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March 22, 2002/Nisan 9, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 27
History relevant to achieving peace today
JONATHAN FRIENDLY
Jewish Renaissance Media
When we sit down to the seder celebration of our miraculous delivery from slavery in Egypt, we might pause a moment to reflect on Nachshon ben Aminadav. His bravery 3,000-plus years ago still offers us a lesson, particularly as we think about the heartbreaking, terrible warfare between Israel and the Palestinians and how it might be possible to stop it.
According to the oral tradition, when the escaping Jews arrived at the shore, they found that Pharaoh had changed his mind and had sent war chariots in pursuit. The Israelites-to-be were frozen in fear and would not listen when Moses told them that God had ordered them to walk directly into the Red Sea.
That was when Nachshon, the son of Aminadav and prince of the tribe of Judah, literally took the plunge. He started forward, going deeper and deeper until the waves were just about over his head - which is when the sea split and the Jews were able to escape the Egyptian soldiers.
Nachshon went on to be the first prince to make an offering at the new Tabernacle, and he was an ancestor of several heroes, including both David and Daniel. He died in the wilderness, short of the Promised Land that he so strongly believed God wanted for the Jews. It is never explained where he got the courage to jump into the sea. Perhaps the experience of the plagues convinced him that his faith in God would not be misplaced.
It is not clear whether Israel is at a similar point in history. Facing risks, it too may have to take a substantial chance, hoping not for a miracle, but for some simple human decency.
It would be conveniently wonderful to have a divine commandment for what it is to do next, but the modern world is a little suspicious of revealed truths - particularly in the wake of the religious fanaticism that drove the Sept. 11 terrorists. And if Israel, like Nachshon, had to rely mostly on recent experiences, it would not put down arms in the face of the unrelenting Palestinian terrorism and incitement to terror (though the record of broken promises since Oslo echoes Pharaoh's duplicity).
Still, and preferably sooner rather than later, each side will have to set aside the anguish of the last 18 months, the needless deaths and injuries, the shattered lives and shattered hopes. Instead of seeking to inflict the maximum punishment on each other, the parties will have to find a way to step back away from violence and toward negotiation for a secure future. It will be tempting this Passover to dwell on the maror, but bitterness is only one lesson of the holiday. We will do well to think of the bravery of Nachshon ben Aminadav and his belief that a better future can be found in a trustful step into the unknown waters.
Jonathan Friendly is national editor of Jewish Renaissance Media. Contact the writer at friendly@umich.edu.
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