Parashat B’shalach: Pray as if everything depended on God…
Dear Scrollers,
After three weeks away on various adventures (the Olim Retreat, my brother’s wedding, and Jack Conley’s Bar Mitzvah), I am delighted to be back with you all this Shabbat. I hope that our Saturday will be filled with fascinating discussion, prayer, and learning; we’ve invited our friends at the Berlin Mosque to spend the morning with us, and we’re invited to join them Saturday evening for worship and dinner.
Parashat B’shalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16) is the moment we’ve all been waiting for: the parting of the Sea of Reeds, our passage to freedom, and our singing on the opposite shore. The Israelites have just witnessed the tenth and most horrific plague, the death of all Egyptian first born, and they are escaping Egypt as quickly as possible.
The Israelites have seen, with their own eyes, a number of examples of God’s extraordinary power. And, yet, they are still fragile and easily frightened back into servitude. Our very first verse this week gives us an example of this vulnerability:
Now when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearer; for God said, “The people may have a change of heart when they see war, and return to Egypt.”
The inertia of slavery and the fear of taking a risk is nearly paralyzing. Plus, at this point, they have seen a great deal of destruction caused by both Pharaoh and God. Imagine that moment at the shore of the Sea of Reeds – realizing that there is a vast sea in front of you, and seeing Egyptian pursuers close behind you. You are stuck. Drown or be slaughtered. How does one have faith that one might still somehow survive?
There is quite an interesting interplay between faith, Divine action, and human action throughout the Torah portion and the Haftarah portion (Judges 4:4-5:31). How much did the Israelites and their leaders initiate the various plot points? And how many were orchestrated by God?
Consider:
Exodus 14:15: Then the Eternal said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward.”
The midrash about Nachshon being the first to brave the waters.
Exodus 15:20: Then Miriam the Prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her in dance with timbrels.
בתפים ובמחלת WITH TIMBRELS AND WITH DANCES — The righteous women in that generation were confident that God would perform miracles for them and they accordingly had brought timbrels with them from Egypt (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 15:20:2).
Judges 4:22-23: And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him: ‘Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest.’ And he came unto her; and, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent-pin was in his temples. So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel.
I look forward to digging out from under all this snow and studying with you this Shabbat!
