Beshalach: the struggle

Beshalach:  the struggle

One way to view life, one way to view history, is a as a series of battles. You are oppressed, you struggle with the oppressor, if you prevail you sing a song: the Battle Hymn of the Republic and mention Gd as the Man of War. Beshalach can be read in this way.

The parsha begins by attributing the Exodus  from Egypt to an eviction by Pharaoh. Whose point of view is this ? Gd's? Moshe's? the reader's? Israel's -  most likely.  The statement is set up as  a straw man to be knocked over by the drowning of the Egyptians in the Sea of Reeds. ( perhaps the sea of the end? Yam Sof). An example of the paradigm.


The people are led to avoid battle. Gd does not lead the people through the land of the Philistines, despite ( or because) it was close, lest they regret leaving Egypt when they see war. There are some wars that lead to nothing but regret. How do we apply this verse to the ongoing battle between Israel and  the Philistines (Palestinians)? How do we apply it to the last 50 years of American foreign policy?

The battle feelings spill over into the necessities of life. The people are ready to stone Moshe because of the lack of food and water. Moshe tells the people that their  struggle is misdirected.  Their gripe is with Gd. But Gd ( Man of War) is so inaccessible and inscrutable.  The aggression needs an outlet.

Then there is Amalek.  The inevitable war,  This battle is not for land  or booty. This battle is pure, and perhaps by virtue of that, it is a battle for survival

You will find everything in the struggle.  But is that the best or only model?