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| Neto Member Joined Feb 2, 2005 288 posts Location: Holmes County, Ohio |
 The Sovereignty of God and back-seat driving |
Posted Jan 25, 2010; 12:05 pm |
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I came across this very interesting article on torah.org http://www.torah.org/learning/olas-shabbos/5762/beshalach.html . The perspective is of course a bit different than we might have, especially in respect to the details they have added to the Torah account, but I’d be interested in hearing what you all think of the basic premise that God “lets us drive from the back-seat” like a child with a toy steering wheel. Or does he only take the wheel when we ask him? I’m reminded of a song from the first album by Love Song back in the 70’s – Front Seat – Back Seat, by Tom Coomes & Chuck Girard. If you don’t remember it, or if you weren’t around yet, the chorus says:
| Quote: | I was sittin’ in the front seat,
Tryin’ really hard to be the driver,
Thinkin’ I was makin’ real good time
But always winding’ up a late arriver |
Rabbi Eliyahu Hoffmann writes:
| Quote: |
Back-Seat Driver
It appears from different Midrashim that before the Red Sea finally split for Moshe and the Jews, some fairly heavy-duty negotiations took place. The Yam Suf, it seems, had a mind of its own about splitting. According to one Midrash (Tehillim 15), the Sea argued that the Jews were no more deserving than the Egyptians, seeing as how they too had worshipped idols in Mitzrayim. According to another (Shemos Rabbah 21:6), the Sea argued that since it was formed on the third day of creation, and Moshe on the sixth, it was "older" than Moshe - and why should the older sibling move aside to make way for the younger? Indeed, when Nachshon ben Aminadav jumped into the sea's raging waters, he almost drowned. Yet in the final hour, just as things seemed bleak and hopeless, his bravery, and the prayers of Moshe Rabbeinu, saved the day, and the Yam Suf split for Bnei Yisrael, and drowned the pursuing Egyptians with its reverting waters. The narrative has all the elements of an old- fashioned cliff-hanger...
In another Midrash, however, Chazal reveal that the splitting of the sea was a pre-condition of its very creation: Hashem, the Midrash says, made a stipulation with the Red Sea on the day it was created that when the time would come, and the Almighty would give the cue, it would miraculously split its waters (Shemos Rabbah 21:6). One would imagine that had Moshe, Nachshon, and the Jews been privy to that version of the script, they might have been a lot calmer!
If everything was pre-arranged, and the final touches on their salvation had already been taken care of thousands of years previously, why does there seem to be such a sense of urgency surrounding the moments before the sea splits?
We are taught that finding a shidduch (a spouse), and finding a parnasah (means of earning a living), are as difficult for Hashem as splitting the Red Sea (Pesachim 118a [parnasah], Sotah 2a [zivug]). What is the connection between these two tasks and splitting the sea? And in what way is anything "difficult" for Hashem? Is k'rias Yam Suf any more "difficult" for Hashem than, say, a man opening a door? (After all - they don't call Him "Master of the Universe" for nothing!)
The father of a not-so-young yeshiva bachur told the following story: Our oldest son was soon going to turn twenty-eight, and he was still single. When we first realized it was not going to come easy, and that our younger children would in-turn suffer from the delay, my wife and I stopped sleeping at night. Every day, we would await "the" phone call, and wonder if, perhaps, today would bring relief. As the years passed, we suffered many disappointments.
My entire life had become wrapped up in finding a shidduch for our son. I was nervous and overwrought constantly. I was unable to function as a father for my younger children. One Chanukah night, when my wife had taken the children to visit my mother, I stayed home, too depressed to go along. As I sat there staring at the candles, I slowly felt a tremendous sense of siyata di- Shemaya flow from the candles and envelop me. "Enough!" I told myself, "this can't go on."
The following Friday night, after the little ones were asleep, I told my family the following story, which I heard from one of the gedolei ha-dor zt"l: He had once been riding on a bus when he noticed that in the front-passenger seat sat a small boy. On his knees, he held a plastic dashboard that had a steering wheel and a horn attached to it. His gaze was fixed intently on the road ahead. As the bus veered right and left, he turned his steering wheel accordingly. Of course, when the bus stopped, he stepped on "the brakes," and a small pneumatic psssss escaped his lips. He checked the doors and windows periodically, and honked abrasively when they were cut off. He worked hard the entire trip, much to the amusement of the passengers.
"He dreams day and night about becoming a bus driver," his father explained. "Before I got him the steering wheel, he would drive me crazy, trying to honk my horn, and getting in my way. Now, I sit him next to me, and I tell him: Gadi - start the motor and drive the bus! As you can see, he does a beautiful job, and I can do mine in peace."
"Did you hear that?" the Torah Sage later remarked. "The Almighty runs the whole show: He gives us a steering wheel, turns to us, and tells us: Nu - drive the bus! And we, small-minded children that we are, sweat and struggle to keep the bus on course. We exhaust ourselves from the effort, while 'upstairs,' all the passengers are amused. Our livelihood is fixed on Rosh Hashana, yet we struggle to earn it, and work overtime to earn even more. If we feel someone is getting in our way of earning a living, we yell at him: Get outta my way!... What we fail to see is that our Father is really the one driving the bus, and that while we must wave our arms and go through the motions as best we can, we should never forget that we're really just back- seat drivers." From now on, I told my family, we're going to try to take things in stride. Your mother and I are still going to continue doing everything we possibly can, but I'm going to try to keep things in perspective, and not allow stress and obsession to ruin our family. (Remarkably, a few weeks after telling his family this story, and changing his attitude, the right match came along, and his son became a chassan.)
