Parashat Beshalach
פרשת בשלח
שמות Exodus 13:17 to 17:16
The Saturday when this parashah is read is known as Shabbat Shira (שבת שירה – Sabbath of the song)
Chapter 13, verses 17 through 22 – The Israelites leave Egypt, G-d showing the way
The Israelites were not led out of Egypt by the direct route along the Mediterranean Coast (the historic Via Maris). The people were still a rabble. Even though they left Egypt armed (חמושים), they are not yet molded into a coherent disciplined unit capable of taking on entrenched enemies such as the Philistines or the Egyptian garrisons along the way. G-d knew that they would break and run back to Egypt. Rather, they were led by a more roundabout route, one that may also have the advantage of making it difficult if not impossible for the disheartened to return to Egypt. A midrash (unsupported by the text of the Torah) states that the reason the Israelites were not led out by the Via Maris is that this route was strewn with the dry bones of 300,000(!) members of the tribe of Ephraim that left Egypt on their own initiative 30 years before the appearance of Moses and were vanquished by the Canaanites. The midrash continues that, perhaps by miscalculation, the Ephraimites attempted to leave Egypt 30 years before the conclusion of the 400 year exile. Seeing their pitiful remains would have disheartened the departing Israelites and would have made them return to Egypt.
Verse 18 – “the Israelites were “חמשים” when they went up from Egypt (וחמשים עלו בני ישראל מארץ מצרים). חמושים in this context may mean fortified, as with the gold and jewelry that they “borrowed” from their Egyptian neighbors. Some commentators (including Rashi) have speculated that חמושים in this context may mean one fifth, that is 4/5 of the Israelites stayed behind. Most likely, this may refer to the people being armed (spears, bows and arrows, etc.).
Verse 19 – The bones of Joseph were brought out with them, fulfilling a promise that was made.
Verse 21 – G-d went before them to show them the way, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.
Chapter 14, verses 1 through 9 – Pharaoh gives chase
G-d is not done with Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The Israelites are ordered to make camp. In the meantime, Pharaoh’s heart will once again become hardened, and he will give chase with his choice chariots and warriors.
Verses 10 through 14 – The Israelites panic
The Israelites, not yet molded into a disciplined people, are (understandably) panicked by the approaching threat. Better to serve the Egyptians, no matter how hard and demeaning that was, than to die in the wilderness (they did have a point).
Verses 15 through 31 – G-d causes the sea to split, the Israelites escape, Pharaohs army is destroyed
G-d instructs Moses to hold up his arm for the sea to split, being driven with a strong wind such that the Israelites were able to cross on dry ground, a wall of water in both sides of them. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army pursued into this dry channel, and the waters returned converging on the Egyptians and drowning them. How is it that the Egyptians were not too scared to follow into the unnaturally parted sea? Possibly, the sea was not so deep, and G-d had to lock the chariot wheels to seal their fate. Unclear from the text if Pharaoh died with his army.
What sea did they cross? Most definitely, not what we now call the Red Sea (or Sea of Reeds – ים סוף), but more likely the more shallow area of the Bitter Lakes.
Chapter 15, verses 1 through 21 – Being saved, the Israelites sing praise of G-d
Following the destruction of Pharaoh’s army in the sea, the Israelites under Moses sing a song of praise to G-d (שירת הים – “song at the Sea”). G-d is praised much as a subject would praise a conquering military hero.
Note verse 11: … מי כמכה באלים יהוה which would translate directly as “who is like you among the gods, YHVH …”. Is the intent that only “our” G-d is real or is this a hint that the Israelites, newly liberated from Egypt, are still not totally liberated from pagan beliefs? This verse, and the following two are included in the daily prayer liturgy.
Verse 20 – Following this extensive song of praise, Miriam, here called a prophetess, leads the women in a dance and chants a short verse. The Torah doesn’t reference any prophecies of Miriam. Why is Miriam referred here solely as “Aaron’s sister”, and her connection as Moses’ sister is omitted? Rashi’s explanation is that this is because she was a prophetess before Moses was born, although there is nothing in the Torah to support this.
Midrash teaches that G-d rebuked the angels for breaking into song at the drowning of the Egyptians. Nonetheless, שירת הים has become part of the liturgy for the morning (שחרית) service.
Verses 22 through 27; Chapter 16, verses 1 through 8 – The complaining begins; G-d provides food
Safely ensconced in Sinai after having witnessed the destruction of Pharaoh’s army, the kvetching begins. In one way, it is understandable. Survival in the harsh desert is impossible without reliable access to water. The Israelites are beginning to forget the hardships they endured in Egypt and long for the pots of meat and bread and complain that they were brought out into the wilderness where they will starve to death. Of course, food and especially water insecurity in a harsh desert environment must be terrifying. The Israelites are expected to put their fate in the hands of a force beyond their control, even if that force is G-d. In response to this not-unreasonable demand, G-d promises that six days a week bread in the morning and meat in the evening will rain down with a double portion on the sixth day to provide for (a still unnamed) seventh day. Troubling to some contemporary commentators is that this system, while fostering food security, also entrenches dependency and lack of control.
Verses 9 through 36 – Food appears in reliable manner; the Sabbath is introduced
Verse 10 – “… and there in a cloud, appeared the Presence of the Lord” (והנה כבוד ה’ נראה בענן). What exactly did the people see in the cloud?
As promised, in the evening quail appeared, followed by an unfamiliar flaky substance in the morning, that Moses told them was bread, and they named it mana (מן). It will be their food for forty years, until they enter Canaan.
Moses is angered that some Israelites ignored the few simple rules that they were given, leaving some of the gathered mana overnight. Rabbinic commentators, including Rashi saw this as G-d testing the Israelites’ faith and obedience; whether they will rely on G-d’s promise to provide sustenance. This was a simple test of faith (and perhaps self-discipline) that many apparently failed.
Verse 23 – For the first time, a holy day of rest, the Sabbath ((שבתון שבת קדש is defined. So, food left over on the sixth day is to be consumed on the sabbath when mana will not appear. Some people disobeyed instructions and went out searching on the seventh day but found nothing.
Verse 35 – The Torah here states that the Israelites will eat manna forty years until they come to Canaan. Note that this is before the incident of the scouts, so the decree that they shall wander forty years in the wilderness has not yet been handed down.
Chapter 17, verses 1 through 16 – Moses produces water from a rock; the Amalekites are engaged in battle.
The people proceed in Sinai from encampment to encampment. At Rephidim, the people are again angry with Moses as they have no water. An exasperated Moses cries out to G-d, who tells him to gather some of the elders, and he will be shown a rock that he can strike with his rod to produce water. Later in the saga (Numbers, chapter 20 verse 11), in a similar situation, Moses is commanded to order the rock to bring forth water. In his frustration, Moses disobeys and strikes the rock, for which his punishment will be that he shall not enter the promised land.
At Rephidim, the Israelites meet their first resistance in Sinai as they are attacked by the Amalekites. We are here introduced to Joshua. He is charged with recruiting some men and to engage in battle. They are successful as long as Moses keeps his hand held up. With assistance from Aaron and Hur who kept Moses’ hand held up, Joshua was successful in his battle with the Amalekites. G-d promises Moses that He will blot out the memory of Amalek. And yet, Amalek’s memory is perpetuated for posterity in this week’s parashah. Is this a contradiction? Perhaps the intention is not that we blot out all recall of Amalek, but we avoid any glorification and remember the evil.
Commentators postulate that Amalek is a descendent of Esau and in turn, Haman is descended from him. With such a pedigree, it is no wonder that traditional Jews see Amalek as the epitome of evil.
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