B'Shalach

B'Shalach - David Lazar

David is the spiritual leader of Kehilat Tiferet Shalom, a Masorti congregation in Tel Aviv. He is also the director of RIKMA: Spiritual Community Leadership Training - a meta-denominational fellowship program devoted to developing and supporting the next generation of spiritual communal professionals in Israel.

Tucked toward the end of the Parsha is the short scene in which Moses, accompanied by the elders of the nation, hits the rock on Mt. Horev with his staff causing the water to flow, quenching the thirst of the ever-complaining Israelites (Ex. 17).

This is neither the first nor the last time that the Israelites will complain to Moses that they would have been better off remaining in Egyptian servitude. Just before, they whined that they had nothing to eat or drink, their cries answered by the sweetening of the bitter waters, with quail swept in by the wind, and through manna falling from heaven (Ex. 16). And of course, the nagging endures throughout the forty years of wandering in the desert.

This is neither the first nor the last time that a staff is used to bring about miraculous events. God turns Moses's staff into a serpent in order to convince both Moses and Pharaoh of the authority the former had been given as saviour of the Israelites (Ex. 4,7). Aaron and Moses use their staffs to bring about some of the plagues (Ex. 7-10). It was with Moses's staff that the Sea parted for the Israelites (Ex. 14) and it will be Aaron's that will blossom showing his clan's right to the priesthood (Num. 17). Finally, Moses will hit the rock with his staff instead of talking to it, leading God to punish him by decreeing that he will not enter the Holy Land (Num. 20).

This is neither the first nor the last time that Mt. Horev serves as the site for significant events. Moses stumbles upon the burning bush and learns of his calling there (Ex. 3). It is, according to the book of Deuteronomy (1,4,5), just another name for Mt. Sinai, where the Torah was given. And it is also where Elijah finds out that God is not revealed in the great wind, the fire or in the earthquake, but in the "still small voice" (1 Kings 19).

However it does seem like something special is happening here:

The people have complained and they will continue to complain - they are, after all, fleeing slaves. They feel the helplessness and hopelessness of those not accustomed to living life out of choice and freedom. But it is Moses's job to bring them along, prepare and educate them in becoming a nation of God's choosing. Moses can now use his staff - in the past a symbol of his exceptional authority and a tool which brought about death and destruction - to provide the thirsty and complaining Israelites with basic nourishment. No destruction or death this time. Just the bare necessity of life - water; no struggle of power this time - the elders have been empowered by participating in this momentous event.

This is also the first contact that the people have with this great mountain. Moses knows it well, and the people will soon tremble in awe before God's presence and actually hear the Divine word. But for now, before the theophany, before the emotional and intellectual growth that will come through the giving of the Law at Horev/Sinai, the water flows.

The physical dryness of these newly freed slaves must first be dampened before their deep thirst for knowledge and liberty as a nation can be quenched.