Bishalach: Seduction 

This year, reading Bishalach, I have a new understanding of the Song of the Sea ( Oz Yashir).  This biblical poem, which has become part of the Orthodox morning prayer service, is clearly special.  When it is read from the Torah on Shabbath, the congregation stands in respect and sympathy with the ancestors that sang it after they had crossed the sea of Reeds. The ancients then saw the Egyptian chariot army drowned attempting the same crossing. 

How did the Israelites feel?  There must have been great relief.  They had escaped unscathed from the most powerful military force on earth; the enforcement arm of the state that had enslaved them for 210 years was gone. And then they thought again. Now, they could not return to Egypt the way they had come. There had never been a bridge; there was no reason to think that the miraculous splitting of the sea would recur. They were trapped. They could follow the cloud or be on their own in a desolate wilderness that offered almost no food or water or shelter. 

The song begins

כִּֽי־גָאֹ֣ה גָּאָ֔ה 

 

I shall sing to the L-rd for He is exalted [over all the] exalted

 

Onkelos (officially) translates this as

 

אֲרֵי אִתְגָאֵי עַל גֵוְתָנַיָא וְגֵאוּתָא דִילֵהּ הִיא

He is most high [exalted Himself above those who are exalted, and exaltation is His],

 

When the exalted are vanquished, their arrogance is exposed. The Egyptian army arrogated for themselves passing through the parted waters.  Gd had provided a route for the Israelites to escape. Once the path was open, the Egyptians thought they could follow the same passage. The heavy chariots crushed the coral that formed the terra firma for the unencumbered Israelites on foot. The chariots were stuck when the water returned to its nature. The Egyptians were seduced by the combination of opportunity and a sense of entitlement. It was the archetype of a trap.

The parsha opens with Gd’s plan to dupe the Israelites:

And it was, when Pharaoh sent out the people, that G-d did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, for it was near. For G-d said: Lest the people bethink themselves  when they see war and they return to Egypt.

 

For fear of a rebellion, a circuitous route was chosen; a route that came into existence only by miracle ( the splitting of the sea) and led to arid desolation, requiring wonders for the provision of food and water. Gd had a plot of enticement. It was a path to dependence, or perhaps the more acute awareness of the human condition of dependence. The road back was gone.

To close the loop, the parsha ends with the (eternal) war against the paradigm of enemies – Amalek. Once the Israelites are trapped, Gd need not fear that they will easily return to Egypt. The Hebrews are introduced to war. The Israelites do not easily win this battle, their advance depends upon the raised hands of Moses.  He must maintain the pose beyond his own capabilities. His arms are supported by Aaron and Hur. Moses is not the repository of power; he is a conduit. Victory is never assured.

Our decisions are snares. Without them there is no way forward. Even a well-traveled road may not be safe…especially for a pursuer.