Parashat Beshallach Exodus 13:17-17:16
Dear TBE Community,
These words of the prophet Isaiah (43:16) are on our ark:
כֹּה אָמַר יְהֹוָה הַנּוֹתֵן בַּיָּם דָּרֶךְ וּבְמַיִם עַזִּים נְתִיבָה׃
Thus said God,
Who made a road through the sea
And a path through mighty waters
A different passage just a few chapters earlier in the Book of Isaiah (40:3) echoes the imagery, though this time, the sea has turned into a desert
קוֹל קוֹרֵא בַּמִּדְבָּר פַּנּוּ דֶּרֶךְ יְהֹוָה יַשְּׁרוּ בָּעֲרָבָה מְסִלָּה לֵאלֹהֵינוּ׃
A voice rings out in the desert:
“Clear a road for God!
Level in the wilderness
A highway for our God!
Beyond the different landscape setting, there’s another difference between these two verses:
In the first verse, it is God who makes a road through the sea, as God did for the Israelites when they walked amidst the sea on dry land into becoming a free people. This is a recurring motif in our prayers and liturgy, and celebrated this Shabbat – Shabbat Shira – with song and dance.
Once they were on the other side and had reached the wilderness, it is on the people to reciprocate, to make a road for God.
It was crucial that the water retreated for the Israelites to survive. Now, in the desert, they need water to survive. As soon as Miriam and the women put down their timbrels, as soon as the Song at the Sea fades from the lips of the Israelites, complaints and distrust come from their mouths. The mocking of Moses, the grumbling against him, the general quarrels are largely caused by the absence of water, the most vital element for human survival.
If we take these two verses from Isaiah and put them next to each other, the message is that God, who brought the Israelites through the water, says that the Israelites must make a path for God in the wilderness.
And this is exactly what much of the remaining Torah narrative (and we still have 3.5 books ahead of us) will be about: God reminding Moses and the entire community of the divine marvels and wonders, of how they escaped not only Pharao but the even more powerful and more frightening, unpredictable mighty sea. If they want to not only survive but thrive, individually and as a people, they must now bring God with them, on their path through the wilderness, toward the land that once many centuries ago, God showed their ancestor, Abraham.
And what is one way to do that? To open the ark and read the Torah, the spring of water, the source that nurtures and replenishes Jewish spiritual life: Ho, all who are thirsty, come for water. (Isaiah 55:1) To water the tree of life that is Torah, in order that they themselves become as happy as a tree planted next to water. It may be no coincidence that TuBiShvat always falls out around Parashat Beshallach.
The cyclical and reciprocal nature of respect and love for Torah and Jewish continuity is anchored in Parashat Beshallach that merges the sea and the desert into one vast expanse to traverse, with song and occasional quarrels, eyes fixed on the larger goal: the journey leading to the destination.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Julia Knobloch