Beshalach – When he sent
Exodus 13:17-17:16
Parsha Beshalach ( When he sent ) relates the biggest miracle in human history, the splitting of the sea that allowed the running from Egypt Jews to get to safety. On the way from Egypt, and it was not a leisure excursion, but a run in haste and full of dangers of all sorts, hundreds of thousands of people with families and animals had been stuck in between the coast and the sea, with no other way to proceed further on. The Pharaoh with all his army and all available chariots, hundreds of those, were pursuing them in a hateful and determined path.
Was there another, easier and shorter way towards the promised Land? It was. But in a classical psychological assessment, the Creator directed Moses to take a longer route, in order to prevent mostly assured quick return of too many people back to Egypt if they would be going through a quicker and easier one route.
There should be no surprise that facing a huge sea in front of them, people with children and animals were hesitating to jump in. Self-preservation is an instinct, it is not a choice. The Talmudic sources are providing interesting observation of that crucial situation, with actually no time for decision to be made. The huge number of people on the shore has been divided into four. The first group consisted of those who would not think at all, but jump into the sea which did not split as yet, immediately. The second one was almost the constant group that was intent to return to Egypt at any next instant when the situation became problematic. The third one consisted of hot-heads who decided that it was the best moment to start a war with Egypt. And the fourth one were those who did not believe in themselves at all and proposed to start a massive cry to the Creator who supposedly would fix it somehow.
Indicatively, our sages have noticed that all those four groups were wrong. One does not jump into a strong and unsplitted sea which will lead only to death. A free man does not voluntarily return to slavery. Steady people do not start a war under whatever pretext. And a man should definitely address the Creator but should not expect anyone, even the Creator, to fix everything for him without his own input in the aroused problem.
And then the mightiest miracle of all has occurred, the splitting of the sea. It is not without serious reasoning that all those over three thousand years, the scientists of several disciplines are still engaged in the search of that incredible phenomenon, the splitting of the sea of Reeds. So engaging it is to the human mind, with no statue of limitation.
When the sea had splitted, the exhausted and frightened people were hesitating to get in. We read in the written sources that Moses had to encourage them to get into that corridor with all his might. Then, as it often, if not always happens in human conglomerations, one brave act, one set sample ignited the chain-reaction. In the case of crossing the sea on the way from Egypt, that brave and very smart man was Nahson, the brother of Elisheva, the wife of Aaron, who very justly will become the prince of Judah. Later on, it was Nahson who had an honour to make the first offering at the Tabernacle. And quite importantly, it was Nahson who was a direct predecessor of King David, becoming the figure in this lineage which was exactly in between, chronologically, in generations from Judah to David. This kind of people with these genes and qualities has defined the best from the Children of Israel.
Crossing the splitted sea after Moses and Nahson, and reaching the safety of soil on the opposite shore, leaving the mad Pharaoh and all his army with their chariots in the might of the sea, Jews not only celebrated. They were convinced in their Creator and their leader Moses. That conviction resulted from their own physical experience of surviving the mortal danger of mighty elements and of the sophisticated and armed motivated enemy. It was a victory of spirit, bravery, faith and conviction.
It is exactly reflecting that very moment that the Talmud states: “One who believes in Moses, believes in G-d”.
From the point of view of supernatural phenomena, the Talmudic sources are stating that after the Jewish people has reached the safe shore, ‘ the sea has returned to its strength’, meaning the multitude of the sea , both as an element and as a space and an essential phenomena, created on the Third Day of Creation. And we know the specifics, strength and meaning of the sea’s core element, water, as the source of life.
In my special project rendering the process of Creation both artistically and metaphorically, I presented the creation of the sea in the way of a mighty process. As it was during the entire episode of crossing it related in the Parsha Beshalah.
And then the Jewish people celebrated. Perhaps, the renditions of two songs mentioned in the Parsha Beshalah, one in its entirety, as the Song of Moses with the six hundred thousand men, and another as a description, as the song of Miriam with a multitude of women following her lead, were the first registered in the history of Jewish tradition separate festivities for men and women, as it is still the case for orthodox and ultra-orthodox Jewry yet today.
