European Americans brought slaves to this country from Africa. These African-born slaves came from many different religious backgrounds, and I’m guessing that none of them were Christian. Their descendants born into slavery focused on the Exodus story of freedom and redemption, seeing themselves as the Israelites, and the slave system as Egypt and the Pharaoh.
As Passover approaches and I think about the upcoming Seders, I often feel like I am in two different historical zones. I am often drawing parallels between the Exodus story in the Torah and the African-American slave experience. I often wonder if the other people that I am with, who are more often than not white Jews, even think about how the Exodus story relates to the American slave experience. I know there are many Jews who do get it, but still, I often wonder about other Jews sitting at Seders across the country, and I wonder about the Jews who are white who are seated at the same Seder as me; How are they experiencing the Seder sitting at a table with a black person?
Every year at Passover, we retell the story of Israel’s exodus from Egypt and their escape from slavery and oppression. Our tradition reminds us that the Exodus narrative is not just any story, but one we must retell because we are asked to believe that we were present at that moment.
As we move through the Seder, we are to experience the joy and the fear that our ancestors experienced. And at some point on this journey, we find ourselves standing at the edge of the sea. There is no way out. Pharaoh and his army are bearing down on us from behind and the vast sea stretches out in front. We are trapped and we are scared. Some of us cry out:
“Was it for want of graves in Egypt that you have taken us out here to die in the desert? What have you done taking us out of Egypt? Didn’t we tell you back in Egypt not to do this? Let us be, and we will serve the Egyptians, for it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness’?”
Moses replies,
“Do not fear! Stand firm! You will see that God will save you... be silent!”
God replies:
“Why are you crying out to me. Tell the Israelites to move forward, trust Me.” (Ex. 14:11-14)
The way forward seems obscure, terrifying, beyond one’s capacity to endure, even absurd. Yet you know that we cannot return to Egypt, and there is no going back to slavery. You have no choice but to choose the unknown and uncharted path forward.
We have an ancient Jewish story about these events. As the story goes, Nachshon, recently freed, and also trapped between death by water and death by the Egyptians, did something miraculous. Nachshon did what the others could not; he put one foot in front of the other and walked into the sea. The Israelites watched as Nachshon did what they could not: He decided to have faith. He walked into the water until he was completely covered, and when it seemed, he would drown, the waters parted. Nachshon decided to Wade in the Water, and he walked into the sea until he almost drowned. Then Moses raised his staff, and the waters parted.
Like the Israelites, my ancestors were born into slavery. I do not know who they were or know their stories and can only imagine their suffering. I do know the story of my parents who grew up in the Jim Crow South in families that were sharecroppers working land they did not own for very little pay. Both of my parents picked cotton, and I can remember a family drive through the south seeing cotton fields and one of my parents pointing to it and telling me I will never have to do that, I will never have to pick cotton. These and other memories that I have from my childhood gave me some insight into the challenges my parents had growing up, challenges that they often shielded from me. My parents were also providing me with a different education than the one I was learning about in school.
As a child in school, the history of slaves in America was sort of glossed over in the telling of the framing of our country. At some point in my education, I learned about the Underground Railroad. I imagined slaves riding secretly on rail cars underground to get from the south to the north. Later I learned that this Underground Railroad consisted of networks of routes with people black, white, free, and enslaved helping slaves, my ancestors to freedom. The Underground Railroad also contained conductors, folks who secretly traveled into slave states to rescue slaves. Conductors guided slaves from station to station. Harriet Tubman, who was born into slavery and escaped, was the best conductor on the Underground Railroad, and she never lost a passenger. Harriet Tubman, who risked her own life several times to rescue and free American slaves, was called Moses. Tubman once said that she could have freed thousands of more slaves if they knew they were slaves.
History reports that Tubman carried a gun; for obvious reasons, it protected her. She also used the weapon to prevent escaped slaves from turning back, and if they tried, she would point the gun at them, telling them to move forward or die, reminding me of the kvetching done by the Israelites in the desert.
One of my favorite songs since before I can remember is the song Wade in the Water. The song has always felt to me like it was in my DNA. I have no memory of ever learning this song. It’s always been there.
Songs like Wade In the Water were songs of the Underground Railroad. These songs sung by American slaves were often a form of communication.
It was illegal in slave states to teach slaves to read and write, so the majority of slaves could not read or write, and singing became the way to communicate. Wade in the Water was a map song, where directions were coded into the lyrics. These directions communicated to slaves running for freedom that they should wade in the water to avoid being seen and to throw the dogs off their scent. Legend has it that this was Harriet Tubman’s song, telling those she was helping to get to freedom that they needed to Wade in the Water.
Main Lyrics
Wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water
God’s gonna trouble the water.
The song Wade in the Water shares the doubt and fear in those running to freedom, but immediately the next line retorts, “God’s gonna trouble the water.” This phrase is repeated so much that it seeps into our soul and we are convinced that no matter what problem we may have, there will be a moment when God reveals God-self to us and takes away our sorrows. I imagine that for my ancestors, they believed that no matter the duration of their suffering, God will answer one’s cry by troubling the waters.
The underlying message: Do not worry about moving out into sea. Wade in the water because God is there to protect you and will be troubling the water.
My Lyrics:
Wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water
God's gonna trouble the water.
See those people dressed in whiteThey look like the children of the Israelites
Wade in the waterWade in the water, children
Wade in the water
God's gonna trouble the water.
See those people dressed in black
They come a long way and they ain't turning back
Wade in the waterWade in the water, children
Wade in the water
God's gonna trouble the water.
See those people dressed in blue
Look like my people comin' thru
Wade in the waterWade in the water, children
Wade in the water
God's gonna trouble the water.
See those people dressed in redMust be the children that Moses led
Wade in the waterWade in the water, children
Wade in the water
God's gonna trouble the water.
If you don't believe I've been redeemedJust follow me down to the Jordan's stream
Nachshon jumped in the big Red Seahe did it so that we’d be free
Wade in the water