באותה שעה היה משה מאריך בתפלה אמר לו הקב"ה ידידיי טובעים בים ואתה מאריך בתפלה לפני אמר לפניו רבונו של עולם ומה בידי לעשות אמר לו (שמות יד, טו) דבר אל בני ישראל ויסעו ואתה הרם את מטך ונטה את ידך וגו'
Let not the waterflood overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up etc.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 16.
');"><sup>9</sup></span> At that time Moses was engaged for a long while in prayer; so the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, 'My beloved ones are drowning in the sea and thou prolongest prayer before Me!' He spake before Him, 'Lord of the Universe, what is there in my power to do?' He replied to him, Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward. And lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thy hand etc.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ex. XIV, 15f.
');"><sup>10</sup></span>
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
The Torah (14,15) quotes G–d as saying to Moses before the crossing of the sea: מה תצעק אלי, דבר אל בני ישראל ויסעו "Why do you cry out to Me, speak to the children of Israel, and they will start moving!" Rashi, quoting ancient sources, says that this verse teaches that while G–d spoke to him thusly Moses was engaged in lengthy prayer. G–d reprimanded Moses for spending all this time in prayer at a time when the Jewish people were in distress. This seems exceedingly strange. The Psalmist tells us in 86,7: ביום צרתי אקראך כי תענני, "On the day of my distress I call upon You, so that You will answer me." Had it not been for Rashi's comment on 14,15, we would not have experienced any difficulty. We would simply have understood G–d as telling Moses that there was no need for prayer since G–d had already assured Israel of His help when He said: ואכבדה במצרים ובכל חילו, "I shall deal severely with Pharaoh and his entire army" in 14,4. All Moses had to ask was how best to go about defeating Pharaoh. Nachmanides follows this approach in his commentary.
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