Foreward

Note Notice how personal our relationship with G-d is becoming. Admittedly, it was channelled through Moses—but that seems to be how it occurs throughout our history. There is one, who becomes enlightened, and brings a message of light to the people.

Chapter 13 - Previous Parasha

Then we are led the long way around, with the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire to guide us.

We are commanded to sanctify the new moon, which anchors the calendar and from which we can derive the festival cycle. The laws of Passover are explained, and the requirement to sanctify the firstborn in order to atone for the killing of the firstborn of Egypt. Pharaoh’s resistance is crushed, and he dashes through the streets in search of Moses and Aaron.

Chapter 13 (cont.)

n13:17] שַׁלַּ֣ח פַּרְעֹה֘ אֶת־הָעָם֒ — Pharaoh lets the people go

Finally, Pharaoh relents and let’s the Children of Israel go. But this is not the end of the story. It seems that, in Pharaoh’s mind, he is still negotiating the three days of worship that was originally requested. But by this time the Children of Israel are heading into the Sinai desert with Moses at their lead.

n13:17-18] The long road

The message here is that when there is opposition, the shortest path is not always the best. There are many situations in which it is better to take the long road, to remove yourself as far away as possible from the previous situation. For instance, for an alcoholic who wishes to remain sober, that means to visit no bars and to end one’s relationships with one’s drinking buddies.

Straight line This is the lesson of the straight line. There is only one straight line between any two points on the flat plane. That line is aberrant as there is only one, not the norm that it is generally represented as. The most common form of lines between any two points are curved lines — which we simplify by requiring them to have no discontinuities and no loops. In fact, while there is only one special straight line, there are an essentially infinite amount of such curved lines between any two points (on a 2d surface).

Thus the journey that is taken is not through the land of Philistines, rather by the Way of the Wilderness מדבר. (v18)

מדבר Interesting, that מדבר is translated as wilderness - for it is related to both speaking and desolation.

Philistine → Palestine Could Palestine have been derived from Philistine? פלשׁתים, Philistine, also means sojourner, or immigrant and the map of Philistia includes Gaza, which is similarly situated, and similarly a thorn in the side of the modern Israeli state… what an interesting replay.

n13:18] וַֽחֲמֻשִׁ֛ים עָל֥וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל — They were armed

Armed - חְַמֻשִׁים Did we even know how to fight? If so, how? Who trained us? If not - why take the arms? It says we took the arms when we took the gold & silver… so what was left for the Egyptian army that chased us?

Though a nation under G-d’s protection should not need arms to defend itself, it is the Torah’s way that people should conduct themselves in a natural manner, and then, if necessary, God will intervene with miracles
— R. Bachya

According to the Midrash, the word derives from חמֶשׁ, a fifth, and it implies that only a fifth of the Jews left Egypt. The rest were not prepared to adopt a new life as G-d’s people. They died during the plague of darkness, so that the Egyptians would not see that Jews, as well as Egyptians, were losing their lives
— Rashi

#story/idea

Chapter 14

n14:1] אני הכבדתי את לבו — Hardening of Heart

G-d wished to demonstrate conclusively, to both Jews and to the world at large, that He was Master of all; for when the wicked are punished, G-d is glorified.

A strange twist in the tale. G-d Admits to “hardening his (pharaoh’s) heart”. We pray to G-d hoping that He Will clear the way for us, and when He Does not Do that, we respond with anger and despair. Why would He harden pharaoh’s heart? Well, perhaps, after so many generations of slavery, the people required something momentous to shift their perception, to make them open to receiving another way of living, an even more challenging new perspective.

The lesson needed to be engraved in the not only the current generation, but deep enough to affect many generations to come. A cut that deep requires something extraordinary for the ordinary mind, the mind that cannot conceive of any extra ordinary!

Plagues and death of the first-born were obviously insufficient to convince us of G-d’s might. It was necessary to destroy Pharaoh and his army in this audacious fashion!

n14:2] וְיָשֻׁבוּ — And let them turn back.

… halted at Baal Zephon, the only idol that had not been destroyed before the Exodus. Pharaoh rationalised that Baal Zephon’s power was so strong that it had forced them to return (to Egypt). Pi-hataroth [lit., Mouth of the Freedom] was the new name of Pithom, the city built by Jewish labour. The word פִּי, mouth, alludes to its location in a ravine between two hills, and הְַחִירֹת, of the freedom, to the new status of the Jewish people.

Pharoah has a change of heart…

n14:4] וְחִזַּקְתִּ֣י — I shall strengthen By strengthening his heart now, G-d gave him the courage to carry out his true desire.

n14:5] וְיַגִד — It was told.

