The Portion of Beshalach
Star Wars
Following
the ten plagues, the Children of Israel experience the extraordinary
event of the splitting of the Red Sea. The trek through the desert
begins.
Despite
all the miracles which the Children of Israel witnessed and benefited
from as they crossed the Red Sea, the complaints begin shortly
thereafter. First, the water was bitter and undrinkable. Then, there was
no food. So, G-d sent manna from heaven. But then there was no water at
Refidim.
It didn't take long for Amalek to recognize the weakness of part of the recently freed slaves, and they attacked.
Amalek fought against the children of Israel with their strategic weapon- witchcraft.
Their
fighters were chosen based on the dates of their birthdays since these
special astrological days provided them protection. (Jerusalem Talmud,
Rosh Hashanah chapter 3, halacha 8)
Moses
understood the battle strategy of the Amalekites and so he raised his
hands, thereby confusing the heavenly forces and causing Amalek to lose
its advantage.
All of this is alluded to in the additions to both the top and bottom of the letter "vav" in the word "vayachalosh" (and Joshua] weakened
Amalek and his people…) {Exodus 13;17}. These additions symbolize the
fact that the battle was fought both in heaven and on earth. (The
Rokeiach on the Torah)
Special thanks to Efraim Kaspi for the accompanying picture taken from a Lithuanian Sefer Torah written in the 18th century
|