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Outline Notes for Parashat Beshalach

Parashat Beshalach (Exodus) 13:17-17:1-16 - The Book of Revelations - Part IV.

No Audio Message Available for this Parashat.

I. Introduction

A. Shemot (Exodus) - The Book of Revelations - The Hidden Meaning of Miriam's Tambourine

B. Parashah Abbreviated Outline

1. Soon after allowing the Children of Israel to depart from Egypt, Pharaoh chases after them to force their return, and the Israelites find themselves trapped between Pharaoh's armies and the sea. G-d tells Moses to raise his staff over the water; the sea splits to allow the Israelites to pass through, and then closes over the pursuing Egyptians. Moses and the Children of Israel sing a song of praise and gratitude to G-d.
2. In the desert, the people suffer thirst and hunger and repeatedly complain to Moses and Aaron. G-d miraculously sweetens the bitter waters of Marah, and later has Moses bring forth water from a rock by striking it with his staff; He causes manna to rain down from the heavens before dawn each morning, and quails to appear in the Israelite camp each evening.
3. The Children of Israel are instructed to gather a double portion of manna on Friday, as none will descend on Shabbat, the divinely decreed day of rest. Some disobey and go to gather manna on the seventh day, but find nothing. Aaron preserves a small quantity of manna in a jar, as a testimony for future generations.
4. In Rephidim, the people are attacked by the Amalekites, who are defeated by Moses' prayers and an army raised by Joshua.

C. Review - Levels of Revelation

1. The revelation of the progressive stages of redemption (The Four Passover Cups of Salvation - Tehillim (Psalms) 116:13)

   a. I will free/ take / bring you out - God would remove the Jewish people from the burden of slavery Ber.15: 14; Yochanan 10:14; Mat 11:29

   b. I will release / rescue you - God would formally terminate the Jewish people's relationship with the Egyptians - From slavery to freedom cp. Yochanan 19: 30; 8:36

   c. I will redeem you - God would be the Jewish people's Kinsman - Redeemer - When I see the blood I will pass over you - cp. Ber 22:16; Shemot 14: 13; Ruth; Yochanan 3:29; I Cor 10:2

   d. I will take/ adopt/ marry you as - God would marry the Jewish people at Mt. Sinai - Shemot 19:1-24:3-4 cp. Hosea 2 cp. Yochanan 14:1ff

           i. I will be their God - God would have a personal relationship with His Bride

            ii. I will bring you to the land - God would fulfill His promise to the patriarchs by giving His Bride the gift of Eretz Yisrael

2. The process of redemption began with the ‘Blood of the Lamb' - Shemot 12: 1- 12, 21-24, 27 cp. Bemidbar (Numbers) 28 16-25; Devarim (Deuteronomy) 16: 1-8
3. Whose Lamb - Rabbinics or Brit Chadashah - Revelation or interpretation?
4. The Lamb represented one of the gods of the Egyptiansso by slaying the Egyptian god, the Israelites were demonstrating the superiority of HaShem over the gods of Egypt

   a. Why would HaShem require us to eat an animal that represented an Egyptian god? That seems so pagan - consuming its life force - Animism

   b. Why did the Children of Israel choose to  worship  a calf instead of a lamb to represent the gods of   Egypt - Shemot 32: 4-5

5. The Lamb is a Korban Pesach- (Rashi Ex. 12:11; Maimonides, Hilchot Korban Pesach not any type of Zevach (sacrifice) cp. Lev. 1:1-5:25

   a. A Korban is an offering whose purpose is to bring oneself (Nefesh) closer to God.

   b. The Korban is a voluntary sacrifice that shows that a person desires to take upon himself the Yoke of the kingdom of Heaven.

   c. The Koraban represents a person's desire to be unified with HaShem. - Toras Ha'olah

   d. The Korban can atone for a person's sins -Lev 3:4

6. The going out from Egypt - יציאת מצרים is a paradigm of Messianic redemption and was not just a physical redemption. It was also a spiritual redemption Yeshayau (Isaiah) 53:7-12 cp. Yermayahu  (Jeremiah) 31: 31;Micah 7:15ff; I Cor. 5: 7-8

D. Moving day - What would you take? cp. Shemot 12:29- 42

II. Parashat Beshalach - The Hidden meaning of Miriam's Tambourine

A. All the women had tambourines! - Shemot 15: 20- 21

B. The tambourine is a symbol of a person whose heart trusts in God's redemption and is prepared to rejoice in it when it comes

C. According to our sages, the women were more confident than the men, that G-d would perform miracles for the Jewish people. While still in Egypt, they made tambourines to help them celebrate the Exodus. They used these tambourines to accompany them as they sang their praises to G-d.

III Conclusion

A. Kling, Kling!

B. Is your heart prepared to trust and rejoice?

C. Yeshua said that our Heavenly Abba is looking for a person who will worship God   " B' Ruach U'V' Emet" (In Spirit and in Truth) - Yochanan 4: 23- 24

D. Modern day Miriams

IV. Abbreviated Bibliography

• Bloch, Abraham P., The Biblical and Historical Background of the Jewish Holidays, KTAV
• Elias, Rabbi Joseph, The Haggadah/ With Translation And A New Commentary Based On Talmudic, Midrashic, and Rabbinic Sources, Mesorah Publications, LTD.
• Greenberg, Rabbi Irving, The Jewish Way Living the Holidays, A Touchstone Book published by Simon & Schuster
• Miller, Rabbi Chaim, The Chumash The Gutnick Edition, Kol Menachem
• Scheinbaum, Rabbi A. Leib, "Perspectives From Exile to Redemption " Insightful Observations on the Festival of Pesach, Highlighting Relevant Passages From the Torah and Haggadah, Peninim Publications
• Schweid, Eliezer, The Jewish Experience of Time: Philosophical Dimensions of the Jewish Holidays, Aronson