parsha bit: B'shalach (Shirat HaYam, the song at the sea)

[cellio]

When Israel stood at the Sea of Reeds, the angel Shmu'el challenged God, saying: until now they have been idol-worshippers, so how can you split the sea and redeem them? Ha-Kadosh Baruch Hu (the Holy One, Blessed be He) responded by turning over Job to Shmu'el to prosecute. God reasoned: while Shmu'el is busy with Job, Israel will go down into the sea and cross, and then I will save Job. Then God spoke to Moshe, telling him to tell Israel to proceed. (Exodus Rabbah 21:8)

This same midrash asserts that Job was one of Paro's counselors but was, nonetheless, an upright man. The midrash sometimes moves people around like that; I'm not sure why.

I'm not sure which reading of Job is worse: that he was God's focus for a time, or that he was merely a decoy.

Comments

another interpretation

[cellio]

When I shared this midrash with our associate rabbi tonight, he saw a more positive spin: instead of Job being picked on for no reason other than that he was a convenient target, this story has him enabling Israel's redemption. So he sees it as elevating Job, a possibility that hadn't occurred to me.