My Introduction
The mystics teach us Amalek is associated with that, that denies the creator in the world, doubt when darkness creeps into our lives and we start to deny G-d (G-d forbid), these are the times to hold strong and pray for faith, easy for me to say - but if you can find the faith of David of Blessed memory as he says in Psalm 92 “A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day (it speaks of a time to come – a time when we will understand the why of the pain, and suffering in the world) verse 1 of the Psalm states “It is good to praise the L-rd and make music to your name, O most High, and verse 2 goes onto say “ proclaiming your love in the morning, (when things are clear) and your faithfulness at night (when times are hard and uncertain and at times sad) i.e. a time when the dark creeps in is a time of Faith if we can muster it! Just a note to say I do not judge anyone (evil actions yes and there needs to be consequenses - Amalek needs to be destroyed) but to presume and judge good people who truly suffers from darkness, faith is hard in these times who am I, to claim to know. My advice is in your suffering find light around you and cling to your faith where ever you can! Look for the spice of Joseph (he smelt it after losing his mother at a young age,he had been taken away from his father and sold into slavery by his own brothers who hated him - but he saw in the sweet smelling spices being carried on the Ishmalite wagon that G-d was with him)
A word of thanks to my guest Contributor
Towards the Light - Facing the Future with Faith Parshat Beshalach
The Israelites left their slavery in Egypt, they reached the pinnacle of their redemption at the splitting of the Reed Sea, and in our parsha they reach a place where they are thirsting for water.
Amazingly, even though they had experienced so many explicit miracles, especially the splitting of the Reed Sea, they still complained hysterically that they had no water.
And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore its name was called Marah.
And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
And he cried to the L-rd; and the L-rd showed him a tree, which when he threw into the waters, and made the waters sweet; there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he tested them.
Understandably, they were terrified at the thought of being stranded in the wilderness without water – it's a terrifying thought!
This episode, aside from its historical truth, is also is a lesson for us for all ages. Life is full of bitter experiences and we, as human beings, have to face its challenges. Would that it were different! Would that life were sweetness all the time. Let's face it – often, when we come to drink from the well of life, we find that the waters are bitter – illness, separation, discord – and many other things– make life bitter.
What is bitterness? It is the feeling that one can't get naches –enjoyment- from life. Life should exhilarate and enhance, but it doesn't.
This is what happened to the Israelites when they came to Marah and found the bitter waters. Even following their redemption they tasted life as bitter! The Rambam in Hilchot Deot, in fact, says that someone who is spiritually ill experiences the sweet as bitter.
Moshe was told by Hashem to take a tree and cast it into the waters – and behold! The waters became sweet.
The Kli Yakar cites a rabbinic comment that states that the tree was actually bitter. This is an anomaly. The bitter tree is placed into the bitter waters and makes the water sweet? The Ramban says that this shows us that Hashem sweetens the bitter with bitter. It was this experience that made us ready to receive the Torah.
The Torah is compared in the eyes of Chazal (the sages) to an olive. Just as an olive is initially bitter and then becomes sweet, so, too, the Torah.
Torah is not immediately and obviously sweet. If we would be candid, it is at times so difficult to understand, so hard to comprehend. Some concepts seem unpalatable; hard to digest. The secular modern world throws so many challenges our way.
But as we progress and persist and, more importantly, as we hear the words of Torah as the still, small voice of the Master of the Universe and absorb it into the "marrow of our bones", it begins to taste so sweet and gives us a perspective on life. It's the "bitter Torah" that, when thrown into the bitterness of life, enables us to truly taste the sweetness of life.
The Midrash says that someone who speaks in public and knows that some of his words will not be perceived as sweet should rather not speak them, but should keep the words "under the tongue". It takes time and work to be able to taste the sweetness of Torah; one can't assume that one's audience is there.
Someone was describing to me what it's like to be "high" (before the physical damage sets in). Tastes are more intense, sounds are accentuated – one just feels so much more acutely.
This is what Torah does! It makes us high, but through hard work and conscious involvement. Not through tricks. There are no shortcuts. The Torah connects us to Hashem, Who is the Source of Life and, when we are connected to the Source of Life, life will always be sweet.
The Israelites were shown how something bitter – the tree – could make something bitter become sweet. Once they had seen that, they were ready to receive the Torah.
ENTRY 2
Much action!