It seems like Pharaoh had forgotten all that had transpired. When a person’s own interests are involved and his desires aroused, he can rationalise everything in his favour, as did Pharaoh when he decided that the ‘survival’ of the idol was an omen that he would prevail. Later, Pharaoh did not hesitate to plunge into the Sea of Reeds after G-d split it, rationalising it was the east wind and not G-d who had split it.
— R’ Yaakov Kamenetsky

Phaoah chases after the people, who, upon seeing the Egyptians advancing, were afraid, and “cried out to the Lord, HaShem” (v10). Having just been liberated from hundreds of years of slavery, yet when faced with מלחמות/challenges, they wish to turn back, yearning for the “benefits” of the slavery that they had just left. (v12)

n14:7] The Chariots

Question: Why the detail regarding the 600 select chariots, would that not be included in “all the chariots of Egypt”? Also the use, once again of the 6 (i.e. 600,000 fighting men left Egypt).

Note: There are no records of this event from Egypt. Well, history is told by the victors. This must have been an extremely humiliating defeat for the Egyptians, thus they might have left it out. How many defeats are mentioned in the writings found in the tombs? Or in those of any victorious nation?

n9-12] Israel panics.

Jews saw not only a huge and strong force pursuing them, but a united and well-organised one, as implied by verse 10 which describes the Egyptian army in the singular [נסע], rather than the plural [נוסעים].
— Ibn Gvirol

The Jews saw not only a mortal army, but also Mitzrayim. the guardian angel of Egypt, at Pharaoh’s side. Had G-d turned against them? Why else would an angel join the Egyptians? The appearance of the angel was to inspire terror in the Jewish people bringing them to a higher level of repentence and prayer. In addition, G-d wanted to destroy the power of the Egyptian state so that it could never menace Israel again by defeating its spiritual power, represented by the angel.

n14:13] הִֽתְיַצְּב֗וּ וּרְאוּ֙ — Stand fast and see

G-d could not order the Jews to stand and fight, despite their great numbers, because they had been conditioned by more than a century of servitude to fear and obey their Egyptian masters and were incapable of battle. This is why it was necessary for the generation to die in the Wilderness. Then, their children, who had been raised in a different spirit, would be ready to wage war against the Canaanite nations.
— Ibn Ezra

n14:13] לֹ֥א תֹסִ֛פוּ לִרְאֹתָ֥ם ע֖וֹד — You shall not see them again. It took twelve months for Moses to complete his mission in Egypt. Also, it is forbidden for Jews to travel to or live in Egypt on a permanent basis.

n14:15] מַה־תִּצְעַ֖ק אֵלָ֑י — Why do you cry out to me?

G-d exercises His attribute of mercy only when the victims have at least a minimum degree of merit. At the sea, however, the Attribute of Justice argued that the Jews no less than the Egytptians had worshipped idols, and that it was unjust for one nation to be saved while the other was destroyed. [This is alluded to in verse 19, where the angel is called the angel of Elohim, the Name denoting judgement (Rashi).] Consequently, prayer alone could not be efficacious, there had to a tangible merit. Thus G-d commanded that the prayers be stopped and the people demonstrate their readiness to put their lives in danger in obedience to G-d by plunging into the water. That display of faith would earn them the miracle of the Splitting of the Sea.

Note It is interesting, because the 10 plagues—which are looked at as miracles too—were not based on merit. Nor the providing of the water, etc. In fact, this is one of the few examples of a miracle based on merit.

n14:19-20] Pillar of Cloud

On this night, the pillar of cloud, which the verse calls an angel [i.e., emissary, agent] of G-d was placed between the Jews and the Egyptians. It prevent the Egyptians from benefiting from the from the illumination of the pillar of light, thus plunging them into darkness. It also kept the two camps apart while acting as a shield, swallowing the stones and arrows hurled at the Jews. Meanwhile, the pillar of fire, though not specifically mentioned in the verse, illuminated the night for Israel.
— Rashi

Ramban has a different approach. The pillar of fire is referred to as the angel of G-d, because G-d’s Presence rested in it, whereas the pillar of cloud was the resting place of “G-d’s Heavenly Court.” When verse 20 refers to the cloud and illumination, it describes both pillars.

