It must be proven that the splitting of the sea is a continuation and completion of the miracles of the Exodus from Egypt, and not a separate miracle, from the fact that the seventh day of Pesach is not considered a separate festival, unlike Shemini Atzeret, which is considered for several matters as a separate festival (Rosh Hashanah 4b). It is thus proven that the miracle of the splitting of the sea is a continuation and completion of the Exodus from Egypt. Moreover, it is accepted that the first days of the holiday of Pesach are in memory of the Exodus from Egypt, and the last days in memory of the splitting of the sea.

This can be explained that faith (emunah) and trust (bitachon) are two levels, one above the other. As the Chazon Ish wrote in his book "Emunah and Bitachon" (chapter 2), initially a person must toil in the attribute of faith until it becomes clear to him, and from this will grow and sprout trust in Hashem, after he already believes in Him with complete faith. Similarly, here, after their faith was solidified through the Exodus from Egypt, they reached the level of trust in Hashem.

This explains what the commentators expounded on the verse (Exodus 14:31) "And they believed in Hashem and in Moses, His servant," which was said after the splitting of the sea, indicating that only now did they reach the level of faith. Seemingly it is difficult, for they had already reached a level of faith in Egypt, as it says (Exodus 4:31) "And the people believed," and they later observed the Pesach sacrifice with self-sacrifice. If so, what was renewed now after the splitting of the sea?

Simply put, one can say that within faith itself, there are levels, each higher than the previous. After the splitting of the sea, they attained a new level of faith. Indeed, according to our words, we can say further that now they reached the level of trust, which is the perfection of faith.

However, this itself needs clarification, for they had already seen signs and wonders which Hashem performed for them in Egypt out of His great love for them, so why did they not reach the level of trust until the miracle of the splitting of the sea, and what was renewed in the splitting of the sea that brought them to the level of trust?

There are several explanations for this matter:

1. According to what is stated in the Mechilta (Beshalach, Masechet Vayehi, chapter 6): "Great is the faith that Israel believed in the One who spoke and the world came into being, for in the merit of their belief in Hashem, the Holy Spirit rested upon them and they sang a song, as it says, 'And they believed in Hashem and in Moses, His servant.'" Since the Holy Spirit rested upon them, they became capable of seeing the faith in its highest degree with great clarity, and before that, they were not capable of it, even though they saw signs and wonders.

2. According to what is written in the Noam Elimelech (Parashat Pinchas 25:17), this is the general rule: for every transgression, a shell (klipah) is created, heaven forbid, and as long as the shell is in the world, evil thoughts fall upon a person from that transgression. A person who repents must remove that shell from the world. In this context, as long as those wicked Midianites were in the world, the thoughts of the transgression of Peor still dominated Israel, confusing their minds. Therefore, Moses, our teacher, was commanded to take revenge on them, as it says, "They are enemies to you" (Numbers 25:18), meaning they are still enemies to you, causing bad thoughts from the act of Peor. Therefore, you shall remove them from the world and be holy and pure, removing the evil from your midst. This implies that as long as the shell was not removed, it still dominated the mind.

Thus, as long as Pharaoh and his army were not drowned in the sea, the shell of Egypt, which is characterized by disbelief, was not nullified, as Pharaoh said (Exodus 5:2): "I do not know Hashem." He made himself a god (see Rashi on Exodus 7:15). This disbelieving shell created a barrier between the light of faith and the intellect of creatures until the Egyptians were drowned in the sea, nullifying the shell. As we find, along with Pharaoh and his army, the angel of Egypt was also drowned above, as written in the book Kohelet Yaakov (section M, sign 519) and the Alshich (Exodus 6:1), alluding to this shell. Then, the barrier was removed, and the power of the light of faith was revealed to all.

3. We find that Jethro said (Exodus 18:11): "Now I know that Hashem is greater than all gods, for in the very matter in which they conspired against them." Rashi explains: "For in the very matter in which they conspired against them – as it is translated, they plotted to destroy them with water, and they themselves were destroyed by water. 'In which they conspired' – in which they sinned. Our Rabbis interpret this as 'in the pot they cooked, they were cooked.'" This means that Jethro, although he heard about the other plagues in Egypt, was not moved until he heard that Hashem's conduct with His creatures is measure for measure. As Ramban wrote, through great miracles, faith is not rooted in the heart as it should be, and over time, they can be forgotten. Only when one sees the sequence of events, how they are interconnected, and how each one receives the appropriate conduct according to their deeds in Divine Providence, it creates a lasting impression and deeply roots faith in the heart. This was the aspect of faith that Israel received after the splitting of the sea.

4. It is stated in the Mechilta (Beshalach, Masechet Vayehi, chapter 6): "And Israel saw Egypt dead on the seashore (Exodus 14:30) – for four reasons, Israel saw the Egyptians dead, etc., so that Israel would set their eyes upon them and recognize them and prove against them." That means, aside from the above-mentioned measure for measure conduct, showing the utmost precision in judgment to punish according to their evil deeds, there is also precision to punish for the pain and distress caused to the 'victim,' showing the honor and appreciation the punisher has towards the one who suffered. This is the meaning of the Midrash, that each of Israel recognized his oppressor and proved against him for all the suffering he caused in the Egyptian bondage, seeing clearly Hashem's revenge upon him in detail for all he did. As stated in Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer (chapter 41): "Rabbi Levi bar Simon says, on the fourth day, Israel camped on the seashore opposite the sea, and the Egyptians were floating like jugs on the water, and a north wind came and threw them and brought them, and they said: these are Pharaoh's palaces, and these are the taskmasters, they recognized each one, as it says, 'And Israel saw Egypt dead on the seashore.'" Meaning, since it does not say 'dead Egyptians' in the plural but 'Egypt dead' in the singular, it implies that each one saw the one who oppressed and troubled him and Hashem's revenge upon him in detail. From this, they saw that Hashem's love for Israel is not only in a general sense for the entire nation but for each individual personally, which greatly strengthened their faith.

This is along the lines of what the Chafetz Chaim ZY"A explained in the Haggadah, that at the sea, the Egyptians were struck several times more than in Egypt because in Egypt, they were all struck equally as one nation, but at the sea, each one was struck according to his wickedness individually, which divided into many types of plagues. Along these lines, it is stated in the Mechilta (Beshalach, Masechet D’Shira, chapter 5): "'Like a stone' (Exodus 15:5) – this was a medium blow. The wicked among them were churned 'like straw' (ibid, 7). The medium ones, 'like a stone.' The clever ones, 'sank like lead in mighty waters' (ibid, 10)." Similarly, other types of blows were divided for each Egyptian according to his wickedness. According to this, the disagreement among the Tannaim in the Haggadah, whether the Egyptians were struck at the sea with fifty plagues, two hundred, or two hundred and fifty, can be understood. The intent is to the number of blows each Egyptian received according to his actions, which could be divided into different levels. All this brought Israel a clear faith in Hashem's great providence over them individually, and how Hashem loves and values each one of them. Indeed, the signs performed in Egypt were for the entire nation collectively, and Hashem's providence over them individually was not yet revealed. This is similar to what was said in Kotsk, that the plagues in Egypt were intended to humble the Egyptians, and the purpose of the splitting of the sea was to elevate Israel. Therefore, each one said 'This is my God' (Exodus 15:2), individually, and not 'our God,' as here, the providence over each individual was revealed specifically.

This faith stimulates love and brings faith to perfection, leading to trust, complete repentance, and cleaving to Hashem.