Parashat HaShavua - BeShalach

Must the establishment of Bnei Yisrael as a nation come at the expense of Egypt? Is nation creation in general a zero sum game? At the end of last week’s reading of Bo, we are told that Pharaoh tells Bnei Yisrael to “take also your flocks and also your cattle / גַּם־צֹֽאנְכֶ֨ם גַּם־בְּקַרְכֶ֥ם קְח֛וּ” (Ex. 12:32), and the people eagerly provided their “silver objects, golden objects, and garments / כְּלֵי־כֶ֛סֶף וּכְלֵ֥י זָהָ֖ב וּשְׂמָלֹֽת.” (Ex. 12:35) In short, “they emptied out Egypt / וַיְנַצְּל֖וּ אֶת־מִצְרָֽיִם.” (Ex. 12:36).

It is hard to imagine a more apt description of the physical and psychological toll of the plagues. Egypt was empty. Is this what the nation of Israel needed to be created? Was it either us or them? In fact, Bnei Yisrael might not have thought so. If we take them at their word, they honestly thought they’d be back, and so “they borrowed / וַיִּשְׁאֲלוּ֙” (Ex. 12:35) what they took, fully expecting to give it back. And the initial ask of Pharaoh was to go away for three days and return. (Ex. 5:3, 8:23)

I think this question helps explain why, at the beginning of this week’s reading of BeShalach, God detours around the Philistines “because God said, ‘Lest the people reconsider when they see war and return to Egypt’ / כִּ֣י אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֗ים פֶּן־יִנָּחֵ֥ם הָעָ֛ם בִּרְאֹתָ֥ם מִלְחָמָ֖ה וְשָׁ֥בוּ מִצְרָֽיְמָה.” (Ex. 13:17) After everything in Egypt, God couldn’t somehow make that work? How bad could another victory (presumably) have been for Bnei Yisrael after what they had seen and experienced? Perhaps God’s concern for Bnei Yisrael was not their fear of fighting the Philistines, but for them to see the defeat of another nation on their behalf. They might not have had the stomach for it and turned around because they did not want to travel from place to place causing destruction. They might have wanted to turn back out of concern for what happened to Egypt after they left, based on what was done to the Philistines. And, finally, they might have feared that someday this would be them too. So God took them on a detour.

One is reminded here of the contrasting narratives of the world’s creation in Genesis. As Rav Soloveitchik explains so beautifully, “Adam One,” representing humanity as created in the first chapter, will “rule over / וְיִרְדּוּ֩” (Gen. 1:26) the world and “subdue it / וְכִבְשֻׁ֑הָ.” (Gen. 1:28) In the second chapter, however, humanity - called “Adam Two” by the Rav - is placed in the Garden “to work and guard it / לְעָבְדָ֖הּ וּלְשָׁמְרָֽהּ” (Gen. 2:15)

Would that there were an Adam Two model of nation creation represented in the Torah. While it is true the Torah tells us God knew how all this would play out, and helps things along by stiffening Pharaoh’s resolve, maybe God was still open to sparing a viable remnant of Egypt if Pharaoh had not pursued. But he did, of course, and as we read this week, Egypt’s demise reached another level.

And so, is the sparing of the Philistines the sole indication that some balance is possible, that nation creation is not a zero sum game, even in the face of the cautionary tale that is Egypt?

I think there is one more place we can find a ray of hope: the story of the waters of Marah. Immediately after their escape through the Sea, a parched Bnei Yisrael “arrived to Marah, and they couldn’t drink the water of Marah because it was bitter / וַיָּבֹ֣אוּ מָרָ֔תָה וְלֹ֣א יָֽכְל֗וּ לִשְׁתֹּ֥ת מַ֨יִם֙ מִמָּרָ֔ה כִּ֥י מָרִ֖ים הֵ֑ם.” (Ex. 15:23) What happens next is miraculous; what is said, hard to understand. First Moshe throws a tree into the water to sweeten it and render it potable. (Ex. 15:24) So far so good.

And then? The Torah reports that “there God gave them a statute and an ordinance, and there tested them / שָׁ֣ם שָׂ֥ם ל֛וֹ חֹ֥ק וּמִשְׁפָּ֖ט וְשָׁ֥ם נִסָּֽהוּ.” (Ex. 15:25) He did? Perhaps the test was thirst. But what statute and ordinance? God continues: “If you listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and you do what is proper in His eyes, and you listen closely to His commandments and observe all His statutes, all the sicknesses that I have visited upon Egypt I will not visit upon you; for I, the Lord, heal you / וַיֹּ֩אמֶר֩ אִם־שָׁמ֨וֹעַ תִּשְׁמַ֜ע לְק֣וֹל | יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ וְהַיָּשָׁ֤ר בְּעֵינָיו֙ תַּֽעֲשֶׂ֔ה וְהַֽאֲזַנְתָּ֙ לְמִצְו‍ֹתָ֔יו וְשָֽׁמַרְתָּ֖ כָּל־חֻקָּ֑יו כָּל־הַמַּֽחֲלָ֞ה אֲשֶׁר־שַׂ֤מְתִּי בְמִצְרַ֨יִם֙ לֹֽא־אָשִׂ֣ים עָלֶ֔יךָ כִּ֛י אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה רֹֽפְאֶֽךָ.” (Ex. 15:26)

Thus the “statute and ordinance” seem to be, ‘follow My rules.’ It would seem most logical for God here to say, ‘follow My rules and you will have water.’ Instead, though, God says ‘follow My rules and I won’t treat you like Egypt.’ In other words, God relates this back to the understandable anxieties of Bnei Yisrael that they might be next, and reassures them they are not.

There is a message of hope here, I think, and not only from the perspective of self-preservation. The wood of the mateh, the staff used to split the Sea to save Bnei Yisrael and swallow Egypt, can also be the vehicle for sweetness, as when Moshe threw wood into the bitter waters and the “waters became sweet / וַיִּמְתְּק֖וּ הַמָּ֑יִם.” (Ex. 15:25) The way of sweetness is also a necessary, if not sufficient, element for creation and salvation. May the world be blessed to encounter the way of sweetness more, and travel it often.

Shabbat shalom!

Rabbi Jack Nahmod
Middle School Judaic Studies Head
Rabbinic Advisor