If we translate the Torah literally, a strange asymmetry appears in the story of the Exodus. Verse 14:10 reads: “As Pharoah drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes and Egypt was coming after them.”

Commentators note that while the Israelites are described in the plural, Egypt is described in the singular – not “Egyptians were coming after them,” but rather, “Egypt.” For the Israelites saw Egypt as being unified for one purpose – to capture, kill, and re-enslave the people Israel.

Yet, the Israelites were not unified. According to our Sages, some wished to surrender, some wished to flee, some had given up all hope, and others wanted to stand and fight. They quarreled among themselves at the moment of crisis. Only the parting of the sea and the relentless pursuit of their former slavemasters convinced all of Israel to cross into freedom.

The parallels with today are powerful and often painful. We frequently experience antisemitism as unified in purpose. It seems resolute and singular. When a person posts a hateful message, scores of like-minded responses follow. When someone makes a hateful public statement, they are elevated in the public eye and there is a cascade of vituperation.

And yet the Jewish response, whether we fight or flee or negotiate or ignore – can make us seem far less unified than those who would pursue or persecute us. We are the Israelites at the sea, bickering, uncertain, trying a thousand strategies and settling on none.

We cannot count on a miracle to unify us the way it did our ancestors. Nonetheless, coherence in the face of a threat is important, even vital. Political disagreements or ego jostling must not prevent a monolithic stand against the haters of the world. Antisemitism here or abroad, right or left, has the same ultimate aim and must be met with implacable opposition. Jewish unity will not last forever – even in the desert, the Israelites returned to bickering. Yet, at the far side of the sea, in the moment of deliverance, all of Israel sang the same song.