There's lots of excitement and high tension in this week's parsha. The Bnei Yisrael have fled Egypt, seemingly under the pretext that they are going for a three-day excursion. On realizing that they are not coming back, Par'o mobilizes his army and pursues them. And we all know what happens with the splitting of the Reed Sea - the final destruction of Egypt
Cloud of Amalek looms.
Much happens thereafter but the parsha exposes us to the cloud that will hang over us for all time - the cloud of Amalek. Amalek that ominous force that hovers over history, the embodiment of the plague of darkness, which is not just an absence of light but a tangible reality (cf. Ramban, Reb Chaim Shmulevitz, Sichot Mussar).
After the splitting of the Reed Sea, all the others nations are terrified.
Peoples heard - they were agitated; terror gripped the dwellers of Plishtim. Then the chieftains of Edom were confounded, trembling gripped the powers of Moav, all the dwellers of Canaan dissolved. Exodus 15:14-15
All the nations were afraid all except Amalek, who was brazen enough to attack the nation of Israel at Refidim. Amalek attacked between the splitting of the Reed Sea and the giving of the Torah. When Bnei Yisrael were on the way to attaining spiritual perfection at Sinai, Amalek attacked.Thats when he enjoys to attack!
Amalek came because of Refidim
The rabbis understood that Amalek came because of a spiritual vulnerability that was found in Am Yisrael. So they tell us that Am Yisrael was in a state of Refidim. Refidim was not only a geographical location but a spiritual level. Refidim is an anagram of Rafu Yadeihem min HaTorah they loosened their grip on the Torah.
Says Rav Wolbe in the Alei Shur, "It was not that they simply neglected the Torah; it was much more subtle than that. They made this enigmatic enquiry
"... because of their test of Hashem saying,' Is Hashem amongst us or not'?" (Exodus 17:7).
Sin not lack of belief but doubting Hashem's involvement
It seems incredulous that the generation that had witnessed so many miracles could doubt Hashem's existence! In a deep, sublime interpretation Rav Wolbe explains that their sin was not in doubting Hashem's existence; they were questioning the nature of Hashem's relationship to the world. Is Hashem remote and transcending, or is He involved and imminent? The 'sin' was after they had experienced all the miracles how they even doubted Hashem's imminence. Rav Wolbe says sometimes we walk with Hashem, sometimes before Him, sometimes behind Him but we are never ALONE. Any discussion about our relationship with Hashem must be predicated on the understanding that Hashem is always with us. The feeling that G-d is so remote that we are alone, abandoned is Amalek! Amalek is the embodiment of the idea that Hashem has abandoned the world left it to its own devices. The ideology of Amalek is not that there is no G-d (chas veshalom) but that He is not involved in the world. He is indifferent and therefore MAN is in control. Everything that happens in the world is coincidence and chance.
Sometimes it does, indeed, feel that we are the victims of a blind, callous, indifferent fate. We feel that Hashem has abandoned us. So- this is another version of the footsteps in the sand "I was carrying you" story.
And the L-rd went before them by day in a pillar of cloud (provides shade from the heat) to cause it to lead them on the way and at night in a pillar of fire (provides heat and light in the night) to give them light [they thus could] travel day and night.
Then the angel of G-d, who had been going in front of the Israelite camp, moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved away from in front of them and stood behind them.
These are quite complex verses, but it seems from the Ramban that the pillar of fire that would travel before them in the night to illuminate the way for them, moved to the rear. Now the pillar of fire was behind them, as the Ramban explains " it illuminated the night for them, but not as on the other nights to lead the way, for on this night it was not going in front of them, but behind them."
Sometimes Hashem moves to the Back
The Ramban then goes on to explain why the pillar of fire moved at that point which we will not go into it now. But from it we can learn a great lesson for our lives. There are times when we are in the night but we see Hashem in front of us, leading the way. But there are times when we feel enveloped by the dark and grisly night - and what intensifies the darkness is that Hashem seems removed. So let me tell you, my friend, He is not removed. He has moved to the back and is illuminating you from there.
Why Hashem moves to the Back
When does this generally happen? When we are standing in front of the Reed Sea. The Egyptians pursuing us, the sea before us, and Hashem seems to have disappeared. Gevalt! What a position to be in. It's precisely in these situations that we must feel Hashem behind us. Listen to what Hashem said to Moshe:
"Why do you cry out to me? Speak to the children of Israel and let them journey forth "
True, this verse has caused much heated debate amongst the commentators. But we see that taking action, knowing that Hashem is behind you, is a greater act of faith than praying!
