G-d doesn't do miracles to impress or convince us, He performs miracles to communicate with us, and through this communication He sparks our emunah and keeps it glowing.
The Conversation
Emunah (faith), a property embedded deep in every Jewish soul, does not spontaneously ignite; it needs to be triggered.
Conversation with G-d is what triggers faith. When we converse with friends we feel connected to them and we do not need proofs that our connection is real. In just the same way when we are in conversation with G-d we do not need proofs either, we are in a trueemunah state. It is only in the moments we are not in conversation with G-d that we wonder where He is or even if He is. To be in conversation with G-d, however, we do need to be open to His non-verbal way of communicating with us.
G-d converses with us through miracles, big ones and small ones, but always, meaningful ones. G-d doesn't do miracles to impress or convince us, He performs miracles to communicate with us, and through this communication He sparks our emunah and keeps it glowing.
All the miracles G-d performed in Egypt were meaningful and each communicated specific messages. This meaning and communicative quality of His miracles is what repeatedly distinguishes the feats of Moshe from the Egyptian magicians' attempts at imitation. In last week's parsha, (4:3-9) after Moshe questions whether the people will accept his word, Hashem gives him three miracles to prove his bonèfides. In the first instance his cane turns into a snake to alert him to the Lashon Harah (inappropriate speech about others) he spoke about the Jewish people. This miracle is a stern communication to Moshe. Then, his hand turns leprous, the standard consequence for speaking Lashon Harah in the time of the Torah. Again, this miracle is not a spectacle but a meaningful communication.
Joining the Conversation
These miracles weren't meant to convince Moshe, Moshe never doubted. Rather Moshe was intended to recount the narrative of these miracles to the people so that they could join in Moshe's conversation with G-d thereby igniting their emunah. Moshe was intended to say to the people of Israel, "I cast aspersions on you in doubting your emunah, and G-d immediately communicated to me the inappropriateness of my comment. Look what He did! He turned my stick into a snake like this….and he made my hand turn leprous…like this. G-d is active in our lives; He defends the dignity of His people and demands justice for them. " If they then questioned whether G-d would "take on" the Egyptian deities, Moshe was armed with the third miracle he was given, turning water from the Nile (an Egyptian deity) into blood. (See Rashi 4:3,6 and 9). In this way Moshe engaged the people in his conversation with G-d.
People's need for "a sign from Heaven" is often a perfectly legitimate need to feel that G-d is in communication with them and that what happens in life is not random. The Midrash (Shemos Rabbah 9:1), commenting on G-d's prediction in the parsha (7:9) that Paroh will demand a sign says:
"R.Yehudah b.r. Shalom says, he (Paroh) asks for a sign legitimately as did Noach…and Chizkiyahu the king, and Channaniah, Misha'el and Azariya who only entered the fiery furnace after they were given a sign... if even tzadikkim (righteous people) requested a sign how much more so are wicked people entitled to do so!"
The Message
The episode in Paroh's presence when Moshe's stick turned into a snake and, after returning to its stick form, consumed the snakes that the magicians created from their staffs, was a message to Paroh. The message explained the difference between the powers of Egyptian wizards and the power of the Creator of the world. The wizards were alchemists who could change form, but could not change nature - over which they had no dominion. G-d, the creator of nature, could and would change nature at His will. The wizards made their sticks look like snakes but they could not make them act like snakes. Moshe's stick did act like a snake even though it was a stick. Nature had been changed.
The Ten Plagues were also much more than mere random acts designed to instill awe in people. Rather, each plague had specific meaning and carried a particular message for the world. (See theKlei Yakkar, and others, for a detailed analysis of the message contained in each plague.)
G-d continues to speak to us in miracles today. Sometimes the miracles are harsh reminders that we have drifted from the purity of our Source, sometimes they are signs of encouragement that we are moving forward in a straight way. Sometimes the miracles are grand and their message is national or universal, sometimes they are micro-miracles with a message just for you or me. No one else can translate our message; each of us must internalize events and allow ourselves to feel what chords inside us they strike. The same event can strike different chords for different people, as G-d, using one message, communicates different things to each of us.
Consider the attempts to translate the devastation of hurricane Sandy into a single commoditized, coherent, Divine message to all people. These attempts are futile and in many ways infantile. Each of us needs to feel the message penetrate deep into our own inner consciousness and we need to listen carefully to the message that is being whispered to us from within our own hearts rather than from the pulpits of dogmatic preachers. The same applies to any unexpected event, positive or negative, whether it is one that makes our lives easier and more pleasant or one that makes things more difficult and challenging. G-d speaks to us in the most subtle and varied ways. When we are in conversation with G-d, we don't need proofs of His existence; we are in a state of emunah.
Hearing the Message
There are two other ways we converse with G-d. G-d also talks to us through the messages we glean from the deep study of His Torah, and we talk to G-d, through our focused prayer. Each morning we combine this bi-directional communication into the Shema (G-d talking to us) and tefilah (we talking to G-d). No interruption is permitted between the Shema and tefillah, just as when being addressed by a respected individual we would not interrupt the conversation before responding to him.
Even though the Jewish people are ma'aminim benei ma'aminim(believers, the children of believers) as we explained in last week's essay, we need conversation with G-d to spark our Emunah. Listen carefully for His Kol Demammah Dakkah ("a still and silent voice"Melachim I - 19:12). G-d doesn't shout; He speaks very, very quietly. Even his dramatic miracles carry very silent messages. To communicate with G-d, more than anything you need stillness: Physical stillness, mental stillness and emotional stillness. Take time out for tefillah, for Torah and for the quiet observation of life's miracles. This time should not be spoilt with iPhones and Blackberries, it should be a time without noise and movement, time alone. In the stillness of your heart Hear, and you will know that Hashem (Creator) is our Elokim (active in our lives), and everything that happens is from a single Source.