It is interesting to note that Moses who was previously known as a shy and stuttering person, not only stopped to stutter a bit earlier, on the way of the plagues’ unfold, but now , successfully leading so many thousands of people from the oppression of slavery and through the mortal danger and complete unpredictability of the mighty sea, has become self-confident enough to lead a very special song of gratitude to the Creator, known as the Song of the Sea, which is not without reason is written in the Torah, here in the parsha Beshalah, in its entirety, which is a significant detail, given the significance of every single letter and word in the Torah. The act of open mighty vocal and loud gratitude to the Creator is highly significant, as we know only three occasions and three songs which Moses authored and sang: the Song of the Sea, Haazinu before the end of his life, and the song which is known as psalm 90.
And of course, the Joseph’s bones that Moses kept close to himself all the time of Exodus, strengthen him too. I am personally positive about it. After all, Moses was the only one about a myriad of people who was not only interested in finding Joseph’s bones in order to try to fulfil Joseph’s request before he died, but who was fully committed to this both important and noble task and went to a very long length to do it, and who did it. These kinds of commitments always paid back. And this is how the core legacy has been preserved. When I am reading today that Jewish men in Israel are praying at Joseph’s tomb in Shechem, every time I am thinking of Moses with a wave of gratitude.
At the same time with a mighty Moses and hundreds of thousands Jewish men’s Song of the Sea, women were also singing, led by Miriam. How did she manage to think about taking a tambourine with her when people were leaving in such haste, anxiety and uncertainty? – the question appears practically in every generation. But Miriam was the kind of person who would not be detracted even by objective reasons for anxiety. Not only was she a prophetess, which was a rare case among Jewish women, but she was the sister of two greatest Jews, who shared the quest for her brothers in a full measure. She was also the daughter who was able to convince her divorced parents to remarry and to ignore fear of the Pharaoh and his inhuman regulations. Miriam was a true hero who did fulfil her mission by the Creator brilliantly: she saved her brother when the baby Moses was placed in the basket and sent to flow on the Nile, she made sure that the Egyptian princess who was a worthy person would find the boy and would be interested in saving him. Miriam was also made sure ‘to find a suitable nurse for the princess’ newly found adopted son, the nurse who would be nursing the boy for two years, and it was the boy’s own and Miriam’s mother Yochebed.
For missions like that, each of them and all of them, the Creator never picks up a person randomly. Miriam was destined to ensure the Creator’s will – not in general, and not in a hypothesis, but in several episodes which have defined the destiny of Jewish people and its history.
She was brave, with a lioness heart, very and deeply smart, and extremely, exemplary resourceful in many ways and at any period of her life, but especially in her childhood, young adolescence and her youth.
In Michael’s great Miriam painting from his Forefathers collection, it all is expressed boldly and with that special energy that that rare woman possessed. Additionally to her famous dance from the parsha Beshalah, one can see two core personal deeds of Miriam: her and Aaro’s ( and will be Moses’) parents re-united on her insistence after their self-forced divorce, and her, a young but extremely responsible sister of a baby boy in the floating basket, the sister who is gently and lovingly cares on the pivotal journey of the basket and the baby inside it. The baby whom she loves with all her brave and wise heart, regardless of her age, and whom she will save and assure his safety and growth in the extremely hostile environment. The boldness of the composition of the work is balanced by its warm colour solution. But not only is it warm. Michael has created the kind of warmth on canvas in his painting of Miriam which emanates a strong, unflickering light from inside. As she did. I love this painting, and many people who saw it around the globe, too. You are also as if get involved in that dance of the Jewish heroine leader with her tambourine in the famous Miriam song that was shared by thousands of Jewish women crossing the Nile with their children in their hands, with water getting up to the people noses, at the time when the mission of crossing was accomplished to its unimaginable best.
