Good Shabbat - Parasha Beshalach

[muman613]

Let us sing the song at the sea!

This Shabbat Torah portion includes the story of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds...

[muman613]

Shemot Chapter 15

1. Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and they spoke, saying, I will sing to the Lord, for very exalted is He; a horse and its rider He cast into the sea.
2. The Eternal's strength and His vengeance were my salvation; this is my G-d, and I will make Him a habitation, the G-d of my father, and I will ascribe to Him exaltation.
3. The Lord is a Master of war; the Lord is His Name.
4. Pharaoh's chariots and his army He cast into the sea, and the elite of his officers sank in the Red Sea.
5. The depths covered them; they descended into the depths like a stone.
6. Your right hand, O Lord, is most powerful; Your right hand, O Lord, crushes the foe.
7. And with Your great pride You tear down those who rise up against You; You send forth Your burning wrath; it devours them like straw.
8. And with the breath of Your nostrils the waters were heaped up; the running water stood erect like a wall; the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.
9. [Because] the enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will share the booty; my desire will be filled from them; I will draw my sword, my hand will impoverish them.
10. You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the powerful waters.
11. Who is like You among the powerful, O Lord? Who is like You, powerful in the holy place? Too awesome for praises, performing wonders!
12. You inclined Your right hand; the earth swallowed them up.
13. With Your loving kindness You led the people You redeemed; You led [them] with Your might to Your holy abode.
14. People heard, they trembled; a shudder seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
15. Then the chieftains of Edom were startled; [as for] the powerful men of Moab, trembling seized them; all the inhabitants of Canaan melted.
16. May dread and fright fall upon them; with the arm of Your greatness may they become as still as a stone, until Your people cross over, O Lord, until this nation that You have acquired crosses over.
17. You shall bring them and plant them on the mount of Your heritage, directed toward Your habitation, which You made, O Lord; the sanctuary, O Lord, [which] Your hands founded.
18. The Lord will reign to all eternity
19. When Pharaoh's horses came with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought the waters of the sea back upon them, and the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea,
20. Miriam, the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women came out after her with timbrels and with dances.
21. And Miriam called out to them, Sing to the Lord, for very exalted is He; a horse and its rider He cast into the sea

[Ulli]

What an accident. I am nearly arrived there too. I started this week with Exodus. I read this time a Jewish translation by M. Mendelssohn.

I know you don't like him, but the translation is very good. I compared it with the Elberfelder translation. On the first view it says the same, but there are in every sentence different facets.

Every evening a few pages ...

 

[muman613]

What an accident. I am nearly arrived there too. I started this week with Exodus. I read this time a Jewish translation by M. Mendelssohn.

I know you don't like him, but the translation is very good. I compared it with the Elberfelder translation. On the first view it says the same, but there are in every sentence different facets.

Every evening a few pages ...

 

Ulli, you should know that a Jew {or a gentile} with absolute Bitachon/Trust and Emmuna/Faith in Hashem there is no such thing as 'an accident'...

There is a reason you are following along with the weekly reading... I usually find that the world events somehow mirror what we are reading in the weekly portion..
.

For example, last week we read about the mitzvah of Tefillin, and lo and behold in the national news was the story about the 17yo Jewish gentleman who was taken off a flight because he was donning tefillin.... What about 'coincidence'?

[Ulli]

Interesting point Muman.

The thing I noticed is, that I think I found some parallels in the stories of the Torah. Of cause I am not so deep in it like some of the other members of JTF like you, because I read on average only an hour.

But I do it regulary since a few weeks again and I read then a few pages but attentively.

One thing I noticed is the story of Laban and the story of pharao.

Pharao fooled Moses by saying, that he agreed to let Israel go and after Moses took the plagues away he refused to do so.

Laban fooled Jacob with Rachel as well he tried it with the flock.

I am not shure, but the two stories seem to have some similarities.

[americankahanist]

Here is how I feel:

Psalms Chapter 120 תְּהִלִּים
א  שִׁיר, הַמַּעֲלוֹת:
אֶל-יְהוָה, בַּצָּרָתָה לִּי--    קָרָאתִי, וַיַּעֲנֵנִי.  1 A Song of Ascents. {N}
In my distress I called unto the LORD, and He answered me.
 
ב  יְהוָה--הַצִּילָה נַפְשִׁי, מִשְּׂפַת-שֶׁקֶר:    מִלָּשׁוֹן רְמִיָּה.  2 O LORD, deliver my soul from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.
 
ג  מַה-יִּתֵּן לְךָ, וּמַה-יֹּסִיף לָךְ--    לָשׁוֹן רְמִיָּה.  3 What shall be given unto thee, and what shall be done more unto thee, thou deceitful tongue?
 
ד  חִצֵּי גִבּוֹר שְׁנוּנִים;    עִם, גַּחֲלֵי רְתָמִים.  4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of broom.
 
ה  אוֹיָה-לִי, כִּי-גַרְתִּי מֶשֶׁךְ;    שָׁכַנְתִּי, עִם-אָהֳלֵי קֵדָר.  5 Woe is me, that I sojourn with Meshech, that I dwell beside the tents of Kedar!
 
ו  רַבַּת, שָׁכְנָה-לָּהּ נַפְשִׁי--    עִם, שׂוֹנֵא שָׁלוֹם.  6 My soul hath full long had her dwelling with him that hateth peace.
 
ז  אֲנִי-שָׁלוֹם, וְכִי אֲדַבֵּר;    הֵמָּה, לַמִּלְחָמָה.  7 I am all peace; but when I speak, they are for war. {P} 

[muman613]

Interesting point Muman.

The thing I noticed is, that I think I found some parallels in the stories of the Torah. Of cause I am not so deep in it like some of the other members of JTF like you, because I read on average only an hour.

But I do it regulary since a few weeks again and I read then a few pages but attentively.

One thing I noticed is the story of Laban and the story of pharao.

Pharao fooled Moses by saying, that he agreed to let Israel go and after Moses took the plagues away he refused to do so.

Laban fooled Jacob with Rachel as well he tried it with the flock.

I am not shure, but the two stories seem to have some similarities.

You noticed something which reflects what we learn about during the Passover Seder... In some ways Laban was even wickeder than Pharoah.

http://www.torah.org/learning/tabletalk/5767/pesach.html

A Lesson Learned

By Rabbi Raymond Beyda

"Go and ascertain what Laban the Aramean intended to do to Yaakob our Patriarch" Hagaddah Shel Pesah

The instruction given by the author of the Hagaddah to go and learn from the story of Laban requires that we ask "What is the great lesson that he expects us to learn?" Furthermore, he does not give us an answer. Instead we are presented with a recital of the history of Yaakob Abinu a'h from his days living with Laban until he descended to Egypt with his family. What do I learn from that well-known series of events?

Rabbi Don Yitzhak Abarbanel zt'l points out that Laban did not perpetrate any acts of destruction upon Yaakob and his family -- all of his evil was in his mind. It was only through an analysis of his words that we understood his wicked intentions. It was through the kind intervention of G-d that the destruction was prevented. The promise to Abraham Abinu -- that his offspring would live and prosper through the special providence of Hashem -- was the factor that saved Yaakob from harm and that same Hashgaha -- protection -- has protected Jews throughout history.

The Vilna Gaon takes this point one step further. The thing we must "Go out" to learn is that Hashem does miracles for us --even though we are not aware of His intervention on our behalf. There are "Ten Mentions" -- zekhirot -- that a Jew should remember to say every day. They include the Exodus from Egypt, the Shabbat and what Hashem did to Miriam when she spoke Loshon Hara about her brother Moshe Rabenu. One of the things we must keep on our minds daily is "What Balak and Bilaam attempted to do to us when we were in the desert." Why is this on the list with other more outstanding events with obvious lessons?

The story of Bilaam is one of a gentile prophet hired by a King to curse the Jews. The King, Balak, saw that military might could not stand up to the Jews and so he devised a plan to fight fire with fire. The Jews were known for the power of their mouths -- prayer -- and so he hired one who was known for the power of his mouth -- cursing. The one thing he did not take into consideration was G-d's divine intervention for His beloved Chosen People. Every curse turned out to be a blessing. The Jews never met Balak and they were not privy to his failed attempts. G-d's miracle on their behalf was unbeknownst to them --just as Yaakob's rescue from Laban by G-d was without his knowledge of what Laban was really thinking. This is the lesson of our history.

In every generation they rise up against us to destroy us. Sometimes it is an open display of hatred and actions that physically attempt to wipe us out. At other times it is wicked plans that we never discover because our Lord in His mercy derails the enemy's efforts and scuttles his plans without making headlines. "Go out and learn" to be thankful to G-d for all that He does to protect us from annihilation in every generation whether we see it or not.

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/944176/jewish/Text-of-The-Haggadah.htm

Go and learn what Laban attempted to do to our Patriarch, Jacob. Pharaoh decreed only against the males, but Laban attempted to uproot everything, as it is stated:15

"An Aramean sought to destroy my father; he descended to Egypt and sojourned there16 - This teaches that our Patriarch, Jacob, did not go down to Egypt with the intention of settling there, but merely to sojourn there, as it is stated:17

"And they told Pharaoh: We have come to sojourn in this land, for there is no pasture for the flocks of your servants, since there is a severe famine in the land of Canaan. Now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen."

with a small number of people--as it is stated:18 "Your ancestors went down to Egypt with seventy persons. Now, God has made you as numerous as the stars of the heaven."

There, he became a nation--This teaches that Israel were distinct there.

great, powerful,-- as it is stated:19 "and the children of Israel were fruitful, became prolific, multiplied, and became very, very powerful. The land became full with them."

and populous-- as it is stated:20 "I made you as numerous as the plants of the field. You grew and developed, becoming very attractive, your breasts firm and your hair grown long; but you were naked and bare."

And the Egyptians were cruel to us.21--as it is stated:22 "Come, let us deal cleverly with them, lest they multiply. Then, if there were a war, they might join our enemies and drive [us] out of the land."

They made us suffer-- as it is stated:23 "They placed task masters over them to oppress them with hard labor. And they built Pitom and Ra'amses as supply centers for Pharaoh."

and imposed harsh slavery upon us-- as it is stated:24 "And the Egyptians made the children of Israel do backbreaking labor."

We cried out to God, the Lord of our fathers25-- as it is stated:26 "After those many days, the king of Egypt died. The children of Israel groaned because of the work. When they cried out over their slavery, their pleas rose up before God."

God heard our voice.-- as it is stated:27 "God heard our cries and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

He saw our suffering,-- This refers to the disruption of family life, as it is stated:28 "God saw the children of Israel and God took note."

our difficult labor,-- This refers to the children, as it is stated:29 "Every boy who is born must be cast into the river, but every girl shall be allowed to live."

and our distress-- this refers to the pressure [applied by the Egyptians], as it is stated:30 "I have also seen the oppression which the Egyptians are applying to them."

God brought us out of Egypt31-- not by the medium of an angel, not by the medium of a seraph, nor by the medium of any agent. Rather, [it was] the Holy One, blessed be He; He, Himself, in His glory, as it is stated:32

"I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and I will slay every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man to beast. I will execute judgements against all the gods of Egypt. I, God."

with a mighty hand-- This refers to the epidemic, as it is stated:33 "Behold, the hand of God will be directed against your cattle in the field, against the horses, the asses and camels, the oxen and the sheep, with a very severe epidemic."

with an outstretched arm-- This refers to the sword, as it is stated:34 "His unsheathed sword is in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem."

with great visions-- This refers to the revelation of the Divine Presence, as it is stated:35 "Has God ever performed miracles, coming to take one nation out of the midst of another nation with miracles, signs, wonders, war, a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with terrifying phenomena, as God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?"

signs-- This refers to the staff, as it is stated:36 "Take this staff in your hand, with which you shall perform the signs."

and wonders-- This refers to the blood, as it is stated:37 "I will reveal wonders in heaven and earth: Blood, fire, and columns of smoke."

[mord]

aremaens are they armenians?