Parsha for Kids: Beshalach 2023
Below is the transcript for this week’s episode of Parsha for Kids, Beshalach 2023.
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Season 2 Episode 4:
Hello! My name is Chana, and this is Parsha for kids. The Parsha of the week is Beshalach. Beshalach means “when he sent.”
But who sent? And what did he send?
The answer is Pharaoh. When Pharoah sent out Bnei Yisrael, God decided to take Bnei Yisrael on a long, indirect way to Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel. This was instead of taking Bnei Yisrael on the short, direct route.
The reason God did this was because he wanted to avoid having Bnei Yisrael see war. God understood that Bnei Yisrael were used to being slaves, who had every decision made for them by their Egyptian masters. If they saw war, they would be frightened, and would want to return to Egypt. They would think it was better to live in Egypt as slaves than to travel to Eretz Yisrael as free people. Free people have the ability to make choices but they also have to make their own decisions- and that can sometimes feel scary, especially if people are not accustomed to it.
We learn something very important from God here. When we are leading others, we need to expose them to the opportunities that are right for them- and not put them into situations they are not ready for. Teachers are taught to do this as well. There is something called the Zone of Proximal Development. For short, teachers sometimes call it ZPD. There’s learning that a student can do without any help and learning that a student cannot do yet. In the middle of those two options, there’s ZPD, learning a student can do with the help of a teacher. That’s where a teacher wants their students to be- at first learning with their help or guidance, and then, once the students have mastered the material, learning on their own.
If you are an older sibling, you may already be familiar with this concept. You might have a younger sibling who is old enough to learn how to dress themselves but still needs some help pulling the clothing over their head. You wouldn’t just give your brother or sister the clothes and say, “Here, dress yourself” because that wouldn’t be the best learning situation for them. You would figure out the best way to help them according to what they were able to do. God did the same thing when He decided how to lead us out of Egypt.
TRANSITION
When Bnei Yisrael left Egypt, Moshe made sure to fulfill the promise made years ago to Yosef. Yosef had requested that his bones be taken out of Egypt and buried in Eretz Yisrael.
Bnei Yisrael traveled according to God’s wishes. God would show them where to go by having a pillar of cloud lead them by day and a pillar of fire lead them by night. Why did God specifically appear in cloud and fire? I think one of the reasons why was to show that God is always with us. A cloud can be white and fluffy but it can also be dark and stormy. It obscures, covering up the sky. Sometimes it may feel like God is far away, covered up. Fire, on the other hand, burns brightly. It is obviously there. Other times it may feel like God is very close, all lit up and obvious. It is important for us to know that God is there either way. Whether it seems like God is far away, high in the sky and covered up like a cloud, or whether He is close to us, on earth, burning brightly like a fire, He is still there. Later on we will see that when God gives us the Torah, He uses clouds and fire to surround the mountain, Har Sinai- I think to demonstrate both aspects of His presence.
In either case, God then commanded Moshe to make Bnei Yisrael turn around and head back towards Egypt. This was so that it would seem like Bnei Yisrael were confused and lost. When word would get back to Pharaoh that they had become confused, Pharaoh's heart would be strengthened and he would come after them. Indeed, this is exactly what happened. When Pharoah and his people heard that Bnei Yisrael had run away, they thought to themselves, “What is this that we have done, releasing Bnei Yisrael from serving us?”
So Pharoah harnessed his chariot. He took six hundred chariots and all the chariots of Egypt and his people as well.
Chariots in those days were important weapons, similar to tanks in modern times. They were strong and fortified and people could go faster riding a chariot than they could on foot. Bnei Yisrael would have been very scared to see Pharoah and his men coming in their fast chariots to bring them back to Egypt.
TRANSITION
Bnei Yisrael looked up and saw Pharoah and his Egyptians coming after them. They were extremely scared and they cried out to God.
Then they turned to Moshe and accused him. “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us to die in the desert?” they asked. “What is this that you have done, to take us out of Egypt? Didn’t we tell you, leave us alone, we would rather serve the Egyptians than die in the desert?”
This may sound ungrateful on the part of Bnei Yisrael, and in a way, it was. But you also have to understand their circumstances. Many people prefer what they know to what they don’t know, even if the experiences they know about are unpleasant. There’s even a term “fear of the unknown” that focuses on the idea that people are afraid of the things they do not know. Even though Bnei Yisrael did not enjoy being slaves, they knew what it was like and they knew what to expect. Now they were in a completely new situation with the Egyptian army bearing down on them, and they were frightened that they would die. Their fear of the unknown and the unexpected made them complain.
Moshe didn’t get upset at the people. He understood where they were coming from. Instead, he said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Stand firm and see God’s salvation that He will make for you today. You have seen the Egyptians today, but you will no longer see them for all eternity. God will fight for you but you will remain silent.”
