Nachshon ben aminadav is remembered for all time as the paradigm of actualized emunah, a man showcasing the very highest levels of trusting Hashem.
When was Nachshon’s moment? It was not when he jumped into the yam, nor as he strode forward into the deepening water, as it climbed past his knees, his chest, his neck. It was at the last, when all signs pointed to the futility of his effort, of his reckless foolishness leading others to drown. In the final moment, as despair made its strongest argument, he screamed defiance of teva itself, rising above sight and sound and salty water, absolute in his conviction that Hashem is the true and only Sibah.
At some point in our lives we all find ourselves plunged into darkness so thick, so absolute, that there’s no rational path forward. Those around us and our own mind together say that we are doomed, it’s over. But to be a yid is to understand that Hashem is the only true reality and the evidence of our eyes and ears are meaningless. To put on tefillin every day is to bind ourselves to the truth that Hashem is Kol yachol and entirely without limits. When we keep Shabbos and close our businesses and shut down our factories, we proclaim our resolute insistence that it is Hashem who provides and sustains, and not the might of our hands. We remind ourselves that He is creating the story of our lives and the yi’ush that teva is demanding of us is totally incompatible with saying modeh ani every morning.
The siren song of yi’ush is so strong, so sweetly cloying, so reasonable! But that is not what Hashem wants from us. He expects us to look despair in the eye and turn our back, to declare stubbornly and fiercely that it is Hashem and He alone Who decides my fate! Not circumstance. Not cause and effect. Not trends or averages or market downturns.
It would be so so easy to just give up. To throw in the towel, to say, Hashem WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME, i’m done! I can only hold on so long! But to do so would be to consign ourselves to that fate, to choose that end. Worse, it would be letting Hashem down, to disappoint His hopes for our greatness. He knows far better than we how high we can climb.
Stand fast! cried Moshe, and see the yeshuas Hashem! We. Must. Not. Give. Up. Do not capitulate to the juggernaut of teva’s momentum and instead patiently, silently, SERENELY, await His epic finale. Bit’chu b’Hashem adei ad!
The purpose of teva is to argue for its own existence. It’s weakness is that it needs us to agree. Dig in your heels and refuse. Fiercely.
Ain od milvado… efes zulaso.