MHA-FYOS Dean's Blog

This week’s parasha , Parashat Beshalach, describes the final steps of the liberation of the Jewish People from Egypt. In last week’s parasha , the Torah describes b’nei yisrael leaving Egypt. After destroying the Egyptian firstborns, Hashem guided b’nei yisrael out of Egypt – leaving Ra’amses on the way to Sukkot. The Torah then inexplicably leaves aside the exodus story and introduces a series of commandments – specifically, the mitzvot of Pesach, tefilin , and redeeming the first born. The Torah resumes the exodus story in the beginning of our parasha . Why does the Torah interrupt the exodus story with the presentation of specific mitzvot? In resuming the exodus story, the Torah writes: vayasev Elokim et ha’am derecho yam suf; vachamushim alu b’nei yisrael me’eretz mitzrayim – And Hashem took the nation the long way, the way of the desert to the Reed Sea; and the children of Israel brought arms up from the land of Egypt. (Shemot 13:18) The Midrash is puzzled by the Torah’s incl...

This week’s parasha , Parashat Beshalach, presents the splitting of the Red Sea - b’nei yisrael was saved from the Egyptians who drowned while b’nei yisrael was safe on the far shore. In response, Moshe led the Jewish People in shirat hayam – the Song of the Sea – a song of praise for Hashem for His miraculously saving b’nei yisrael . In Masechet Megilah 10b, the gemara cites a well-known midrash – “As the Egyptians started to drown in the Red Sea, the heavenly hosts began to sing praises, but G-d silenced the angels, saying, ‘The works of my hands are drowning in the sea, and you wish to sing praises!’” I discussed this gemara this morning with my students and we focused on one question – if it was improper for the angels to sing praises in the face of the death G-d’s creation (the Egyptians), why was Moshe and b’nei yisrael not subject to criticism? To answer this question, we examined a law in a very different context – but one that has a connection to Tu BiShevat which falls out...

This week’s parasha , Beshalach, presents the conclusion of the Jewish people’s miraculous exodus from Egypt with their crossing the dry sea bed of the Red Sea and the destruction of Pharoh and his army. The Torah records the Jewish people’s reaction to the splitting of the Red Sea - they feared G-d and they believed in G-d and in Moshe His servant. The Torah continues with the passage of az yashir , “Then Moshe and b’nei yisrael sung this song to Hashem and they said the following…”, and the presentation of shirat hayam – the song of the sea – a song of praise of G-d describing His saving the Jewish people from Egypt. The shirat hayam is tightly written verse. The language is dense and subtle. The meter is consistent. It is a beautiful piece of poetry. Our chachamim debate a very curious issue regarding the shira. How exactly was it recited? The Gemara and the Mekhilta record four different opinions answering this very question. The first opinion holds that for each verse of the sh...