–
G-d Is a Dangerous Idea - Just how dangerous can the G‑d idea get? - Chabad.org

Note On Shabbat all work on/for the temple ceases - and we pray. We are to spend time in Divine space. It is easiest if there is a communal space of prayer, but it can be anywhere, though that is difficult, fraught with challenges, and is best if done in a group of 10 (men). To pray or celebrate alone is the most challenging and will test your commitment to its limits.

v14:21-31] The sea splits

n14:21] וַיֵּ֨ט מֹשֶׁ֣ה אֶת־יָדוֹ֮ — Moses stretched out his hand. Which actually caused the sea to split, Moses putting out his hand, or the east wind?

One approach is to say that Moses’ outstretched hand caused G-d to summon the wind to split the sea rather than an undeniable, obvious miracle in order to allow the Egyptians to believe that it was not G-d that had moved the waters aside.
— Ramban

Another approach is the sea split as soon as Moses put out his hand. Then the wind dried the seabed so that the Jews could walk across it comfortably. In that case, the last phrase should be rendered and the waters had (previouslyl) split.
— R’ Bachya and Sforno

Or HaChaim comments that first the wind solidified the waters of the deep see 15:8) so that the dry waters upon which we walked was not the seabed, but the solidified deep and then the waters above it split. Had G-d not caused the lower depths to harden, and instead caused the entire sea to split, we would have been forced to walk down a very steep incline to descend to the seabed, and an arduous climb to exit.

n14:21-22] חָרָבָ֑ה … יַּבָּשָׁ֑ה — Damp land … dry land.

The sea died in two stages. The water was swept away revealing the muddy damp land of the seabed; then it miraculously became completely dry land.

Question Why could it not be that the dry land “arose” from the beneath the sea, causing it to split. The (excess) waters gathered on either side of the land ridge that had formed, making a wall of water on either side of the people.

n14:22] בְּת֥וֹךְ הַיָּ֖ם בַּיַּבָּשָׁ֑ה — Within the sea on dry land.

The people had to prove their loyalty by plunging into the water. Nachshon ben Aminidav, later the leader of the tribe of Judah, was the first to obey Moses’ command. He walked forward until the water was up to his neck — then the sea split
— Sotah 37b; Shemos Rabbah 21:10

The verse states that the water formed a protective wall on their right and their left.

Note We now have three different events that caused the waters to split. Moses stretching out his arm, the east wind, and now Nachshon’s heroic entrance into the waters.

v14:23-29] The water crashes down

In an historic demonstration of how leaders and kings driven by their megalomaniac impulses, can refuse to see the truth, and lead their people to their demise. Having survived the 10 plagues, having never before seen the sea split like this, as well as the pillars of fire and cloud making no impression on them, they saw what they wanted to believe—a vulnerable nation of their slaves and they plunged after them. Then, וַיַּשְׁקֵ֤ף יְהֹוָה֙, HaShem looked down [a term that implies anger], at the camp of Egypt (v. 24) and poured out His Wrath. In the words of the Psalmist: Clouds streamed water, heavens sounded forth, even your arrows [of lightning] sounded forth. The rumbling of your thunder was in the rolling wind, lightning bolts lit the world, the earth trembled and roared (Psalms 77:18-19).

Finally, when the entire Egyptian force was in the sea, the wals of congealed water collapsed upon them, and Egypt disappeared as a world power. For, as the Sages expressed it, the guardian angel of Egypt was destroyed along with the nation.

n14:24] בְּאַשְׁמֹ֣רֶת הַבֹּ֔קֶר — At the morning watch. The night is divided into three parts, each called a watch, or shift, because a different group of angels sings praises to G-d at each of the three.

n14:27] לְאֵ֣יתָנ֔וֹ — Toward it.

Wherever the fleeing Egyptians turned, they ended up running toward the water, because G-d caused the water to gush out at the very places the were running to escape from it.
— Or HaChaim

n14:31] וַיִּֽירְא֥וּ — And [the people] revered [lit. feared].

לא וַיַּ֨רְא יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל אֶת־הַיָּ֣ד הַגְּדֹלָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשָׂ֤ה יְהֹוָה֙ בְּמִצְרַ֔יִם וַיִּֽירְא֥וּ הָעָ֖ם אֶת־יְהֹוָ֑ה וַיַּֽאֲמִ֨ינוּ֙ בַּֽיהֹוָ֔ה וּבְמשֶׁ֖ה עַבְדּֽוֹ:

The nation achieved a higher attainment than simple fear of punishment. Reverence, as used here, implies respect and recognition that G-d is exalted and superior
— Or HaChaim

n14:31] וַֽיַּאֲמִ֙ינוּ֙ בַּֽיהֹוָ֔ה וּבְמֹשֶׁ֖ה עַבְדּֽוֹ — And they had faith in HaShem and in Moses, His servant.

That we saw G-d’s great hand is mentioned only after they saw the dead Egyptians on the sea shore — but surely the splitting of the sea should have been sufficient for the to recognise G-d’s greatness! If the Egyptians had emerged from the sea alive, the miracle would have seemed to be for no purpose, because after the Tne Plagues there seemed to be no need for G-d to prove that He controlled nature. It was only when the same miracle that saved the righteous simultaneously punished the wicked that we recognised a new dimension of G-d’s greatness.
— R’ Moshe Feinstein

Note How come they see and believe in G-d’s awesome power here, yet it in a few days they are complaining again to Moses! This is a repeated theme throughout the story.

Chapter 15

The Song by the Sea

The song is a profound and unusual spiritual phenomenon; according to Mechilta 15:1, there are only ten songs from the beginning of Creation to the end of the scriptural period. Even the sublime “poetry” of David and Isaiah, as well as that of other prophets, is not among the ten songs.
In the normal course of events, we fail to perceive the hand of G-d at work, and we often wonder how most of the daily, seemingly unrelated phenomena surrounding us could be part of a Divine plan. We see suffering and evil, and we wonder how they can be the handiwork of a Merciful G-d. Rarely, however — very rarely — there is a flash of insight that makes people realise how all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place. At such times we can understand how every note, instrument, and participant in G-d’s symphony of Creation plays its role. The result is song, for the Torah’s concept of song is the condition in which all the apparently unrelated and contradictory phenomena do indeed melt into a coherent merciful, comprehensible whole.

… Doubts and fears dissappeared when the sea split, and as taught in Mechilta, even a simple maidservant at the sea perceived a higher degree of revelation than that of the prophet Ezekiel in his heavenly vision. Creation became a symphony a song, because they understood how every unrelated and incomprehensible event was part of the harmonious score that led up to that greatest of all miracles…. they became convinced that all the myriad events of the past and future that they still did not know or comprehend were part of G-d’s plan as well. Because they believed, they could sing. Only when Creation became one harmonious whole in their minds and hearts, could the people translate it inot a human song.
The uniqueness of this Song was that an entire nation — not merely its prophets, scholars and leaders — could rise to the state of prophecy.

n15:1] אָ֣ז יָשִֽׁיר — Then … choose to sing. Rather than שָׁר. sang, the Torah uses the future tense, יָשׁיר, will sing. In the plain sense the term means that upon seeing the miracle, Moses and the people decided that they would sing.

Or HaChaim interprets the future tense as an indication to Israel that the ability to perceive G-d’s greatness and sing His praises is not limited to those who traversed the sea. Jews are always capable of raising their spiritual perceptions to the level of song first experienced by our ancestors at the sea.

Ramban has a simpler way to explain the future tense. A narrator will use the tenses to produce maximum effect to his story. He uses the present tense to give a sense of emergency, the past to show his certainty that a future event is as certain to take place as if it had already happened, and in the future, to give the sense of being there as it unfolds before him.

This mixture of tenses is to be found especially in prophecy. Since the prophet speaks the words of G-d, his alternating use of tenses shows that G-d is not bound by time, as are us mortals (R’ Gedaliah Schorr).

n15:2] עׇזִּ֤י וְזִמְרָת֙ —. The might and the vengeance (lit. cutting down)*

Onkelos translation is the common one: God is my might and my praise.

Now, זמר, means both to prune, or cut down and to sing - and considering the previous piece on song, could also be to praise - as in “sing songs of glory in praise of the Creator.” Now in the simple (pa’al) tense, לזמור, it means to prune, but in the pi’el tense, לזַמֵר, it means to sing.

n15:3]  זֶ֤ה אֵלִי֙ — This is my G-d

Or HaChaim derives from this sequence that first one should develop faith in G-d from his personal experiences — My G-d, Who saved me — and then relate it to his legacy of faith from my father. The same sequence found in Shemoneh Esrei.

