“And God goes before them—by day, with a pillar of cloud, to guide them along the way, and by night, with a pillar of fire providing them with light—to travel day and night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire at night leave their station in front of the people.” (Exodus 13:21)
Until this verse, all the preceding text is stated in the past tense, as in: “When Pharaoh let the people leave . . .” (Exodus 13:17); “Moses took Joseph’s remains with him . . . (ibid. 19); “They traveled on from Sukkoth . . .” (ibid. 20). But this verse, “And God goes before them . . .”, is the first place in which the text speaks in the present tense.
We learn in the Midrash (Genesis Rabbah 51:2) that the phrase “And God” always connotes “God and His court of law.” And so we ask: What aspect of judgment was hinted at in the verse “And God goes before them . . .”? The fire (judgment) was for the Jewish people’s own good, since it lit up the darkness for them. What then is so judgmental about the text, connoting God and His court of law?
Rashi explains that the verse “And these are the laws that you must set before them,” (Exodus 21:1) means that the laws should be set out like a table laid before them, so that each individual should find the Torah arranged plainly and clearly for him according to the level of his intelligence. This is also what is meant by the words of our text above, “And God goes before them.” God and His court of law are “before them,” adjusting and setting the judgments according to the level of need of each individual Jew. This is why the fire—i.e., the judgment—is plainly and clearly beneficial, lighting the darkness for each person.
We must always use the judgments and suffering we endure properly, utilizing them to worship God, to keep going day and night. We learn this from that part of the text that speaks in the present tense and refers to the necessity for the Jewish people to keep going, day and night. Furthermore, from what we have already said the deeper implication becomes plain and clear: Not only when the going is soft and easy must we go in God’s ways, climbing higher and higher spiritual heights, but also when, God forbid, we are in pain and darkness. For when a person enjoys generous good fortune, it is easy for him to worship God joyously, passionately, and with love. Nevertheless, when he is suffering, God forbid, he must take advantage of that situation also, to worship God with his broken heart and with an outpouring of the soul.
We learn in the Talmud (Berachoth 3a): “When R. Jose entered one of the ruined houses of Jerusalem in order to pray, he heard a heavenly echo.” In the same Talmudic passage we learn that R. Jose was told by the Prophet Elijah that the heavenly voice speaks not only in the ruins, but whenever Jewish people go into synagogues anywhere, in order to pray. Why then did R. Jose not hear this echo when praying in his own synagogue?
We do not presume to understand the essence of R. Jose’s experience, but the lesson in it for us is this: It was precisely because R. Jose was praying amidst the ruins of Jerusalem, because his heart was broken in response to the destruction around him, that he was able to hear the heavenly echo. And so it must be with us, when commerce is brought to a standstill and businesses are closed, God forbid. It may indeed be a very sad and bitter reality—for, after all, the Jewish people need and deserve a livelihood. Nevertheless, regardless of the reason for our having so much free time, let us not waste the time or the opportunity. If there is nothing for us to do, then let us recite the Psalms, and so forth. Let us keep going, day and night. And God Who is merciful will have mercy, and will turn the judgments around so that they become entirely beneficial, “going before them,” to meet each individual need.
With this, we may possibly answer another question. It is taught in the Talmud that the manna that fell from heaven was used to judge arguments and disputes that occurred among the Jewish people. For instance, we learn in the Talmud (Yoma 75a): “If two men both claimed to own the same slave, the issue was decided by watching to see into which litigant’s house the slave’s portion of manna fell.”
Why was it, then, that we did not determine the halachic (legal) time of changeover from day to night simply by looking to see whether we were following a pillar of cloud or a pillar of fire? It should have been obvious which pillar we were following. From this observation we should have been able to calculate the period between sunset and nightfall to the exact satisfaction of all the legal requirements. Why is it, then, that the precise moment of nightfall is still legally undetermined?
As we have learned, the phrase above, “God goes before them by day . . .” means not only that when it is really daytime the pillar of cloud is there and the pillar of fire is not, “before them” means “according to their needs.” And so it is possible that there were times when the Jewish people for one reason or another could not see so well, although it was still daytime, and so the pillar of fire came to light the way for them.