beshalach

The posuk says מה תצעק אלי דבר אל בני ישראל ויסעו: Hashem says to Moshe why are you crying to me? Talk to the Jews & go. It is interesting to note how Rashi, תרגום יונתן and אונקלוס translate these words.

Rashi says this teaches us that Moshe was praying, & Hashem told him now is not the time for prayer; all they have to do is go. The תרגום יונתן says that 'ה said to Moshe, why are you davening to me? The prayers of your nation came before yours, all they have to do is go. While אונקלוס says that 'ה said to Moshe, I accepted your prayer, all they have to do is go.

What are these three different ways of translating the same words teaching us? The בן איש חי says that this posuk of  מה תצעק אלי דבר אל בני ישראל ויסעו teaches us the greatness of the מצוה of ביטחון. To explain, he divides ביטחון into three categories. The first & most predominant type is when a person is in a tough spot & he trusts that 'ה will come to his aid & help him out. However, often this kind of ביטחון comes from a "what do I have to lose" perspective. If he doesn't have anything to put his trust into, he will totally give up, so he puts his trust in 'ה. However, he still has doubts as to whether he'll be saved or not. He has ביטחון, but he still worries. That's ביטחון, but not complete ביטחון.

The next level up of ביטחון is when a person is sure without any doubt that 'ה will protect him. However, it's usually private, & the person knows without a doubt that 'ה will protect him, but it's on a personal level. Like the wife of רבי חנינא בן דוסא, who every friday would burn wood in the oven so that smoke would come out of the chimney so that no one would know how poor they were. One such friday one of the nosy neighbors knocked on the door & the wife, not wanting to be embarrassed, went into a back room, while the neighbor came in & yelled out to her to hurry because the challos were burning. Bring the board to take them out! She replied from the back room, that's just what I went to get. The gemara continues that she wasn't lying. She really went to get it, for she knew that  'ה wouldn't let her be embarrassed.  

The third and ultimate level, is when a person knows that 'ה will perform a miracle for him, & doesn't hesitate to broadcast it to the world, so strong is his trust in 'ה's salvation. Like the story told about the time of drought in ירושלים, when the wells were empty & the people were in danger of dying of thirst, the ruler at that time sent a message to the rabbis to either bring rain in three days time, or they'd be banished from town. For three days they prayed & fasted. Finally it was the end of the third day, &  רבי משה גלאנטי told all the men, women & children to go home & put on raincoats, boots, hats etc. They all went to the kever of שמעון הצדיק. As they were walking all dressed for rain on a hot sweltering day without a cloud in the sky, the arabs they passed were all laughing at them saying, "look they think its going to rain". When they got to the kever they all poured out their hearts to 'ה, & suddenly the skies turned dark & the rain began to pour down.  

Maybe this is what the three different translations are. תרגום יונתן who says that the people already davened is addressing the first level: we're in trouble, help! And אונקלוס, who says that 'ה  accepted Moshe's prayer is addressing the second level: Moshe pray for us because we know that would work. And Rashi, who says that 'ה says now is not the time because he's addressing the ultimate level: I don't want you to daven, I want you to do something that shows you know I'm going to save you. Jump in the water until the drowning point & show everyone that you believe 100%, no questions asked, that 'ה will come to your aid.

Be like the people who put on their boots when there's no rain, for they're so sure of the miracle to come. That's the level 'ה wanted says the בן איש חי. This miracle was going to be talked about for thousands of years so the Jews had to show all the future generations how to have the ultimate ביטחון, & that's what they did, showing us what we have to strive for!