Ramban notes that this verse uses the abbreviated form of the Name [י־ה], and the next verse uses the full form [י־ה־ו־ה]. The shorter form sometimes indicates that the full degree of His Greatness has been hidden from the world due to man’s shortcomings. Thus Israel was declaring that they should strive and elevate man’s perception of G-d so that He would be recognised in his full glory as *HaShem, Master of War.

n15:3] וְאַנְוֵ֔הוּ — And I will build Him a Sanctuary [lit., I will glorify him]. Onkelos, Rashi, Ibn Ezra and Ramban all agree that this is the primary interpretation, from נוה, home. It expresses Israel’s longing to build a Temple as the resting place of G-d’s Presence. R’ Mendel of Kotsk and R’ Hirsch expand on this, rendering I will make myself a sanctuary for Him, for the greatest of all sanctuaries is a human being who makes himself holy.

n15:11]  נוֹרָ֥א תְהִלֹּ֖ת — Too awesome for praise. We are too terrified to attempt our assessment of His Greatness, because whatever we say will be insufficient (Rashi).

n15:18] יְהֹוָ֥ה ׀ יִמְלֹ֖ךְ לְעֹלָ֥ם וָעֶֽד - HaShem shall reign for eternity. …may He reign forever, saving His followers from those who seek their harm (Ramban) May it be His Will that He alone reign forever, without anyone believing that any other power has strength, independent of Him (Sforno).

n15:23] מרה — Place of Bitterness. We found water, but it was bitter. Moshe Rabeinu, following G-d’s instructions, throws a tree into the water to sweeten it. Then G-d tests us: I will establish a decree, חוק, and an ordinance, משׁפת.

וַיִּצְעַ֣ק אֶל־יְהֹוָ֗ה וַיּוֹרֵ֤הוּ יְהֹוָה֙ עֵ֔ץ וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ֙ אֶל־הַמַּ֔יִם וַֽיִּמְתְּק֖וּ הַמָּ֑יִם שָׁ֣ם שָׂ֥ם ל֛וֹ חֹ֥ק
וּמִשְׁפָּ֖ט וְשָׁ֥ם נִסָּֽהוּ׃.

Plagues Plagues are a way to separate those who have faith from those who lack faith. For if He sees our deepest thoughts and knows our true desires, would not a plague expose the hidden in our hearts? In our time, the virus becomes a messenger of G-d, an angel—just as it is known as a genetic (mRNA) messenger. Just as the Covid virus has done—separate the believers from the non-believers.

Chapter 16

Complaining There will always be the faithless amongst us—no matter how many miracles they observe, still they refuse to see the truth! They only see what is in front of them.

How many moves ahead can you see? It is said that the maximum is seven, and perhaps it is such people that we call prophets, ones who can see into that future.

16:4] - Interesting this pattern: Hashem talks to Moses, Moses and Aaron speak to the children of Israel and then Moses calls the people to assemble. The Glory appears in a cloud… Is this another cloud, or the one in which the Divine Presence resided? This is the Glory of G-d, not G-d, else Sinai is not the first time the people are in the presence of G-d.

We do not tremble and fear this time. However, the cloud addresses Moshe Rabeinu, and not the people.

Manna:

• 1st principle: Take what is sufficient for the day, no more, so that there will be enough for all! Else the excess (waste) just rots and stinks.
• Sabbath practice for the first time - yet it is pre-Torah.
  • no gathering of food
  • stay at home (with family)
  • and rest

Note: 40 years of eating stuff that was like snow on the ground. That must have been difficult. In addition, the next (new) generation know of no other food. It must have been almost monkish, this life. But to have eaten food from G-d all your life must have been uplifting.

What happened to all the animals they took with them? Were they all used? At one point, we complain regarding the lack of meat and G-d sends a plethora of quail (I believe it is) to quench the desire for meat. Why not eat of the abundance of livestock that we had available?

Note 17-18: Esau hated his father, Jacob? Why?

v17] Complain - for the 3^rd time

Now the essential existential question regarding G-d appears:

Does G-d exist? If He does, does He care?

Then Amalek arrives — as if in response to the complaining people. Now they REALLY have something to complain about — a war with Amalek.

Who was Hur חור? He held Moshe Rabeinu’s arms above his head for the battle in which the Jews defeated the Amalekites,.

Nice phrase for the Throne of G-d: כס יה

R’ Chananel via R’ Bachya: Exodus as a schooling in faith. We must all Have faith in the prophecy/message, each in his own way.

15: Song!
Water: marks the end of our (this) bondage to Egypt: ים סוף

18: Armed: R’ Bachya: People should conduct themselves in a natural manner, and G-d will intervene as necessary!

R’ Hirsh: Speaks of a lack of having to leave one’s slavery.

Rashi: Only one-fifth left. The rest died in the plague of darkness.

Question If this is the case, then I ask: How did this affect the other people, when four out of five of their friends and family members died? Did Egyptians die in this plague too? Or only Israelites? What transpired in the time between this plague and the final plague of the first-born?

14: Camp at the Mouth of Freedom: פי החִירת

Faith and Love Can you love someone you have no faith in? Isn’t that the end of love, when you lose faith in your love? Then you forego love.