Beshalach: What Did the Splitting of the Sea Look Like?

After seeing this magnificent photo, I was inspired to write a bonus article on Beshalach - an article I've been meaning to write for years. Surprise!

The Torah content for the entire month of February has been sponsored by Y.K. with gratitude to Rabbi Schneeweiss for providing a clear and easily accessible path to personal growth via his reliably interesting and inspiring Torah content.

Click here for a printer-friendly version of this article.

Beshalach: What Did the Splitting of the Sea Look Like?

I came across the photo above with the caption: “That the Dead Sea marathon looks like this and is scheduled on the Friday before Parashat Beshalach is just stunning!” The post received comments asking whether the image was real or AI-generated. The answer? It’s real. The event took place this past weekend, on February 7, 2025.

Did Krias Yam Suf (the Splitting of the Sea of Reeds) look something like this? Many would instinctively say, “No! The Torah says, ‘and the waters were for them a wall to their right and to their left’ (Shemos 14:22, 29), and the waters in the picture aren’t walls!” This reaction is likely influenced—whether consciously or not—by iconic depictions of Krias Yam Suf in film, such as The Ten Commandments and The Prince of Egypt. In these portrayals, the waters rise in towering vertical walls as the Israelites march through on their path to freedom.

Ralbag, however, offers a far more conservative explanation. He writes (ibid. 14:21-22):

“And Hashem led the sea with a strong east wind all night” – You should know that when Hashem, may He be exalted, performs miracles, He endeavors to bring about their causes in a way that makes them somewhat less foreign to nature, as we have mentioned previously. We have already explained this in the sixth book of Milchamos Hashem (The Wars of the Lord). For this reason, Hashem, may He be exalted, miraculously brought about a strong east wind, which dries and displaces water toward the western side, in such a manner that it created an exposed area in the sea for them. Thus, the waters of the sea stood to their right and to their left because that area was slightly elevated, and therefore, its exposure was complete while the waters remained to its right and left.

This is the intent of what is stated: “the waters were a wall for them on their right and on their left.” This does not mean the waters were standing high on both sides without flowing; if that were the case, there would have been no role for the east wind in bringing about this miracle. Rather, even so, the waters were high on the western side because the wind had displaced them there and continually prevented them from flowing back. This is why Hashem, may He be exalted, sent a strong east wind all night. The Torah refers to the waters as a wall (chomah), even though they were not elevated in a rigid manner, because they prevented the Egyptians from attacking from the right and left, leaving only the rear as an avenue of pursuit. And behind them, the cloud stood as a wall between them.

Those inclined to dismiss Ralbag’s explanation as mere Gersonidean rationalism must contend with the fact that his view is shared by the Abravanel (ibid.):

And in this manner, the Children of Israel entered the sea on dry land, since they could see by the light of the night, and the pillar of cloud did not obstruct them. They saw the waters on both sides appearing like a wall—not because the waters were standing tall on their right and left, but because the wind had displaced them there, and the miracle prevented them from flowing back, similar to how sea waves pile up on the shore during a storm. Thus, the path through which they traversed the sea at Pi Ha’Chiros was like a bridge extending from one side to the other, with the waters heaped up on both sides. The waters were unable to flow across and inundate the passage at that time due to the strong east wind, which was drying them up.

Shadal (ibid.) concurs:

having the waters as walls, etc. According to Ibn Ezra, the waters froze and then, after the Israelites passed through, they melted, as it is written below, “The waters piled up; they stood upright like a heap” (ibid. 15:8). However, the correct view is that of Gersonides and Abravanel: the waters were not [literally] high [walls] to the right and left; rather, the wind moved them there and restrained them from flowing, as is seen with sea waves that gather at the shore during a storm. Then was formed the path on which they crossed like a bridge from one side to the other, and on either side [of the path] the waters piled up and could not pass over and flood the pathway.

The expression “as walls” means that the waters were about them on the right and left, not literally like a wall or a heap, even though it says, by way of poetic simile, “They stood upright like a heap.” Clericus brings proof for this from the expression in Nahum, “Are you better than No-Amon, that was situated among the rivers, that had the waters round about her; whose rampart was the sea, and of the sea her wall?” (Nachum 3:8).

This naturalistic account of the miraculous krias Yam Suf is a far cry from Chazal’s statement (Avos 5:3) that “Ten miracles were done for our forefathers … at the sea,” which are detailed in a well-known commentary as follows (with the prooftexts omitted):

The first [miracle] was its splitting … The second was that after splitting, the water arched to form a vaulted ceiling, making the path appear like a tunnel through water, with walls on the right, on the left, and above … The third was that the seabed solidified and hardened for them … The fourth was that the Egyptians’ path remained sticky with mud … The fifth was that the sea split into multiple paths, corresponding to the number of tribes, forming a series of archways within archways … The sixth was that the waters froze and hardened like stones … The seventh was that the water did not freeze into a single solid mass like ice but remained fragmented and separated, as though composed of stacked stones … The eighth was that the frozen water was like glass or sapphire—meaning, it was transparent—so that the Israelites could see each other as they passed through … The ninth was that fresh water flowed from the walls of the sea, providing the Israelites with drinking water … The tenth was that this fresh water would freeze again after they drank from it, so that it would not fall to the ground.

