Overview
of the Weekly Reading: Beshalach To
be read on 13Shvat 5766 (Feb.11)
Torah: Exodus 13:17-17:16; Haftorah: Judges 4:4-5:31 (Song of
Devorah // Song by the Sea) Beshalach is the 4thReading out
of 11 in Exodus and 16th overall, and 17th out of
54 in overall length.
B'shalach
(Exodus 13:17-17:16)) opens with the Jews taking Yosef's remains with them upon
leaving Egypt. G-d split the Red Sea for the Jews to pass through, but the waters
fell on the Egyptians drowning them. Moshe and the Jews sang a song of praise
to G-d for this miracle. Also, Miriam and the women sang and played music. In
the desert, the Jews reached a place where the waters were too bitter to drink.
G-d showed Moshe a tree which sweetened the water. The Jews complained that they
didn't have meat to eat. G-d gave the Jews quail and manna to eat. The manna could
not last overnight and on Shabbat it did not fall; instead Friday's portion for
each Jew was double. An urn was filled with manna which would last for all generations.
Again, the Jews complained about lack of water. G-d told Moshe to hit a certain
rock with his staff, and it would bring forth water. The Amalekite nation attacked
the Jews. Yehoshua fought them, and as long as Moshe's arms were raised, the Jews
victory was assured. With G-d's help, the Jews are required to obliterate Amalek.
FROM
THE MASTERS OF KABBALA (K:1666/Beshalach)
From the holy
Zohar, teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai
(Z:1566/Bo)
Rebbe Shimon said: How happy is the lot of Israel that a shepherd such
as Moses walked among them. It is written, "Then He remembered the days of
old, of Moses His people." (Isaiah 63:11) "He remembered the days of
old..." refers to the Holy One blessed be He [who recalled the Exodus]. "...Moses
his people" [shows that] Moses was of equal weight as all Israel. And
we learn from this that the spiritual leader of the people is, in fact, the equivalent
of the entire nation. If he is worthy, then all the people are [deemed] worthy.
If he is not worthy, then the entire people are [judged as] unworthy and are punished
because of him, as we have explained.
For
the full article, click to the "Weekly Torah" section on our KabbalaOnline
site. * * * * * From
the holy Ari, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria of Safed
(A:1666/Beshalach)
Regarding the hand, [Rabbi Yosi the Galilean]
said, "With how many [plagues] were [the Egyptians] struck by [G-d's] finger?
Ten plagues! [Thus, you must conclude that in Egypt they were struck by ten plagues]"
(Passover Haggadah, quoting Mechilta on Ex. 14:31, Midrash Tehillim 78:15, Shemot
Rabba 23:9) - this is because the finger forms one yud, representing ten plagues
- "and at the sea they were struck with 50 plagues" - corresponding
to the first hei [of the name Havayah]. For
the full article, click to the "Weekly Torah" section on our KabbalaOnline
site. * * * * * From
Rebbeinu Bachya (O:1666/Beshalach)
Moses was compelled to lower his hands
from time to time as it is not admissible to interfere with opposing spiritual
forces to such an extent that one neutralizes them altogether. G-d has not created
forces in the universe in order for them to be totally ineffective. This is what
the prophet Isaiah also had in mind when he said of G-d creating the earth: "He
did not create it a waste, but formed it for habitation." (Isaiah 45:18)
This statement includes all the phenomena G-d has created, not just those that
we appreciate or are fond of. For
the full article, click to the "Weekly Torah" section on our KabbalaOnline
site.
FROM
THE CHASSIDIC REBBES (V:1666/Beshalach) "And
the water was like a wall" [14:24]
This is to teach you that when
one stays faithful to G-d and His Torah and for His sake is willing to go even
into the sea, not only is the sea nullified as an obstacle, it even turns into
a protective wall.
from Likutei Sichot [translated from Sichat HaShavuah
no.164] "Remain every man in his place, let no man go out of
his place" [16:29]
'Remain every man in his place'-means that one
has to see oneself smaller than he is. And if even so he feels self important,
at least 'let no man go out of his place'-he should know his place; he should
not see himself greater than he really is.
from Rabbi Yisrael of Rozhin
[translated from Sichat HaShavuah no.164]
A
MYSTICAL CHASSIDIC DISCOURSE from
the Chabad Master series, produced by Rabbi
Yosef Marcus for www.ascentofsafed.com
and www.kabbalaonline.org
MOSHIACH
THIS WEEK (M:1666/Beshalach)
"Moses then sang…" (Ex. 15:1)
After the splitting
of the Reed Sea, Moses led the singing of a song of praise and gratitude to G-d.