So why does Hashem do it? Why does He move from the front to the back? How can we know Hashem's motives? This is pure conjecture: All I can say is Hashem wants us to be part of the miracle. He wants faith not only to guide us but also to build us, and for us to be part of our own creation (as Rabbi Soloveitchik says in Halachic Man).
The Ultimate take home lesson-the ultimate Prayer
The Alei Shur that we quoted, as he himself points out, is a very deep exposition; but the message is clear. We are never alone. We are never alone. We must understand this in our minds, and feel it in our hearts, and live it with our souls.
ENTRY 3
Towards The Light – Facing the Future with Faith
Parshat Beshalach
Please read this majestic piece from the holy Rav Kook:
The Fourfold Song
There is a person who sings the song of his soul. He finds everything, his complete spiritual satisfaction, within his soul.
There is a person who sings the song of the nation. He steps forward from his private soul, which he finds narrow and uncivilized. He yearns for the heights. He clings with a sensitive love to the entirety of the Jewish nation and sings its song. He shares in its pains, is joyful in its hopes, speaks with exalted and pure thoughts regarding its past and its future, and investigates its inner spiritual nature with love and a wise heart.
There is a person whose soul is so broad that it expands beyond the borders of Israel. It sings the song of humanity. This soul constantly grows broader with the exalted totality of humanity and its glorious image. He yearns for humanity's general enlightenment. He looks forward to its supernal perfection. From this source of life, he draws all of his thoughts and insights, his ideals and visions.
And there is a person who rises even higher until he unites with all existence, with all creatures, and with all worlds. And with all of them, he sings. This is the person who, engaged in the Chapter of Song every day, is assured that he is a child of the World-to-Come.
And there is a person who rises with all these songs together in one ensemble so that they all give forth their voices, they all sing their songs sweetly, each supplies its fellow with fullness and life: the voice of happiness and joy, the voice of rejoicing and tunefulness, the voice of merriment, and the voice of holiness.
The song of the soul, the song of the nation, the song of humanity, the song of the world-they all mix together with this person at every moment and at all times.
We all have a song to sing. A song which expresses a harmony of so many different aspects of our being – of who we are and what we are meant to be. The song is made from the essence of our souls, of who we are in the eyes of Hashem. That is the main melody; but intertwined with that are the tunes of sadness because of the pain and disappointments in our lives. Of course there are the joyous notes of jubilation and celebration, too. All these notes blend into a harmony, into a song that is uniquely ours.
How this song wants to burst forth and find expression! How stifled we feel because the song seems locked in and silenced – or worse – singing someone else's song or a one-size-fits-all song that sounds like everyone else's.
The Zohar says that not only were their bodies enslaved in Egypt, but their mouths, their voices were, too. They couldn't sing their songs. They were on the 49th level of suffocation. Even after they were redeemed they couldn't sing until they come to the splitting of the Yam Suf (Reed Sea). Why then? Because that was the moment of clarity when the heavens opened up and the diverse strands of the song merged in perfect harmony.
The Slonimer Rebbe describes it magnificently. He says that the song embraces all of our being – our mind, our heart and our physical being. At the time of the splitting, they saw the whole picture and understood how all the pain, suffering, and heartache that they had experienced was really leading up to this momentous time.
It was not just a physical splitting of the sea. The waters of doubt, confusion, and paralysis parted and exposed the meaning that lay beneath the murky waters. They saw that in a life of tumultuous and engulfing waters, in which we fear we are going to drown, there is a path that leads to the Promised Land.
So many of us are standing at the entrance to the Reed Sea. We have escaped our Egypt's but now the sea looms ahead, and it will not split on its own. No! We must make the bold and audacious first move. Only when the waters reach our nose will they split. It is sometimes a long and tortuous wait; and it will happen only in Hashem's time – BUT IT WILL HAPPEN! And when it does: Gevalt will we know happiness! Gevalt will we know freedom!
And then, as Rav Kook says, we will sing our own song, then the song of our nation, and then the song of the universe.
I bless us all that we should experience redemption from our own personal Egypt's and that we should feel our hearts and our souls opening up to sing our song – a song that only we can sing.
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