The Israelites are leaving Egypt.
The people are running like mad.
God is shouting directions in their ears
like a crazed backseat driver.
You'd think they'd go directly to Israel,
but instead God takes them on the senic route
to avoid the Egyptians.
Soon, they hit a dead end.
The Israelites run into the Red Sea
and the Egyptians catch up with them there.
God decides to show everyone who's boss.
"Extend your hand over the sea,"
God tells Moses, "You will split the sea,
and the Israelites will cross on dry land.
Extend your hand again,
and the waters will crash down
on the Egyptians as they follow you."
The Egyptians drown,
and the Israelites on the far shore
celebrate their freedom, singing,
and dancing, and praising God.
But it doesn't take long for them
to become disgruntled.
They come to a place named Marah
where the water tastes bitter,
and they complain about it.
God tells Moses to cast a piece of wood
into the water.
Moses does, and the water becomes sweet
and the people drink it.
Next, they complain about their lack of food.
Moses tells them,
"God will provide manna every morning.
I don't know what manna is,
but I can tell you, it will be nourishing.
And I can also tell you
that you should only take
what you'll eat that day
-- no more."
Of course, some people can't resist sneaking
a bit more.
In the morning, they discover
the leftovers are rancid and wormy.
The Sabbath is the only day this changes.
On the sixth day of the week,
everybody is supposed to gather manna
for two days,
because there won't be any on the next day.
So that night, the leftovers don't go bad.
But some people still expect fresh manna
the next morning.
They go out looking for it; there isn't any.
We already knew that was gonna happen.
So Moses starts to get annoyed
because the people never believe
that things will just work out the way he says.
And the next time that the Israelites complain,
he complains to God,
"What should I do with these people?"
But of course, God provides.
At every step of the way,
God gives the Israelites what they need.
And at every step of the way,
the Israelites find something new
to complain about.
Some of it's understandable;
slavery sucks, and so does not having food
to eat or water to drink.
But after awhile,
our ancestors in the wilderness
are getting a little annoying.
Why do they complain so much,
and why does the Torah
feel the need to let us know
about each individual complaint?
One possibility is that God makes them doubt;
back in Egypt, God hardened Pharaoh's heart,
and make him come after the Israelites
so that everyone could see
a full-on demonstration of God's power.
Is God hardening the hearts
of the Israelites here,
just so that they'll know how generous God is?
The people doubt and doubt.
It -is- kind of annoying and repetitive,
but if you pay attention,
they never actually doubt God twice
about the same thing.
Once, it's defeating the Egyptian overlords.
Another time, it's providing water.
Another time, it's good tasting water.
Another time, it's food.
So, doubting keeps us protected.
We just have to be open-minded,
to give a chance for our doubt
to be proven wrong.
Producer: Sarah Lefton
Animation Director: Nick Fox-Gieg
Animation: Jeanne Stern
Editorial Director: Matthue Roth
Theme Music: Tim Cosgrove
Written & Narrated by Eli Winkelman
Sound Recording: Shemspeed