Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Parashat Beshalach YOU LED IN YOUR FAITHFULNESS YOUR PEOPLE REDEEMED, GUIDED THEM IN YOUR FIERCE MIGHT TO YOUR HOLY PASTURE. THE PEOPLES HEARD, THEY SHUDDERED; WRITHING SEIZED PHILISTIA'S SETTLERS.  (Shemot 15:13-15)   Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon opened his discourse (Devarim 32): "He said: I will conceal my face from thee" – the son of a king who would go out to the marketplace, strike – but not be struck, put to shame – but not be shamed, and he would stand arrogantly...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Parashat Beshalach  "The waters turned back and covered the chariots and the horsemen – Pharaoh's entire army that followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. But the Israelites had marched through the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. (Shemot 14:28-29)   The Waters as Rage and as a Wall – The Slavers and the Enslaved Are Not Judged In Similar Fashion   "The waters forming a wall" – Samael descended and said...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat Beshalach (link to original page) Parshat Beshalach ". . . had fled (ki barach)" – According to the Masora, this appears twice – "that Yaakov had fled" and "that the people had fled". The midrash relates that Amalek divulged Yitzhak's escape to Lavan and also reported Israel's flight to Pharaoh. "Ki barach" is the numerical equivalent (Gematriya) of "Amalek". (Baal Haturim, Bereishit 31:22)   "Now the king of Egypt was told that the people fled" — Who told him? " . . .that the people fled." Did they flee?! It was...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat Beshalach (link to original page) Parshat Beshalach Remarks in memory of Yohanan Lorwin, z"l, Inbal Perelson, z"l, and Elias Gerasi, z"l By Deborah Greniman One year ago, peace activist Yohanan Lorwin was swept away in a flash flood in the Judean Desert, together with two other peace activists with whom he had set out on a hike. Yohanan, American-born and religious, was a good friend of several Netivot Shalom members. Inbal Perlson, kibbutz-born and secular, was an expert on Arabic music; Elias Gerasi was a Palestinian peace activist. The following lines,...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat Beshalach (link to original page) Parshat Beshalach "And G-d did not lead them through the Way of the Philistines": The Goal and the Paths. Ilan Michel At last, it happened. After repeated requests, threatened with and then subjected to plagues, with divine intervention, the Egyptian tyrant finally gives in and accedes to the repeated demand of Moses, the leader of Israel: "Let my people go." A new era in the history of Israel commences, the transition from slavery to freedom. Therefore many commentators tried to understand the essence of the first...