Can faith be taught? Apparently they didn’t think so. I understand now faith issues were not part of the curriculum of the school. After all, it was a secular Zionist Jewish school that supported the state of Israel, and we all know that the State of Israel –so far- is a secular state. My parents didn’t think very differently. They were happy with the school –as I was- and they enjoyed the fact that I learned Hebrew and Yiddish, Zionism and Jewish history, Jewish literature and Jewish traditions.

For my parents, God was not a living presence in their lives, and therefore, neither was He in mine.

So, coming back to the Exodus, in third grade we went with the school to see the movie "The Ten Commandments" (the famous one with Charleton Heston). I remember that I came back home overwhelmed by the power of God and the fate of our people (it is amazing to see that sometimes, movies can achieve what schools can’t).

My parents, and then the teachers, rushed to explain to me, that what I wanted to believe as the splitting of the sea, was in fact, a lucky combination of low and high tides. Let it be -I thought to myself- and I incorporated the pseudo scientific theory into my life.

Now I know that my soul was pushing out for some connection with God, for some relationship with the divine, for some echo of mysterious holiness. But again and again, my teachers and parents, my mentors and friends, took care of bringing to me back to their logical reality.

I entered the rabbinical school with renewed hopes but the model repeated itself. My teachers in rabbinical school didn’t care to teach me how to believe in God. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I guess they thought that faith was taught to me at home. My teachers in rabbinical school replaced the pseudo scientific theory of the high and low tides with new scientific theories. They explained to me that archeologist believed that "the Exodus didn’t happen at all" and that theologians sustained that "something happened but we don’t know exactly what". On the other hand, Biblical critics discovered "different ideological layers within the biblical saga" and some Jewish philosophers saw in the Exodus’ narration, "a wonderful piece of art, which carried –of course not in the literal sense - an eternal message".

However, nobody within my circle of influence, believed that the Exodus of Egypt really happened the way we read it every year in the Passover Haggadah.

Now, coming back again to the Exodus’ story and trying to enrich my Jewish background, I found a series of Aggadot and Midrashim (rabbinical legends and commentaries) on the crossing of the sea, which I would like to share with you.

After exploring these stories I could not help but asking the following question: Why these stories? What did they have in mind those who put them together? Were they not afraid of my day school teachers, of my rational parents, of my scientific mentors? After all, if they related to the splitting of the sea as a fictional story, what will they say about "the wombs becoming as transparent as glass to allow the fetuses to see God’s Presence"?

I came to the conclusion that the purpose of these and other stories, biblical and rabbinical, is to teach faith, to help us believe in God. Apparently in the time when these stories were written, pseudo scientific theories and all kind of smart people abounded also, who told our forefathers that the Exodus didn’t really happen. So what did our Rabbis do, seeing the people’s disbelief? They embellished the Exodus saga even more, they made it more miraculously, and they added magic to the magic. It is as though they were saying to their audience: do you have a problem believing that God divided the sea? I will show what our God is able to do! Not only did he take us out of Egypt, but also if He wants so, He can make apples and pomegranates grow in the sea or he can make mother’s wombs transparent as glass to allow their children to see His presence.

My teachers taught me one way and I know they meant well. However, now I know better. It was not easy and I am not sure I won the battle. After all, faith is something we need to build every day of our lives.

My Torah partner, Rabbi Gedaliah Machlis told me a story. "A farmer once visited his relative in the city of New York, and while walking on the crowded streets, he pointed to a bird singing in the top of a high building. His relative from the big city was amazed: How did you hear the bird’s song with all this noise? Let me show you -said the farmer. The farmer then dropped a quarter in the street and suddenly five other men turned on to the sound of the metallic coin. You see, told the farmer to his relative- everybody hears what he wants".

How much truth is in this story! Everybody hears what he wants to hear, everybody sees what he wants to see, and everybody can believe what he or she wants to believe!

Now I understand that my soul wanted so much to believe in Hashem, that I was able to find the right stories, the right insights, and the right mentors.

I really believe that faith can be taught, so I try to teach it to my children and hopefully they will do the same with their children’s children. I am also trying to do the same with you. That is the reason why I share with you these beautiful and powerful stories from the Torah and from our Sages. And when my children or my congregants or my colleagues ask me if I really believe these stories, I answer them with the words of the Shemah:

Shabbat Shalom!