Something similar to this occurred at the banks of the Red Sea. The script had been written way-back-when, and the envelope had been sealed; there was absolutely no need for alarm. But we knew nothing of all this - and we were really sweating. Hashem even let us "drive the bus:" Nachshon plunged into the waters, Moshe and the Jews prayed, and at the last minute... Well, we all know the rest of the story. Had we known about the now-famous "condition" would we have acted differently? Should we have acted differently? NO. Hashem very much wants us to do everything within our means to "help ourselves." But perhaps, had we known that our "last-minute" escape route had already been sketched in indelible ink onto the wall-map of history, we might have sweated things a little less. Perhaps what's so "difficult" about splitting the Sea is that Hashem must ultimately allow us to have that delusion; He must hide His face from us, and allow us to continue to grope and struggle as if the bus were ours to drive.
Among the things that give people stress, earning a living and finding a zivug (match) undoubtedly rank among the very top. Yet our zivug, and those of our children, were already proclaimed in heaven forty days before we were conceived (Sotah 2a). Our parnasah for this year was already decided on Rosh Hashana (Beitzah 16a). We go through the motions, as we must, but there's really not all that much we can do to change things. Hashem, as He did when He split the sea, makes things seem as if we are holding the wheel and steering the bus. We fret and we sweat, we dodge and we turn, and Above, the Almighty smiles - enjoy the ride!
Have a good Shabbos.
This week's publication was sponsored by Mr. Moshe Wajsbaum, in memory of his grandfater, R' Yehoshua Heshel ben R' Moshe Eliezer Wajsbaum, who passed away Shabbos parshas Beshalach, 13 Shevat 5752.
Text Copyright © 2002 Rabbi Eliyahu Hoffmann and Project Genesis, Inc. |
(NOTE to Forum Administrators: If it is illegal for me to quote this entire article, please dlelete it, and just leave the reference.) |
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| westcoast frame of mind Moderator |
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Posted Jan 26, 2010; 8:41 am |
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Neto asked ...
| Quote: | | I’d be interested in hearing what you all think of the basic premise that God “lets us drive from the back-seat” like a child with a toy steering wheel. Or does he only take the wheel when we ask him? |
The idea of the toy steering wheel reminds me of a line from Lord Jim - your destiny is carved onto a rock in the forest. (from memory) edited to add: the word might be 'name' rather than 'destiny' but i think the author was getting at destiny.
Does God 'take the wheel?'
Does the fact that God knows the future mean our choices are an illusion
So should we 'let go and let God'?
[Neto; I haven't had time to read the article - if memory serves the Sea played quite a part in Egyptian religion and the Hebrew's God proved more powerful - so to for all the conflict between Moses and the Pharoh.] |
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| gay lynn voth Member Joined Jan 25, 2005 732 posts |
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Posted Jan 26, 2010; 10:47 am |
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| Neto, I really enjoyed the reading you posted. Thank you! I think that many of us take comfort in knowing Who holds our future since the future would look overwhelming otherwise. Personally, I am very thankful to know that my life, and the lives of those I care about and pray for, are covered by the faithfulness of God. I would despair if I thought that their well-being depended solely on my feeble efforts and inability to see ahead. |
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| thursday Member Joined May 6, 2009 94 posts |
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Posted Jan 29, 2010; 11:32 am |
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Thanks Neto for sharing this interpretation. I found it very encouraging.
It reminds me of a passage in Mark . It is interesting that the author of the gospel structured his narrative in such a way that the story where the disciples almost drown because of the storm is immediately followed by Jesus meeting a legion of demons who are sent in to the pigs and are then drowned. For a Jew the parallels to the Exodus story would have been obvious. Jesus calms the chaotic seas leading his disciples to safety and then drowns the enemy in the chaos--who is this man indeed? Mark 4:35-5:20 |
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| lornewel Member Joined May 11, 2004 568 posts Location: Abbotsford |
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Posted Jan 30, 2010; 1:31 pm |
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| Thanks for this thread. I am currently on a missionary-encouraging trip to Mexico with another MB couple. I shared these posts with my friend, a pretty Calvinistic MB, and he thought they were right on. |
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| westcoast frame of mind Moderator |
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Posted Jan 30, 2010; 4:00 pm |
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| Quote: | | We go through the motions, as we must, but there's really not all that much we can do to change things. |
I think the pretend steering wheel is an incorrect metaphor. Has God 'chosen' a person's mate, career etc.? Rather I think it is a matter of us being faithful with where we find ourselves.
The sentence I've pulled from the article sounds like the fatalism of other worldviews/religons. From our limited perspective I believe we stumble at trying to understand two things - God knows the future. Our choices are real and they matter. |
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| James Toews Member Joined Mar 31, 2006 405 posts |
| Thanks for the story and . . . |
Posted Jan 30, 2010; 5:35 pm |
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I will add my voice to the thanks, Neto. I liked the story and its message of rest in God's providence.
I also agree with WCFOM that there is an ambivalent message in it- that God gives us the illusion of control. Personally I don't think God asks us to give Him the wheel [I really don't like "let go and let God"]. He does however ask us to steer as He directs. In nautical language, He is our ship's Master but we are at the helm. We can steer our ship onto the rocks. Letting go of the wheel is seldom a good idea.
On the other hand, I did like the story :) Maybe the problem is that metaphors have limits- maybe the story's author would be horrified at what WCFOM and I are reading into it.. |
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| Neto Member Joined Feb 2, 2005 288 posts Location: Holmes County, Ohio |
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Posted Jan 30, 2010; 9:19 pm |
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| Thanks to all of you for your comments. I didn't think about it as deeply as you all are before I posted it. I do think that we can definately make a difference in the direction of our lives, although unfortunately all too often the difference we make is more like shipwreck. I think that the times when God really wants us to take the wheel are the times when we want to "Let go and let God", and other times we spend all our energy tugging at the wheel, and worrying about what he has in perfect control. |
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