Just Do It

“Just Do It” is not only a clever Nike marketing slogan, it's a way of life.

We may find ourselves at times inspired to launch a new business, take on a new project, spend more time with our family, or reconnect more with our Jewish identity. However, after the initial excitement wears off, it may become challenging to keep focused on attaining our goals.

We may face internals self-doubts, external obstacles, or just a change in our mood which causes us to have second thoughts about actualizing our ambitions. 

There are often four general approaches that we may choose to follow:

One person may easily give up when a problem seems insurmountable. A second person may choose to compromise. A third person may try to aggressively resist the challenge. And yet a fourth person may passively sit back and hope things will just work out on its own.
 

In this week’s Torah portion, Be'shalach, we learn about the beginning of the Jewish people’s journey in the desert following their exodus from Egypt. On the seventh day following their miraculous exodus, the Jews found themselves trapped. They faced a sea in front of them and the Egyptians chasing them from behind. 

They formed four groups which differed in their opinions on how to respond to this great challenge. As the Midrash states: “As they stood at the shore of the sea, the people of Israel split into four factions. One said: ‘Let us cast ourselves into the sea.’ A second said, ‘Let us return to Egypt.’ A third said, ‘Let us wage war against the Egyptians.’ A fourth said, ‘Let us cry out to G‑d’.”
 

When Moses turned to G-d to inquire which of the four options were to followed, G-d replied that neither one of them was the correct approach at that time. Rather, they should proceed and carry out the mission they were given and continue traveling towards Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. As the verse states: “The Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry out to Me? Speak to the children of Israel and let them travel (Exodus 14:15)”. 

According to the Midrash, the sea had not yet split when G-d told the Jews to enter it. The people hesitated, until the prince of the tribe of Judah, Nachshon ben Aminadav, jumped in. Only then did G-d tell Moses to raise his hand and split the sea. Nachshon knew that G-d had instructed the people to travel to Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. He was therefore singularly unimpressed with the obstacles that stood in the way. The fact that a sea stood between the people and their final goal did not faze him. If he had to jump into the sea and keep going until he would reach Mount Sinai, so be it. 

This episode serves as a powerful lesson for us both as a community and as individuals. 

When facing a challenge in reconciling our Jewish identity and values with our modern lives, we must learn from the mistaken attitudes of the four groups and follow Nachshon's lead instead. 

Our Divine mission is to positively transform the world and not join one of the four camps:

1. Jump in to the sea:  to give up by assimilating or concealing our identity. 2. Go back to slavery in Egypt: observing our Judaism in misery by viewing it as a burden. 3. Wage war: wasting our energy on debating or arguing with those who may oppose our Judaism. 

4. Cry to G-d: merely lifting up one’s hands and depending solely on G‑d to do the work for us. 

Instead, we must be involved in illuminating the world and bringing it closer to the era of Redemption by studying Torah and performing Mitzvot.

The Torah teaches us that the world, and everything it contains, is continuously created by G-d and can never stand in the way of fulfilling our purpose in life. While societal norms may seem at times to be inconsistent with our values, it is only a test to our convictions and we must not allow it to distract us from our objectives.

Our job is to reveal the beauty of the world around us thereby making a home for G-d in this world. The modernization of the world is only meant to heighten our awareness of this truth and give us the tools to positively impact the world around us. When we move forward and remain focused on our goals, we will experience our own “splitting of the sea” and reveal the hidden potential within ourselves and the world around us.

We must learn from Nachshon not to be fazed by the obstacles that surround us, and not to rely on others to bring change to the world, but rather each of us should lead by example and bring the ultimate redemption to the world. 

As Maimonides famously states: “A person should always look at himself as equally balanced between merit and sin and the world as equally balanced between merit and sin….if he performs one mitzvah, he tips his balance and that of the entire world to the side of merit and brings deliverance and salvation to himself and others”.