But in describing that event, the Torah doesn't say, "Moses sang," (shar)
but, literally, "Moses will sing" (yashir).
From here we
can see reference in the Torah to the resurrection of the dead (techiyas hameisim)
which will take place in the time of redemption. At that time, "Moses will
sing," once again praises to G-d.
Furthermore, R. Eliezer says, anyone
who recites the Song of Moses now, before the redemption, will merit to recite
it in the future, in the Messianic Age.
[Adapted from Discover
Moshiach in the Weekly Torah Portion (by Rabbi Berel Bell and the students
of Bais Chaya Mushka Seminary of Montreal), as published on www.mashiach.org]
An
essay from Rabbi Shaul Yosef Leiter, director of Ascent
(for a free weekly email subscription, click
here) (W:1666/Beshalach)
During the exodus when the Jewish people
left Egypt, they headed towards the Red Sea. The verse says (14/10), "Behold,
Egypt is following them." The Baal Shem Tov said that this is like a person
who moves to a different location to escape his problems. How laughable. How is
moving going to solve anything! The only authentic solution is to pray to G-d
to help us overcome our difficulties. And, in fact, the verse continues, "the
Children of Yisroel called out to G-d." When the Jewish people saw the Egyptians
still chasing them, they understood that leaving Egypt was not in itself enough.
Only through prayer would the salvation come. How true in our own lives. Yes,
prayer is good, but is it enough? At the end of the portion, the nation of Amalek
battled against the Jewish people. What did Moshe do? He appointed Yehoshua as
the army's commander and sent him to fight. Simultaneously, Moshe went to the
mountain top to pray for the Jewish people's success, lifting his hands to heaven.
The Torah tells us that Moshe's hands were so heavy he needed assistance to keep
them raised. While we could think that this happened because of his age, Rashi
tells us that there was a different reason. Moshe hands became heavy due to a
spiritual issue. Instead of going out to fight himself, he had sent Yehoshua.
Why didn't Moshe lead the army against Amalek? Forty years later (when he was
120) Moshe led the war against Sichon and Og before the Jewish people entered
the Holy Land! Why didn't Moshe lead the army against Amalek? We can understand
Moshe's decision by examining the different spiritual states of the Jewish people
when they left Egypt and before they entered Israel. The war with Amalek was a
direct result of the low level of the people. The complaints of the nation, (17/7)
'Is G-d within us or not?' caused G-d to 'hide His face'. This gave Amalek the
opening to attack. In this situation, Moshe decided to go according the natural
order by choosing Yehoshua to lead the army. Yehoshua selected the best soldiers
of fighting age, while Moshe elicited G-d's assistance through other means, the
power of prayer. On the other hand, with Sichon and Og, G-d promised to make the
Jewish people victorious. This miraculous war even a man of 120 could lead, because
we only had to rely on G-d. Though this logic makes sense, G-d still indicated
to Moshe through the weakening of his arms that he had not acted appropriately.
When enemies attack us, rather than the leader making logical assumptions, he
should be out there fighting at the head. Moshe's powerful prayers were needed
too, but they should have been short. Nothing to distract him from leading the
battle. Our lesson here is clear. When a Jew is threatened, either by a physical
Amalek from the outside, or even a spiritual Amalek from within-whose purpose
is to cool us off from our spiritual fire and to fill us with doubts (Dvorim 27/17)-there
is no room for deliberations. It is not the time for Psalms or even finding ourselves
a substitute or representative. The only way to save the situation is for each
of us to get out there and do the job required of us. (From Likutei Sichot 21) This
is being written on the 10th of Shvat, both the day that the Rebbe Rayatz passed
on, and the same day, a year later that the Rebbe took on the leadership of Lubavitch.
At one of the Chassidic gatherings that I attended, a chossid stood up and said
that if we think that the Rebbe gave us the strength to conquer the 'big city',
meaning the communities that we live in, that surround us, successfully bringing
them closer to G-d and the Torah, but did not give us the ability to conquer the
'small city', meaning to overcome our own inner battles, we are mistaken.
Shabbat Shalom , Shaul
P.S. Please also read my
weekly Shabbat Law, below.)
(for a free weekly email subscription, click
here)
For all our insights for this parsha: | 
