declared: “We shall not go across until it is turned into dry land for us.” Moshe took the staff and smote the sea, and it turned into dry land, as it is said: He turned the sea into dry land (Psalms 66:6); it also says: But the children of Israel marched through the sea on dry land (Exodus 14:29). Moshe to them: “Rise, go across!” [Again,] the replied: “We shall not go across unless it is turned into walls before us.” Moshe took the staff and smote the sea, and it turned into walls, as it is said: And the waters were a wall unto them, on their right hand, and on their left (ibid.). Moshe to them: “Rise, go across!” [And] they replied: “We shall not go across unless it is turned bottle shaped before us.” Moshe took the staff and smote the sea, and it turned bottle shaped, as it is said: [The waters] stood upright like a bottle [naid] containing liquids (Exodus 15: 8) … (Avot d’Rabbi Natan Version a, chapter 33, Schechter ed. pp. 96-98)

The textual impetus for this midrash flows not only from the above quoted Mishnah but also from its author taking an inventory of Scriptural quotation which through creative reading the author thought to be associated with the miracle of the splitting of the sea. Such is not unusual for the sages! What is more interesting, in my eyes, is what the author intended to teach in this curious dialogue.

The author obvious wished to enlarge poetically the significance of an already miraculous miracle, but why express it in the form of a dialogue where the children of Israel try to “extort” in “shuk-like” fashion ever more extravagant marvels. Clearly, the author wanted to express not only God’s omnipotent power to perform miracles but even more significantly, he wanted to reinforce our faith in God’s profound concern and responsiveness to His people’s needs. This sense of dependability was meant to strengthen the will of our people in every generation to carry out its ambitious religious mission – one which we perpetuate to this day.