April 16, 2017 / 20 Nissan, 5777 • Shevi'i shel Pesach
Issue 451
Dedicated in loving memory of Mrs. Miriam Friedman

Moses raised his arm over the sea. G-d drove back the sea throughout the night with a powerful east wind and turned the sea into dry land, and in addition, the waters all over the world split, so the whole world would know of this miracle.
Exodus 14:21

And G-d drove back the seas throughout the night with a powerful east wind: In other words, G-d had to keep the wind constantly blowing in order to keep the walls of water erect. Had G-d let the wind stop, these walls would have collapsed and the sea would have reverted to its natural level.

When G-d created the world, He also acted against the "natural" state of things: He created existence out of non-existence. Analogous to the Splitting of the Sea, G-d has to keep His creative force constantly "blowing" into reality in order to keep it from reverting back to its original, default state of non-existence. Reality is therefore not something that exists by virtue of the existential property with which G-d imbued it when He first created it. It continues to exist solely because G-d is actively and continuously infusing it with His creative force.

The implications of this truth are both profound and far-reaching. If G-d is constantly recreating the world, then the world right now is, in a very real sense, an entirely different one than the world that existed a moment ago. It is a fresh, new world, and we are brand-new people, not necessarily straitjacketed by any cause-and-effect relationship with the past. We have complete freedom to choose between good and evil at any given moment, unencumbered by precedent or habit.

--Excerpt from

Kehot's

Chumash Shemot