We are soon approaching the Holiday of Passover. One of the miracles we commemorate during the holiday, is when the Jewish people miraculously, just before day break, crossed the reed sea. Before that, throughout the night, the Egyptians were pursuing the Jewish people, and the bible says, they could not reach them because “there was this pillar of clouds that separated them “and this “cloud of darkness, lit up the night”. The commentators help us understand this verse. There was a cloud of darkness in front of the Egyptians, and the pillar of fire that the Bible makes reference to before “lit up the night” for the Jewish people.
Mysticism explains, the “cloud of darkness, lit up the night” in the following way. That night, there was this amazing miraculous situation, the clouds of darkness themselves, lit up the night.
When faced with darkness and confusing circumstances in life, people will do all that is possible to chase it away, or run in a different direction, so in its place they can have light and clarity. That night, mysticism is telling us something very special took place. The darkness itself became light for them.
This very special miracle was a preparation for what was coming next, the splitting of the reed sea. In the water, there is a world that is even greater than what we see on dry land. Mysticism tells us – that in the atmosphere and around us, there is more that is happening that we don’t see than what we do see. When they went through the water, what opened up for them was not only the physical water. The splitting of the water was only the tip of a phenomenal experience that was taking place.
Their worlds opened up before them, so “a maidservant was able to perceive G-dliness on a greater level than even the prophet Ezekiel”. The truth of the universe opened up for all to see. Everything became clear in their lives, everything was split open, so there were no more concealing waters in life.
To prepare them for this great revelation of the hidden, they had to go through a night before hand, where they trained themselves and reached a level where darkness in life wasn’t a stumbling block, but a different way that G-d was protecting and placing His watchful eye over them. By appreciating the light, the ever watchful eye in the darkness, and by training the eye of their mind to always see the deeper good even in obscurity, they where able to experience the next day an uncovering of the waters, so they could see the incredible beautiful world in its total clarity and clairvoyance.
In these days when there is so much concealment and confusion, moments before daybreak feels like the darkest moments, we must transform the darkness to light in preparation for the splitting of our own sea. We must realize that everything is sent for a purpose, all is good and must be used not to trip over it, but as a building block. This is how we can transform the dark, and many times the evil world is transformed into a positive and constructive place to live in. We train our eyes to harness everything we come across even a wild bull into an animal that helps plow the ground and grow a bounty of crop.