THANKFUL FOR THE BARE MINIMUM

“At the blast of Apecha your nostrils, the waters Ne’ermu were piled up” (Ex.15.8)



Our Sages state that earning a living is as difficult as dividing the Red Sea.



R. Zalmele, the disciple of the Vilna Gaon, found an allusion to this statement in the above passage. Primal Adam is told by the sweat of Apecha – your ‘brow’ [lit. breaths], you shall eat bread. The term Apecha in the plural, relative to both earning and living and crossing the Red Sea, points to a common factor commanding great effort.



There is another allusion in the same passage. The divided waters exposing the seabed were Ne’ermu – heaped up. The root of this term is akin to Arum, the feeling of nakedness experienced by Adam after eating of the forbidden fruit. The Red Sea felt naked when its bed was exposed, like Adam.



We all feel self-conscious when we do not have the wherewithal to purchase clothing suitable and befitting the occasion.



All Yaakov our forefather asked for on leaving home with but a stick in hand, was bread to eat and clothing to wear (Gen.28.20).



Without food and clothing we feel vulnerable, so let us be thankful to Hashem if we have but this and no more.