This Passover, as I sat with the special Torah portions and looked back on the last year and a half, I couldn’t ignore the weight pressing on us here in Israel. War continues to drag on. Families are shattered. Entire communities are living in fear and grief. The pain of division within our own people is deep, and around the world, hatred toward Jews is rising again—louder, bolder, more unapologetic.

Hope feels distant. Sometimes it feels naïve. And in moments like that, it's tempting to believe that maybe God has gone silent.

But then I read the words from Exodus 13, and something shifted. I was reminded that even when we don’t understand the route we’re on—even when it feels like everything is falling apart—God is still leading. He hasn’t stepped back. He hasn’t changed.

Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, ‘The people might change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.’ So God led the people around by way of the wilderness to the End Sea [Yam Suf]…
Exodus 13:17–18

God chose a longer, more difficult path for Israel—not to harm them, but to spare them from fear they weren’t ready to face. His protection didn’t always look like ease. But it was protection nonetheless. And He was present every step of the way:

The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day… and in a pillar of fire by night… He did not take away the pillar…
Exodus 13:21–22

Still, when the sea was in front of them and Pharaoh’s army was behind them, Israel panicked. They forgot God’s presence. And really—who can blame them? They were exhausted. Traumatized. Newly free, but not yet healed. They did what we all do in moments of terror—they longed for what was familiar, even if it meant slavery.

“Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you took us away to die in the wilderness?”
Exodus 14:11

They weren't being dramatic. They were overwhelmed. Their fear was real. And in that moment, God didn’t rebuke them—He made a way.

“Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD… The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Exodus 14:13–14

This moment in our history isn't just about crossing a sea. It’s about what it means to keep believing when there is no obvious way forward. It’s about holding on to God, not when things are easy, but when everything in us is screaming to go back to what we know.

We see this pattern again in 2 Samuel 22, as David reflects on his own battles and near-death experiences. His song is raw and real:

The waves of death encompassed me, the floods of destruction terrified me… In my distress I called upon the LORD, yes, I called to my God; and from His temple He heard my voice...
2 Samuel 22:5, 7

David does not deny how difficult this trial was. He doesn’t skip the fear or the struggle. But he makes one thing clear: God came through. Not just once, but again and again.

He brought me out into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me… The LORD lives, and blessed be my Rock.
2 Samuel 22:20, 47

So today, even as war lingers, even as hearts break, and even as hatred grows—we hold fast. We don’t deny the fear. But we remember the fire and the cloud. We remember the sea that split. We remember that God does not abandon His people, not then, not now.

We may feel surrounded, but we are not alone. The same God who led our ancestors through the End Sea, who strengthened David in the caves, is the same God who walks with us today.

Stand still. Trust Him. He’s not done yet.

May God give us the daily grace to press on in the midst of the darkness!

Shabbat Shalom,
Moran