When the Ordinary Becomes Divine?

When the Torah describes the splitting of the sea, in this week's portion, Beshalach, it says:

“And the children of Israel went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.”

But later, after the miracle has concluded and the Jewish people sing the Song of the Sea, the Torah records their words differently:

“For the horses of Pharaoh, with his chariots and horsemen, went into the sea… but the children of Israel walked on dry land, in the midst of the sea.”

There is a subtle yet profound shift in language.
At first, they entered the sea, and it became dry land.
Later, they describe themselves as walking on dry land inside the sea.

Why the reversal?

Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, one of the great Chassidic masters, offers a breathtaking explanation.

The purpose of the splitting of the sea was not merely to perform a dramatic miracle—to rescue the Jews and drown their enemies. Its deeper purpose was to permanently transform the Jewish consciousness.

The  parting of the sea was meant to teach that  walking on dry land is no less miraculous than walking through a parted sea.

We are astonished when water stands like walls. But we are not astonished when the earth supports our every step—despite the staggering complexity, precision, and balance required for life to exist at all.

The Baal Shem Tov famously taught:
“The greatest miracle is nature—only it is a miracle that repeats itself.”

The miracle of the sea was meant to wake us up to the miracle of the ordinary.

The Daily Blessing

Every morning we bless G-d:

“Who spreads the earth upon the waters.”

We pause, before our first step of the day, to thank G-d for something we usually take entirely for granted: the fact that the earth exists beneath our feet.

The Vilna Gaon explained that at the earth’s core lies a molten, liquid mass—meaning the entire planet is quite literally supported by “water.” Modern science only confirmed this centuries later.

Every moment the world exists is a miracle sustained by Divine will.

The Seven Wonders

A group of junior high students once listed the Seven Wonders of the World—pyramids, cathedrals, canyons, and walls.

One quiet girl hesitated. When asked, she read her list:

1. To touch
2. To taste
3. To see
4. To hear
5. To feel
6. To laugh
7. To love

The room fell silent.

Einstein said it best:
“There are only two ways to live your life—one as though nothing is a miracle, the other as though everything is.”

The Shift in Consciousness

Now we understand the Torah’s language.

At first, the Jews went into the sea on dry land.
That was the miracle.

But afterward, they sang that they walked on dry land inside the sea.
That was the transformation.

From that moment on, every step on land felt like a miracle equal to walking through water.

Peter Himmelman once challenged a Chabad rabbi with sarcasm:
“Can the Rebbe fly?”

The answer stunned him:
“I’ve never seen the Rebbe fly. But for a tzaddik, walking on the ground is no less miraculous than flying.”

The miracle is not defying nature—it is recognizing G-d within it.

When the Alter Rebbe was imprisoned by the Czar, he once asked a guard to stop a boat so he could recite Kiddush Levanah. The guard refused—until the boat stopped on its own.

Yet the Rebbe waited until the guard willingly stopped the boat again.

Why?

Because the ultimate purpose is not supernatural spectacle, but finding G-d within the natural order.

The Baal Shem Tov once crossed a river using a handkerchief as a raft. A simple innkeeper, witnessing this, crossed the same way—without even realizing a miracle had occurred.

The Baal Shem Tov concluded that the man’s simple prayers were already perfect.

When you walk on dry land as though you are walking through the sea, you can walk through the sea as though it were dry land.

Don’t wait for miracles.

Your life is a miracle.

Every step.
Every breath.
Every ordinary moment.

The splitting of the sea did not end when the waters closed—it began when the Jews learned how to walk afterward.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky