When the Sea Splits for Love: A Seventh-of-Passover Miracle from Holland to Israel

In the shadow of COVID, שנת תחגגו שביעי של פסח..

About forty years ago, in a well-known Hasidic yeshiva, a young man named Alter was studying. He was celebrating his 24th birthday, and there was no match on the horizon. One day he felt he could not bear it any longer and, in tears, went to the rosh yeshiva with his question: "Until when?".. "My parents went through the horrific Holocaust and survived by Heaven’s mercy. They built a home and, with Hashem’s help, were blessed with three children who they hope and yearn to see live a proud Jewish life. I am their firstborn son, and for years I’ve been stuck—holding up the whole caravan with me. Maybe it’s my name—Alter (in Yiddish: \"old\")—which reflects the path of my life, as if I’m destined to grow old as a bachelor".. So Alter sobbed. The rosh yeshiva looked at him with kind eyes and said: "G-d forbid, Alter means \"immediately\"! And so you, too, will see salvation soon, immediately"..

"A person’s match is as hard as the splitting of the Sea" (Sotah 2a). Many explanations have been offered for this phrase our sages coined; I’ll share a sharp one of my own. At the splitting of the Sea, the Jews were trapped: the sea before them, the Egyptians behind them, and the wilderness with all its dangers on both sides. The people of Israel were despairing: "Were there not enough graves in Egypt that you took us to die in the desert?".. And Moshe said to the people: Do not fear; stand firm and see the salvation of ה' that He will perform for you today. And the people stood, looking in wonder: From where will my help come? From where will salvation arrive?! Either Hashem would strike the Egyptians, or the wilderness would miraculously open for the nation’s journey. No one imagined that the sea itself would be the source of salvation in such a miraculous, wondrous way—the splitting of the Sea.

And that’s the lesson for a match: a person thinks, maybe from here, maybe from there... while salvation is waiting in the most unexpected place. So tells me, in his amazing story, Alter—the single firstborn son of Holocaust survivors, aching to bring his parents the joy they’ve been waiting for. One day, a distinguished Jew walked into the yeshiva and, at the entrance, met Alter. He approached and asked if he could point out a certain student—naming one of Alter’s good friends, who was also rather older and hoping to build his home soon. From the visitor’s words it became clear he lived in Holland and had a daughter who had reached marriageable age. A globe-trotting matchmaker had given him my friend’s name from the yeshiva, and so he and his wife and daughter landed in Israel. Before the meeting, he wished to get an informal impression of the young man. Alter, of course, kindly stepped in to help, pouring on abundant praise for his friend Chaim, the brilliant and diligent scholar, and pointing to his seat in the study hall. The visitor clearly seemed impressed and satisfied with the promising suggestion. As they parted, he asked Alter’s name and thanked him for the escort and the good feeling he’d given him.

A meeting was set, but then a "minor, negligible" detail emerged—the matchmaker had forgotten to update the young man’s side. The young woman explained that she was studying for a degree and had about three years left to complete her studies, and for that they’d have to live in Holland for the first years and not in Israel. The young man was stunned by this idea, which had neither been discussed nor agreed to, and announced that it was out of the question—a shame this hadn’t been known earlier (as the punsters say about a "shadchan" – שקר דובר כסף נוטל.. of course, without casting aspersions on honest matchmakers). With much heartache, the match fell through.

Two days later, the girl’s father appeared at the yeshiva and asked to call for... Alter! He came, surprised to see the pleasant visitor again—and, upon hearing what was on his heart, even more surprised. "Look," said the Dutch Jew, "this and that happened, but before we get back on a plane I’d like to set a meeting between another young man whose captivating character impressed me—you, dear Alter—and my daughter." Alter and his parents agreed. A week later, joyful cries broke out at the heavenly engagement celebration. It also turned out that the two families had known each other from before the war, from the same town in Hungary. The rosh yeshiva finished reading the engagement document and whispered to Alter: "\"Old\" or \"immediately\" — it’s all a matter of perspective..."

On the Seventh of Passover, a great illumination descends from Heaven, holding a promised segulah for opening the mazal of matchmaking—the illumination of the splitting of the Sea. And a match is like the splitting of the Sea. The Chozeh of Lublin, of blessed memory, teaches that on the night of the Seventh of Passover, the miracle of the Sea’s splitting is awakened each year, as hinted in "אז yashir Moshe"—A - Z meaning the last day of the seven days of the Passover holiday, and yashir — a song for the future. When they sing each year on "Az" — the Seventh of Passover — the Children of Israel draw down the influence of salvation that will descend upon them.

In the holy Torah, the word אז appears twice: at the end of Parashat Shemot, Moshe says to Hashem, "u-meaz bati el Par’o ledaber bi-Shmekha he’eira la’am hazeh" ("From then I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your Name, he made it worse for this people"), and in the Song at the Sea, "אז yashir Moshe". In the Midrash (Rabbah 23): "Moshe said, Master of the worlds, with az I sinned, and with az I have come to sing".. The intention is that when a person is saved from his trouble, he then understands Hashem’s ways—that everything he went through was with Divine providence and for the good—and that is precisely what led to the miracle of salvation: with az I sinned, and today with that very phrase I have come to sing. The Midrash (there) also says: "From the day Hashem created the world until the Israelites stood at the Sea, we do not find a person who sang to Hashem except Israel. Hashem said: For these I was waiting." This seems difficult, since it is known that "A psalm, a song for the day of Shabbat; it is good to give thanks to Hashem" is attributed to Adam HaRishon, and Noach and Avraham also brought offerings and blessed and thanked ה', and with Leah, who named Yehudah and said, "This time I will thank Hashem"?! Rather, this particular kind of song—"with az I sinned, and with az I have come to sing" — is a song that sees how all the acts of ה' and their unfolding were the very means that led to salvation, and that everything is from Him, blessed be He, for the good.

And this year in particular, the year you celebrate the Seventh of Passover under COVID.. after weeks of prayers and the plea "Prevent a plague from Your inheritance", and Passover preparations made under pressure but with faith and trust. The Seder nights and the days of Chol HaMoed were in a format different from any other year. Cries of "Ma Nishtanah" rose from many homes in Israel and around the world over loved ones who ascended to the heavens in a storm, and prayers and supplications for the sick fighting for every breath: El na, refa na lahem. But in our "az yashir" we do not fall into the sin of "az chatati"; we already know and understand now that everything the Merciful One does is for the good. Here in Israel, thank G-d, for more than two weeks there have been about fifty thousand balcony minyanim with over a million worshippers—men, women, and children—all crying out: "Ata bechartanu mikol ha’amim, ahavta otanu ve-ratzita vanu".. Every day we say with faith and trust, "Mo’adim le-simcha, chagim u-zmanim le-sason". And in the Creator’s treasury there is a special afikoman gift for all Israel—an afikoman of a fruitful, blessed summer, an afikoman of salvations and consolations that He will shower upon us with His love.

Let us therefore make the most of the holy night—"the night of the Seventh of Passover at midnight"—Tuesday at 12:45 a.m., when the whole family together will recite the special song, "Shirat HaYam" (the Song of the Sea), Parashat Beshalach, the Book of Shemot (Exodus), from chapter 13 verse 15 to chapter 15 verse 22. And may we merit what the Chozeh of Lublin, of blessed memory, brings down, as cited in the book Nehar Shalom by the saintly Rebbe of Kalushin, of blessed memory: "Every single year, on the night of the Seventh of Passover, Moshe and Aharon and Miriam and that entire generation emerge from the highest Gan Eden in song, and are drawn into this world in song, and they sprinkle upon them great influences." Amen, may it be His will.