Bishalach 15- 25. Sweetening the water The bitter waters were sweetened: חזקוני- everything Hashem does He does through some medium in nature. ר’ אברהם בן עזרא- If the waters had been still it could be explained, but as this happened it was a miracle; the Chazal are right: [bitter made the bittersweet] רמב”ן- He was teaching Moshe (ויורהו rather than ויראהו) how His world works and how He operates within it. מדרש (תורה שלימה) סימן רס”א*, רס”א- A. many opinions that all identify this עץ by some species of tree or another that all are bitter; B. It is עץ החיים; see Zohar below. זהר חלק ב’ ס’ א’ ואילך- Yidden left Egypt looking for Torah which meant (at that time) looking for God(liness) but they found the opposite, because their ברית was only מילה without פריעה, so they removed the blockage but didn’t reveal the holiness. After the complaint Moshe was given a piece of wood from עץ החיים which is absolutely above death and is living absolutely, and this healed the Yidden’s bitter water (Torah) and made it sweet. דא”ח: ויאמר לו יהונתן מחר חדש ה’תשי”א- the two opinions: A. the Zohar (cited above) sweetening the water with עץ חיים; B. sweetening the bitterness with bitterness itself. The Godliness in darkness when revealed shows how bad is good on the absolute level.