Meaningfully , the parsha Beshalach haftara tells about another female prophetess of Israel, Deborah. The interconnection which is a must element in between weekly portions of the Torah and post-Torah’ reading off haftarah in this case is the place. The beautiful oasis of Elim with its twelve palms, serenity, water and shadows in the heart of the desert which was a much needed break for the people who were on the move after crossing the splitted sea.
Deborah, who lived in the biblical period of Judges of Israel, was sitting under her famous palm in the hills of Israel, in the place with a parallel to the palms of Elim in parsha Beshalach. She, like Miriam, is also known for her Song, the Song of Deborah. And her role in the history of Jewish people is similarly indispensable. Not only Deborah was a judge and an exemplary thinker, but she was also a huge motivator at the time when it was needed badly. Not only was she a seer, but principally importantly, she was a doer. She was a courageous and decisive engine of the Jewish people at the daring moment of our history. And only Deborah itself knew what it all did take to make it happen.
In his FOREFATHERS, Michael has created quite a contemporary portrait of Deborah , bringing her essential qualities closer to the viewers. This work is regarded by the art critics highly, due to the originality of approach, modernity of expression, and a rare almost physical engagement moment energy that the portrait emanates.
As ironic as it could happen only in life, not in any creative script, on the way of Jewish historic journey from Egypt toward the promised land, a human nature started to manifest itself not from its best side soon after the Children of Israel have been saved by the mightiest miracle of all, and practically immediately as they nicely rested at the beautiful oasis of Elim. According to the Talmudic sources, those complaints started as soon as the provision that the people were able to take with them on the Exodus journey was consumed. Which might be understandable – as people are different, and their abilities to sustain the absence of food and water is both physiologically and psychologically differs – unless in this very case, uniquely in history of any nation, the multitude of human beings has been provided by the High Power with consistent feeding , in the case of the Children of Israel, manna, and water, the source of surviving and life, on every occasion it was needed.
Also, on a separate note, the Creator’s instruction to Moses regarding the way of collecting manna for people’s individual needs, and doing it in a double-portion for the sixth day without an explicit explanation of the reason for that, is the first indication for soon forthcoming the gift of Shabbat to Jewish people. And thus, it is very meaningful – also seeing it from the angle of human ability to behave being driven by belief. Even if people were not explicitly told about the reason of why they should collect the double portion of manna on the sixth day and absolutely not to do it the next day, but to eat the previously collected portion instead, many people among the Children of Israel did as they were instructed by Moses who have received the commandment from the Creator directly. And some of them were not prepared or not willing to obey, as we also learn from this parsha, and were punished severely not just for their physical disobedience which was a consequence, but for much more grave sin, for their unwillingness to believe in the High Reason that institutes goodness. This is what is called a matter of principle.
There is a telling observation in the Torah text of parsha Beschalah regarding manna. Just before the narrative gets to the appearance of that unknown blessing from the Creator to keep Jewish people fed and healthy, there is the phrase about pheasant. “ It was toward evening that the pheasant ascended and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp” ( Exodus – Beshalach 16/13 ). This is the introduction to the fact of the first appearance of manna. And if a person who reads it is doing it for the first time, it is possible to think that the phrase is indicative of the time of the day, just before dusk, when birds are ascending in their usual routine.
And it might be so, unless the birds mentioned in the parsha, would not be pheasants. Following the structural and linguistic analyses, this mentioning of pheasant of all birds is not occasional in the parsha. Nor its context introducing the theme of manna, the food , and the process of feeding of the people in their wandering in the wilderness.
This is the hint on the episode which will follow on the way of the Children’s of Israel journey and their recurrent complaints on the way, the episode of the pheasants when the Creator in a very powerful lesson to never stopping complaining people has sent over to them that enormous amount of pheasants that they were practically obliged to eat until they were nauseating.
In this connection, the first mentioning of pheasant in the parsha Beshalah is the hint to what will follow and how those never-stopping complaints would be disciplined by the Creator. If only the people learned it, then and ever since.
Here in parsha Beshalach, two more very significant developments happened: the appearance of Joshua as the trustworthy assistant of Moses and Aaron, and future leader of Israel, and the stand-off with Amalek, the symbol of evil, who was a pretty real person in the beginning .
Parsha Beshalah tells us about Joshua who, along with Aaron, was helping Moses to ensure the prevailing of the Children of Israel in their battle against Amalek, by keeping Moses’s hands up all the time of the ongoing battle. Joshua was the person who was approved by the Creator to be both physically and metaphorically most close to Moses, except his brother Aaron. And it shows that Joshua was chosen by the Creator for his future pivotal role in Jewish history from quite early stage, just in the beginning of Exodus.
This is an important moment to remember while thinking about this admirable figure, for whom loyalty meant everything, and who did believe in the Creator with all his heart. Because we, Jewish people, believe by our hearts, and then we are able to rationalise our system and principles of belief the most brilliantly, but the heart comes first. This is the cornerstone of Judaism which comes directly from the Torah in the Creator’s phrase about the people ‘wise in their heart’. This is the foundation of our belief. And that’s why it is unshakeable – as we know from the sample of Joshua.
Parsha Beshalach not only tells about the fact of Amalek and his militants’ first war against the Jews, but, yet more importantly, it introduces the figure which will become the symbol of evil in every generation.
Amalek was a grandson of Esau, tellingly. His father Eliphaz, also known as Edomite, was Esau’s firstborn. This is also important, as the firstborn children are believed to bear in themselves their father’s vigor in the highest measure. Eliphaz’s mother Adah was the daughter of Elon the Hittite. Eliphaz has his record in the Jewish history. It was him, who was his father Esau’s trustee, and whom Esau sent after Jacob at the moment of Jacob’s flee to save his life, with a direct order to kill him. Meaning: a brother gave an order to his son to murder his uncle and as it happened, his rabbi, too.
As stated in the Rabbinic sources, when Jacob realised that Eliphaz was intent to murder him, being his uncle and his rabbi, Jacob tried to tell his nephew. With no avail, as Eliphaz tells him blatantly that his father’s order is a priority for him. Facing a mortal threat from a close relative and pupil, Jacob, by the Creator’s help and Providence, managed to think productively and proposed to Eliphaz to take everything that Jacob had with and on him, by explaining that ‘poor man is considered to be a dead one’. To which reason, plus all the Jacob’s possessions that he had with him on his run for his life, his nephew Eliphaz agreed. It does tell about the qualities of a person enough.
In his turn, Amalek was the last son of Eliphaz who had fathered him with his concubine Timna, who was a special character, as well. Throughout the Biblical narrative, there are mentionings of that woman who repeatedly wanted and tried to convert to Judaism in order to marry a notable person among Jews, but was repeatedly and consistently rejected by all patriarchs. This is the only registered case of such character, and such repeated rejections by the patriarchs who all were in position to know many things, including some crucial ones, does tell that they had had their reason for rejecting the effort of that woman. And they surely did – as she has become the mother of Amalek.
The gematria of Amalek’s name is 240 which means doubt. This is also a telling parallel noted by several Torah’s commentators who stated that Amalek decided to wage a war against the Children of Israel also because of the atmosphere which was present among them, meaning constantly re-appearing doubts, and unsureness among many of Jewish people on their way during the Exodus.
And from that moment on, Amalek appeared not just to challenge, but to be motivated, driven by the mighty force of evil, aggressive, destructive, and mortal enemy of the Jews in every generation. Such were the cases during the times of Samuel and King David, and as we know from a long record of history, it is going on with unmistaken recurrence.
What is truly impressive in the phenomenon of Amalek who is known as the agent of evil inclination, in the parsha Bechalach, it is the literate phrase of how it concludes: “ Hashem maintains a war against Amalek, from generation to generation” ( Exodus – Beshalach, 17/16).
Just to find that clear and articulated statement written in the Torah does tell us what our people have been facing and are facing in our stand against the forces of darkness. And we, each of us, and all together, just should be prepared and ready for that, to prevail.