A common claim is that were we to experience miracles on the
scale of the Exodus, then belief in God would be an altogether
easier proposition. The problem is that the biblical text simply
does not bear this out. Parashat Beshallach neatly divides into
two. Before the crossing of the Red Sea, the Children of Israel
display a sublime faith, the pinnacle being the ecstatic tones
of the song of Moses. Yet no sooner have they scaled these dizzy
spiritual heights, they descend into a litany of complaints
about water, food and how good life was back in Egypt. How can
this incongruity be explained? Faith is an art form. It is
something which is acquired over a period of time and requires
practice. It is not something that can be superimposed from
without. When the Children of Israel expressed their faith in
God at the seam, it was heartfelt and spontaneous, borne of a
sense of overwhelming awe and gratitude. But it was also skin-
deep and unsustainable. This phenomemon was to repeat itself
with the rapid transition f