ויבאו בני ישראל בתוך הים ביבשה
Did all of the people immediately enter the Red Sea? Nachshon ben Aminadov made the first move. Everybody followed his lead. Chazal (Sotah 36b) quote a debate that takes place between Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yehudah. Rabbi Meir teaches that when the Jewish People stood at the banks of the Red Sea the tribes began to contend with one another, each one declaring, “I am going in first!” Rabbi Yehudah disagrees. He claims it was the opposite, with each tribe giving the “honor” of entering the water first to the other tribe. In the end, it was Nachshon ben Aminadov…