The shocking thing is not that Chazal’s account of Krias Yam Suf is more overtly miraculous than the naturalistic picture painted by Ralbag, Abravanel, and Shadal, but that the commentary cited above comes from none other than the Rambam—the same Rambam who wrote in Maamar Techiyas ha’Meisim:

Our aim—and the aim of every intelligent person among the elite—is the exact opposite of the aim of the masses. For the most cherished and beloved thing to the multitude of Torah-observant people, due to their ignorance, is to consider the Torah and human intellect to stand at two opposite poles. Anything that is incomprehensible to the intellect, they deem a miracle. They flee from explaining events in natural terms, whether those events are recorded in the past, observed in the present, or foretold for the future. We, on the other hand, strive to reconcile the Torah with reason and interpret everything naturally wherever possible—unless it is absolutely self-evident that the event is miraculous and cannot be explained otherwise. Only then do we say it is a miracle.

One would expect—based on this approach—that the Rambam would explain Krias Yam Suf as naturally as possible. Yet, his commentary on this Mishnah contains no such indication. The next best place to look for insight into Rambam’s perspective is the commentary of his son, R’ Avraham (Shemos 14:21):

And the passage between the two sections [of the sea] was as we have explained—meaning, the Israelites entered between the two sections, into the sea on dry land, and the Egyptians pursued them into the sea as well, between the two sections. This does not contradict the verse, “To Him who divided the Sea of Reeds into sections” (Tehilim 136:13), because gzarim (sections) refers to two. However, the Sages, of blessed memory, interpreted gzarim to mean many sections, as cited by my father and master (i.e. the Rambam), of blessed memory, in his commentary on Pirkei Avos (5:4). This is a derash or an interpretation of the phrase "He divided the Sea of Reeds into sections," and perhaps it was stated as part of the received tradition and is not impossible given the nature of the miracle.

R’ Avraham hedges his bets—describing Chazal’s statement as “a derash or an interpretation,” acknowledging that “perhaps it was stated as part of the received tradition,” and adding that it’s “not impossible given the nature of the miracle.” R’ Moshe Maimon, editor of the critical edition of R’ Avraham’s commentary, notes the ambivalence compared to his father and suggests:

However, it is possible that both interpretations refer to the same idea. What Rambam calls kabbalah (nakkal in Arabic) might simply mean that this is part of the Sages’ oral tradition that was not written down—i.e., the Oral Torah. Along these lines, both Rabbeinu [Avraham] and Rambam refer to the Sages of the Talmud as al-nakkalin—“possessors of tradition”—which is translated in this book as “the transmitters,” meaning those who transmitted the teachings … But this does not mean that this interpretation was actually received as an explicit tradition going back to Moshe Rabbeinu. Indeed, R. N. Rabinovitch demonstrated in his book Iyyunim b’Mishnato shel ha-Rambam (p. 112) that this is one of the meanings of the term kabbalah in Rambam’s writings.

In other words, don’t think that the inclusion of this teaching in the Mishnah or the unqualified commentary offered by the Rambam indicates that he regarded this as an authoritative tradition going back to Sinai. It might be, but it might also just be a derash, which Rambam is explaining without decoding the derash itself.

So, what did Krias Yam Suf look like? We may never know. But what we choose to believe will depend on a close reading of the text, filtered through the lens of our broader understanding of miracles. And that belief will generate a version of the event in your imagination—one that will further reinforce your outlook on miracles.

Of course, there’s one major reason why Krias Yam Suf did not look this like the photo at the beginning of this article. According to most (if not all) classical commentators, the Israelites did not cross through the sea from one side to the other, but instead, ventured into the sea and emerged further down on the same side. But that’s a topic for another time.

---

Let me know what you think!

Like what you read? Give this article a “like” and share it with someone who might appreciate it!

Want access to my paid content without actually paying? If you successfully refer enough friends, you can get access to the paid tier for free!

Interested in reading more? Become a free subscriber, or upgrade to a paid subscription for the upcoming exclusive content!

If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you.

If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone.
-----
Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/
Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss
YouTube: youtube.com/rabbischneeweiss
Instagram: instagram.com/rabbischneeweiss/
"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com
"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com
"The Mishlei Podcast": mishlei.buzzsprout.com
"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com
"The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com
Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/
WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H
Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel