Readings for Saturday, January 27, 2024
Shabbat
Shirah, the Sabbath of the Song
Beshalach (When he had sent
away)
13:17-17:16 Shemot (Exodus)
Beshalach is the fourth sedrah in the book of
Shemot (Exodus). Beshalach
takes its name from the second Hebrew word in the first sentence of the
sedrah. “And it came to pass when
Pharaoh had sent away (Beshalach) the people.…” Beshalach can be divided into five basic parts
- The Parting of the Sea, the Song at the Sea, The Grumblings, The Giving of
Manna and The Battle with Amalek. Beshalach is primarily a straightforward
narrative. Unlike last week’s sedrah and
next week’s sedrah, Beshalach is almost devoid of formal commandments,
containing but one.
The Parting of the Sea (
As the
Israelites begin their departure from
What follows is
the oft-told tale of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds. The Israelites pass through in safety. The Egyptians pursue and are trapped by the
raging waters of the sea. The Midrash
and Rabbinic commentaries on this miracle are too numerous to review here. The Miracle at the Sea eclipses all of the
Ten Plagues. It is God’s ultimate
victory over Pharaoh. Once and for all,
the newly freed Israelites are to be impressed with the power of Adonai, the
God of their liberation from bondage.
The crossing of the sea presents a lesson in the responsibilities of
both God and man for what goes on in the world.
On the one hand, Moses reassures the people that “The Lord will battle
for you.” On the other hand, “the Lord
said to Moshe, ‘Why do you cry out to Me?
Tell the Israelites to go forward.’”
In other words, God has a role in the world, but so does man. We must pray to him for salvation, but we
must also act to save ourselves. There
is an interesting Midrash about a man named Nahshon. From a Biblical perspective, Nahshon is a real
person; he is mentioned twice in the TaNaCh.
He is the brother-in-law of Aaron (Shemot
The Song at the Sea (15:1-21)
The
Song at the Sea is a poetic rendering of the events previously described. For those of us with limited or non-existent
Hebraic skills, it is difficult to appreciate the full majesty of the
poem. But even in English, the Song is a
powerful rendering of the deliverance from Pharaoh. If you read the Song as being sung at the
time of the deliverance, the last portion starting with verse 14 carries a note
of prophecy. Here, the author tells of
the fear that the Canaanites will feel when they hear about this miracle. He also describes the future settlement of
The Grumblings (16:1-3
& 17:1-7)
Six
weeks after the Exodus from
The Giving of Manna
(16:4-36)
God
hears the cry for food. His first
response is to send a flight of quail to meet the need for meat. His second response is to send Manna to meet
the need for bread. While the quail come
but once, the Manna will come daily except for Shabbat for forty years. There have been attempts to explain this
miracle food in temporal terms. Like all
such attempts, they fall short of the mark.
We do not know what manna was other than what is described. We may assume that the authors put in the
Story of Manna to reassure us that God will provide for our needs. In the giving of manna, we find rules about
the observance of Shabbat. The seventh
day is described as “a day of rest, holy Shabbat of the Lord.” In other words, even before the giving of the
Commandments at Sinai, Shabbat, as a day of rest, was part of the Israelites’
observances. The section ends with one
of those "timing” problems since it tells of the placing of a jar
containing an omer of manna in front of the
The Battle with Amalek
(17:8-16)
No
reason is given for the attack by the Amalekites. However, the event must have been of great
importance since it is described for a second time in Devarim 25:17-19 and it is
one of “The Six Remembrances” that are recited every morning. The victory over the Amalekites requires
military action on the part of the Israelites as well as divine inspiration as
evidenced by the raised hands of Moshe.
This is the first mention of Joshua, Moshe’s loyal lieutenant and
successor. The sedrah tells us that God
will “blot out the memory of Amalek.”
Further, that unlike with the Egyptians, “The Lord will be at war with
Amalek throughout the ages.” Regardless
of the historic origins of this tribe, the Amalekites have become synonymous
with evil and those who would destroy us such as Haman in the Purim story.
Themes:
Commandments
(Just one this week, the torrent comes next week.)
24.
“The prohibition against walking beyond permitted limits on the Sabbath
(
Biblical Literacy by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
Shabbat Shirah
This
Shabbat is called Shabbat Shirah. Shirah is the Hebrew word for “song.” So Shabbat
Shirah means The Sabbath of the Song.
The song in this case refers to the Song sung at the sea after the
deliverance. This Song is also sung on
the seventh day of Pesach. Different
communities have special tunes for chanting the Song. In
Daily Prayer
The
Song at the Sea is part of the Shacharit or Morning Prayer Service. It comes in a section concentrating on “God’s
revelation in nature and history.” (See
pages 58 and 78-81 of The Complete Artscroll Siddur.) The familiar chant of Me Cha-mo-cho (Who is
like You) which we sing just before the start of the Amidah is verse taken from
the Song at the Sea. The daily
repetition of the Song of the Sea should give us some idea of how important
this event was in our history.
Shabbat
The
Israelites were commanded to take a double portion of manna on the sixth day of
the week. It is customary to have two
Challot on the table for the Shabbat evening meal and the meal eaten after
Shabbat morning services. This is a
reminder of the double portion of God’s beneficence to our ancestors.
Pesach
The
parting of the sea is part of the Haggadah narrative. According to some, the drowning of the
Egyptians is symbolized by two of our practices at the Seder; the spilling of
wine and the egg on the Seder Plate.
Also, the Song at the Sea is part of the Torah reading on the Seventh
Day of Pesach. The congregation always
rises when this portion is read. The
only other time the congregation rises in this manner is for the reading of the
Ten Commandments.
Observing the Dietary Laws
In
discussing the laws of Kashrut, some wonder why chicken, and for that matter
all fowl, are treated as meat when it comes to the prohibition about not mixing
meat with milk. Read
Joseph’s Bones
Promises
made, promises kept. At the end of Bereshit,
Joseph makes the children of
First Things First
One day a
desperate woman came to see her Rebbe.
Her family had fallen ill and she wished him to utter the benedictions
for their recovery. The Rebbe said he
would, but first things first. The women
must have faith in the Lord. And why,
she asked, should her faith have to be any stronger than our ancestors who left
The Power of Song
In the days
when Jews lived in the Austrian Empire, an evil decree was pronounced against
the Jews of Nikolsburg. Despite the fact
that it was winter time, the leader of the Jewish community decided that he
would go to
Fathers and Sons; Sons and
Fathers
Traditionally
sons defer to the wishes of their fathers but not always. A successful American Jewish businessman sent
his son to
A Person of Importance
In the land
beyond the Carpathian Mountains, a famous sage was always being invited to
spend Shabbat with his co-religionists in the various towns throughout the
region. So each Shabbat the sage and his
secretary would visit another town. They
would Welcome the Sabbath Queen, say Kiddush and eat. In the morning he would rise, recite the
morning service complete with the weekly reading and sit down for a sumptuous
Kiddush lunch. Following the meal there
would be a discussion of Torah followed by the afternoon service, followed by
the Third Meal and Havdalah. As the
night would fall, the sage and his secretary would mount their horses for the
ride home. But before going, the sage
would always ask to meet the person responsible for preparing the food. The Rabbi would profusely thank him or her
and ride off in the night. One night, as
they were riding away the secretary asked the sage about this strange
ritual. You never ask to meet the person
who led the service. You never ask to
meet the person who chanted the Torah portion.
You never ask to meet any of the town’s dignitaries. You only ask to meet the cook. Why?
Because, explained the sage, it is the cook who keeps us from sin. In the Torah when reading about the manna it
states, “And Moshe said, ‘Eat it today for it is Shabbat.’” (16:25). Food that is prepared for Shabbat must be
eaten on Shabbat, not after Shabbat. If
the food were poorly prepared it would go uneaten and we would have violated
the injunction of Moses. A chazzan with
a weak voice can be overlooked. Mistakes
in Torah reading can be corrected. But a
bad meal will not be eaten. Hence, I
always thank the cook for keeping us from sin.”
Short Memory
In talking
about the 15th day of the first month of the year, last week’s
reading says “Remember this day, on which you went free from Egypt, the house
of bondage, how the Lord freed you from it with a mighty hand…” (13:4). This week we read, “on the fifteenth day of
the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt…the whole
Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron… ‘If only we had died by the hand of the Lord
in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots, when we ate our fill of
bread…for you have brought us out into this wilderness to starve…’” (16:1-3). Exactly one month to the day after the
Exodus, the Israelites apparently were violating the commandment to remember
the event and had forgotten the impressiveness of the event itself. How many of us are like our forefathers;
quick to forget the good things and equally quick to grumble about what does
not seem to be going our way? How many
times do we show ingratitude and how many times do we show a lack of
faith? It is a shortcoming that is part
of the human condition, one which seems to have afflicted us from the very
beginning and one from which we all seem to suffer. (In an era when authors are required to make
full disclosure, this passage resonates with me because I am the guiltiest one
of all when it comes to this.) Maybe
“wandering in the wilderness” or “wandering through life” is the opportunity
that God gives us to rectify this fault, at least in some small manner.
Nelson’s Amazing Bible
Trivia:
1. What did
Moses take with him when he left
2. What did God
do to the Egyptians just prior to drowning them? (
3. What did
Moses do to the water at Marah in order to make the bitter water sweet? (
4. How does the
TaNaCh describe the taste of manna? (
5. What was the
secret to the Israelite victory over the Amalekites at Rephidim? (
Why Not Fight?
When the
Israelites found themselves trapped between the Egyptians and the Sea of Reeds,
they began berating Moses, seemingly preparing themselves for death or
capture. Why didn’t they make any plans
to fight? We know they had weapons: “Now the Israelites went up armed out of the
land of Egypt” (
Farewell Pharaoh
This week marks
the end of contact with Pharaoh. As soon
as the Israelites cross the sea, he is gone from the narrative. One week he is this seemingly all powerful
being who threatens the very existence of the Hebrews and then, like the wind,
he is gone. Many people are bothered by
the fact that in the story of the plagues, the text tells us that God hardens
Pharaoh’s heart. Under these
circumstances, Pharaoh does not seem to be a free agent making his own choices
but merely a puppet that God uses to show off His divine power. This week shows that such was not really the
case. “When the king of Egypt was told
that the people had fled, the Pharaoh and his courtiers had a change of
heart…He ordered his chariot and took his men with him…” (14:5-6). Only then does the text say “The Lord
stiffened the heart of Pharaoh…and he gave chase to the Israelites.” (14:8). In other words, Pharaoh made the decision to
go out and recapture his slaves before God intervened. He could have left well enough alone, but like
any despot, he had no intention of giving up his human property. If there was ever any doubt as to the nature
of Pharaoh, if there ever was any question that somehow God was the one who
made Pharaoh behave in an evil manner just to show off His power, this
interplay should put the claim to rest.
Amalekites
By the end of
this week’s reading the enemy has shifted from Pharaoh and the Egyptians to the
Amalekites. The enmity towards the
Egyptians seems to have ended as soon as the Israelites crossed the Sea of
Reeds. But as for the Amalekites the
Sedrah ends literally “There is a war for Hashem against Amalek from generation
to generation” or “The Lord will be at war with Amalek throughout the
ages.” The puzzle is that there is no
explanation for this long-term, eternal state of enmity. All we know is that the Amalekites attacked
the rear, or weakest section of the Israelite line of march as they made their
way through the Wilderness. On the other
hand the Egyptians were cruel taskmasters for over four centuries. Some Rabbis say that the Amalekites have come
to represent all of the enemies of the Jewish people but that explanation begs
the question. Do we have another one of
those puzzles that provide the impetus for reading this material year in and
year out? Only time will tell.
Boundaries
The movement to
free the slaves in the United States drew on the stories from Exodus for much
of its morality and many of its literary motifs. One cannot help but be struck by the role of
water in the two tales of liberation.
For the Israelites, the crossing of the Sea of Reeds marked their
entrance into a world where they were no longer slaves. For African-Americans, crossing the Ohio
River meant the same thing. Personal
note: The first time I jogged across a
bridge that crossed the Ohio between Kentucky and Indiana, it struck me as so
strange. At one end of the bridge, a
person was a slave; at the other end the person was a free human being. Gives a whole new meaning to “Life is a
narrow bridge. Do not be afraid to
cross.”
Jewish Women: TaNaCh versus Hamevaser
This week’s
Torah and Haftarah readings remind us of the dynamic and important role that
women have played in the life of the Jewish people. There is Serach, the keeper of Jewish
memory. There is Miriam, the prophetess
who cared for the infant Moshe. Finally,
there is Deborah, who was such a powerful figure that the Israelites would not
go to battle without her. Compare this
with the ultra-Orthodox paper Hamevaser which digitally removed Germany’s
Chancellor Angela Merkel and other women from a photo of a march in Paris
following the terrorist attacks that claimed the lives of at least six Jews,
four of whom were killed at a Kosher market while shopping for Shabbat. This on-going war on women carried on by the
ultra-Orthodox stands in stark contrast to the reality of our history which
includes the sage Rashi educating his daughters.
No Happy Ending
The bulk of
this week’s reading concerns itself with the last dramatic events of the
Exodus. So why not end the reading on a
high note with Moses and Miriam leading the people in joyful song? Why not, for once, let the children of Israel
savor a moment of unalloyed joy? Why not
let us enjoy “a happy ending?” Why do we
have to continue this week’s reading with the wandering in the wilderness -
with thirst, starvation and a battle with an enemy committed to our
destruction? Could it be that the sages
were trying to teach us a lesson about ecstasy, reality and faith? It is easy to believe when things are going
our way - when we get into the college of our choice, get the big promotion or
find our life’s companion. That’s the
equivalent of life when you are standing on the far shore of the Sea of Reeds
knowing that you will never feel the lash of the taskmaster again. But real life is not, as the English say, all
beer and skittles. Life can be a long
hard punishing slog, sort of like wandering through the wilderness - hungry,
thirty and beset by those who will rob and murder you. Just as the real test of faith came for the
Israelites once they were plunged into the reality of the wilderness, so the
real test of our faith comes when we are faced with the reality of daily
life. It is easy to recite a motzi on
Shabbat when you are holding two loaves of warm, fresh challah in your
hands. The challenge is to recite the
motzi with that same fervor and joy when you are doing it over the “crust of
our daily bread.”
Haftarah
Judges 4:4-5:31
(Ashkenazim)
Judges 5:1-5:31
(Sephardim)
The Book: Judges or Shoftim is the second book in the section
of the TaNaCh called Prophets or Neviim.
It is preceded by the Book of Joshua and followed by the Books of
Samuel. This is appropriate since the
book covers the two to three hundred year interval between the death of Joshua
and the birth of Samuel. This is hardly
a time of glory for the Children of Israel.
You might think of it as a period like the Dark Ages, that period of
history between the end of the
The Message: The haftarah focuses on one of the most famous
Judges of all, Deborah. First in prose
and then in poetry, it tells how she rallied a portion of the tribes under the
military leadership of Barak and defeated the army led by Sisera. It also tells of how a woman named Jael
killed Sisera. After his army had been
defeated, the general sought refuge in her tent. To make a long story short, she ended up
killing him by driving a tent pin through his temple. The haftarah definitely reinforces the notion
that in Judaism women play key, active roles.
Theme-Link: The sedrah contains the Song at the Sea. It includes the famous songs of victory by
Moshe and Miriam that celebrated the deliverance at the
The
Sephardim only read chapter five, which is the poetic version of the
story. Why do the Sephardim opt for a
shorter version of the haftarah?
According to one source, the practice of translating the Torah portion
during the service lasted longer with the Sephardim than it did with the
Ashkenazim. They opted for shorter
prophetic portions so as not to make the services overly long.
This year International Holocaust Memorial Day
coincides with Shabbat Shirah. I will
leave it to the scholars and sages to preach the sermons and lead a d’var torah
on this juxtaposition. But surely
somebody can make a connection between the liberation from the nightmare of Egypt
and the nightmare of the mid-20th century.
Copyright January 2024 Mitchell A Levin
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