HOW IRONIC!

“Hashem said to Moshe, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, and the water will go back upon Egypt, upon its chariots and upon its horsemen.” Moshe stretched out his hand over the sea, and toward morning the water went back to its power as the Egyptians were fleeing toward it; and Hashem churned Egypt in the midst of the sea. The water came back and covered the chariots and the horsemen of the entire army of Pharaoh, who were coming behind them in the sea – there remained not one of them.” (Shmot 14:26-28)

“Hashem churned Egypt” – “As a person shakes (or stirs) a pot, turning what is on top underneath and what is underneath on top: thus they were emptied out of their chariots and they rose and fell till at last they were broken to pieces in the sea, and the Holy One, blessed be He, put vitality (strength) in them so that they could bear the pain (and thus their agony was protracted)”. (Rashi, Shmot 14:27, citing the Mechiltah)

The imagery of the Egyptian army being stirred in the sea as one would stir ingredients in a pot is both humorous and tragic. It is humorous in that such a mighty fighting force was brought to its knees with minimal effort on the part of Hashem. It is tragic in that the soldiers did not die immediately but continued to suffer for a protracted time until they eventually drowned, leaving no survivors. This image brings to mind a comment of Yitro in next week’s parsha after he arrived at the Israelite Camp and learned the fate of the Egyptians (Shmot 18:10-11), “Yitro said, “Blessed is Hashem, who has rescued you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh, who has rescued the people from under the hand of Egypt. Now I know that Hashem is greater than all the gods, for in the very matter in which [the Egyptians] had conspired against them…!” Yitro’s last statement is quite cryptic. Rashi explains: “For in the very matter in which they had conspired against them” – understand this as the Targum does: for by that very thing with which the Egyptians thought to judge Israel were they themselves judged — they had thought to destroy them by water and they were themselves destroyed by water. “They had conspired” (asher zadu) – means in which they had shown themselves wicked. Our Rabbis, however, explained it in the same sense as the root which we find in (Bereishit 25:29), “And Yaakov was boiling (va’yazed) pottage (nazid)” — in the pot wherein they had boiled, therein were they themselves boiled (Sotah 11a).”

At the beginning of the Exodus narrative we learned how Pharaoh decreed that all male children were to be thrown into the River Nile (Shmot 1: 22). He had received a prophecy from his astrologers that the redeemer of the Hebrews would soon be born and that the downfall of that redeemer would be through water (a reference to Moshe’s sin of striking the rock). He therefore decided that the best way of eliminating the redeemer would be through water. We will never know how many babies were killed in this manner but it must have been a very large number. The irony, of course, is that God repaid them measure for measure:  they cast innocent children into the Nile and ultimately, they were cast into the sea.

Another example of this Divine irony is found in the Song of the Sea (Shmot 15:4), “Pharaoh’s chariots and army He threw in the sea, and the pick of his officers were mired in the Sea of Reeds.” Again, we look at the commentary of Rashi for illumination: “Were mired (tu’bu)” – “The root t-b-u always denotes sinking in slimy matter (mud), as in (Tehillim 69:3) “I am sunk in deep mire”, and from (Jeremiah 38:6) “And Jeremiah sank in the mire”. The fact that this expression is used teaches, therefore, that the sea became slime (cf. Rashi on 14:24) to requite them according to their own measure — because they made the Israelites work as slaves with slime and with bricks (Mekhilta)”. They sought to break the backs of the Hebrew slaves by forcing them to work with mud and clay, making bricks and yet, ultimately, they were sunk in the mud.

This concept of Divine Irony – that a person or nation is punished (or rewarded) measure for measure, appears many times in our Scriptures and in the Talmud. The Mishna (Sotah, chapter 1) gives several examples: “With the measure that a person measures, he is measured with it… Samson followed his eyes, therefore the Philistines gouged out his eyes, as it is stated: “And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes” (Shoftim 16:21). Absalom was excessively proud of his hair, and therefore he was hanged by his hair… And the same is so with regard to the reward of good deeds: Miriam waited for the baby Moshe for one hour, as it is stated: “And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him” (Shmot 2:4). Therefore the Jewish people delayed seven days to wait for her when she was smitten with leprosy, as it is stated: “And Miriam was confined outside of the camp seven days; and the people did not journey until Miriam was brought in again” (Bamidbar 12:15). Yosef merited to bury his father, and there was none among his brothers greater than he, as it is stated: “And Yosef went up to bury his father… And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and it was a very great company” (Bereishit 50:7–9). Who had a greater burial than Yosef, as it was none other than Moshe who involved himself in transporting his coffin. Moshe merited to be involved in the transportation of Yosef’s bones to be buried in Eretz Yisrael, and there was none among the Jewish people greater than he, as it is stated: “And Moshe took the bones of Joseph with him” (Shmot 13:19). Who had a greater burial than Moshe, as no one involved himself in his burial other than the Omnipresent Himself, as it is stated: “And He buried him in the valley…” (Devarim 34:6).

There are countless examples of Divine Irony from the dawn of time to the present day. One that stands out for me is the cell phone. This modern marvel, and, in particular, the smartphone, is designed to be the ultimate instrument of connection. There are so many ways that a person can connect with others via a smartphone: an actual person-to-person call; SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook; voice notes; emails; Instagram; X (formerly Twitter) and other apps. One would think that we are much closer to other people and that our relationships have been vastly improved through these instant communication platforms. But the opposite is true. People are more disconnected than ever before. They do not know how to engage in regular conversations. Instead of bringing people together, cell phones are causing isolation such that friends can be in the same room and instead of chatting with each other, they are glued to their screens. It is possible that the only people who can go a day without their devices are Jews on Shabbat! I pray that somehow the pendulum will swing and we will once again communicate like normal human beings!

Lee, Chani Merryl & Naomi join me in wishing you Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Liebenberg. For this week’s YouTube message:  https://youtu.be/3Tni4qz_10k?si=tq6K3UGgPuoEl-oG

TU B’SHEVAT – MONDAY 2 FEBRUARY 2026

Tu B’Shevat, the 15^th day of the month of Shevat, is the New Year for trees for the purpose of determining tithes in the Land of Israel. Tithes may not be given from the produce of one year for another year and the 15^th of Shevat is the cut-off date for fruit. Thus, any fruit that began to blossom before the 15^th belongs to the previous year and any fruit that began to blossom after the 15^th belongs to the current year (Mishna Rosh Hashanah 1:1). It is customary to eat fruits on this day and some people hold a special Tu B’Shevat ‘Seder’ that is rooted in Kabbalistic wisdom. In particular, the special fruits of the Land of Israel are eaten – grapes, pomegranates, figs, olives and dates.