A.J. Jacobs, foreword to My Jewish Year by Abigail Pogrebin

"...The story is a legend from the Midrash, and it goes like this: When Moses was fleeing the Egyptians, he arrived at the Red Sea with his thousands of followers. Moses lifted up his staff, hoping for a miracle—but the sea did not part. The Egyptian soldiers were closing in, and Moses and his followers were stuck at the shore. It was only a matter of time before every one of them would be slaughtered. Naturally, Moses and his followers were panicking. No one knew what to do. And then, just before the Egyptian army caught up to them, a Hebrew named Nachshon did something unexpected. He simply walked into the Red Sea. He waded up to his ankles, then his knees, then his waist, then his shoulders. And right when the water was about to get up to his nostrils, it happened: the sea parted. The point, said Rabbi Bachman, is that ‘sometimes miracles occur only when you jump in.'"

- A.J. Jacobs, foreword to My Jewish Year by Abigail Pogrebin