This is the Moment: Jewish Story of Nachshon and the Legacy of Black Courage 

In late January, I served as the Rabbi/Scholar in Residence for Shir Hadash, a Reconstructionist Jewish community in St. Louis. I mashed up the words of the prayer Mi Chamocha — “Who is Like You” — with words from the well-known Black spiritual “Wade in the Water” and sang them together. The Jewish prayer Mi Chamocha appears in Exodus 15 as part of the Song of the Sea.  

The Israelites sang the Song of the Sea as they crossed the Red Sea to freedom. The song is a celebration of God and serves as a reminder of the role God played in the salvation of the Israelites. In the book of Exodus, the Israelites were enslaved in Mitzrayim (also known as the place of pain, the place of constriction and commonly translated as Egypt) for generations. They were suffering under the oppressive rule of Pharaoh. However, through the actions of Moses, Aaron, and God’s intervention, the Israelites are freed from bondage. As the Israelites escape with Pharaoh’s army in hot pursuit, they arrive at the shore of the Red Sea, where they are trapped and doomed to die. Many of us know the Exodus story that the waters of the sea parted, allowing the Israelites to cross the sea.  

In the Jewish tradition, we have midrashim, plural for the Hebrew word midrash, which are commentaries, interpretations, or stories used to flush out a deeper meaning of the text or to explain some of the details left out in our biblical narratives. The story of Nachshon ben Aminadav is a midrash used to explain some of the events in the Torah about how the waters of the sea parted to allow the Israelites to cross the sea.  

According to the story, the Israelites found themselves trapped at the edge of the Sea with Pharaoh’s army closing in. Moses told them that God would fight for them and save them, and to demonstrate faith, Nachshon stepped into the sea. When Nachshon was about to drown, Moses raised his staff, and the waters parted.  

The Israelites crossed the sea and sang the Song of the Sea to celebrate God’s power and mercy. The spiritual “Wade in the Water” is a well-known Negro Spiritual that was used as a code to help escaped enslaved Black people navigate to freedom. The lyrics instruct listeners to “Wade in the water, God’s gonna trouble the water.” The song is also a metaphor for the courage and bravery required to escape slavery. Enslaved people had to risk their lives to cross bodies of Water to reach safety, and the Water also provided cover so that dogs could not track their scent.