Moshe then turned to God and began to pray. However, God said to him, “Why do you cry out to me? Speak to Bnei Yisrael and let them travel.”
Rashi explains what was going on here. Moshe was praying and God explained to him that it was not the right time to pray for a long time when the nation was in distress. This shows us the importance of knowing the right time to do something. When there is an immediate crisis, the main thing to do is to act and resolve the crisis. One can pray to God, but it should be a short prayer, not a long one. When there is a situation that does not need to be resolved immediately, then it makes sense to pray to God for a longer amount of time.
God instructed Moshe to raise his staff and stretch out his hand over the Yam Suf, Red Sea, and split it. Bnei Yisrael would be able to walk through the sea on dry land.
God explained that He would be honored through this miracle. When the Egyptians would come after Bnei Yisrael, God would make sure they knew that He was the one and only true God of the world.
TRANSITION
At this point, the angel of God that had been in front of Bnei Yisrael’s camp moved behind them. Similarly, the pillar of cloud that had been leading Bnei Yisrael moved to the back of the camp. This cloud and darkness made it dark for the Egyptians, but the pillar of fire continued to light up the night for the members of Bnei Yisrael.
Moshe stretched out his hand over the sea and God made an east wind blow the whole night long. God made the sea into dry land and the waters split, piling high into walls on each side.
And Bnei Yisrael walked into the sea on dry land, with the water like walls on their right side and on their left. It was an unbelievable miracle. Who had ever heard of the sea splitting? And how could water suddenly pile up like a wall?
The Egyptians were so focused on Bnei Yisrael getting away that they came right after them. But they did not realize that God was going to fight for the Israelites. When it came morning, God looked down and he threw the Egyptian camp into confusion. God sent the pillar of cloud and fire to make the bottom of the Yam Suf, which had been dry for the Israelities, muddy for the Egyptians. The fire burned off the wheels of their chariots so that they sank and became stuck in the mud of the Yam Suf. The Egyptians ultimately realized they needed to run away because God was fighting for Bnei Yisrael against them.
At that moment, God told Moshe, “Stretch out your hand over the sea and let the water go back to how it originally was. It will close over the Egyptians, their chariots and their horsemen.”
Moshe stretched out his hand over the waters and lo and behold, the two walls came back together, closing over the heads of the Egyptians. God stirred the Egyptians into the sea like you or I might stir a cup of hot cocoa.
Pharoah’s entire army was swallowed by the sea; not even one of them survived. Bnei Yisrael saw the Egyptians dying on the seashore. This was because the sea spat them out onto the dry land so that Bnei Yisrael would not worry that the Egyptians had somehow survived and might try to fight or capture them again.
Bnei Yisrael were totally awestruck. They had just witnessed God’s immense power. God had enabled them to cross on dry land through walls of water at the same time that He had caused that water to come crashing down on the heads of the Egyptians and made them all drown. God was truly able to protect them and fight for them.
Seeing the great hand that God had used on the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and believed in Moshe, His servant.
TRANSITION
At that very moment, having crossed to the other side, Moshe and Bnei Yisrael sang a song to God. Those of us who pray out of a siddur daily say this song in our prayers. It is called Az Yashir.
Moshe and Bnei Yisrael sang about how God had cast horse and rider into the sea and how grateful they were to God for saving them. They described God as Ish Milchama, the Master of War. They spoke about God’s powerful right hand and how it crushed the enemy. God’s fiery anger devoured the enemy as though they were nothing more than straw, which burns easily. With the breath of God’s nostrils, the waters were heaped up into walls. The enemy thought they would be successful in pursuing and overtaking Bnei Yisrael but they were sadly mistaken. All God had to do was blow with His wind and the enemy was covered by the powerful waters. Bnei Yisrael also talked about God’s chesed, kindness, towards Bnei Yisrael, and how other nations would react when they found out about the miracle. They described the fear and dread these other nations would feel when they learned about what a powerful God the Israelites had.
Miriam, the sister of Aharon and Moshe was a neviah, or prophetess. She took a tambourine in her hand. She led the women after her. They took tambourines and they danced with her. Miriam sang the song of praise to God to and with the women, just like Moshe had sung it to and with the men.
Every member of Bnei Yisrael rejoiced.
What can we learn from the fact that the moment they were saved, Bnei Yisrael broke out into song?
First, we can learn about the value of gratitude. Bnei Yisrael did not just take it for granted that God would save them and drown their enemies. Instead, they were grateful and appreciative.
Second, after people go through a national crisis, it’s important to band together to process that crisis. Bnei Yisrael had just been terrified that the Egyptians were going to overtake them. Now that this hadn’t happened, they came together as a community to process their feelings. Singing is a way of channeling those feelings productively, promoting community and togetherness.
Even nowadays we act similarly to Bnei Yisrael then. Sometimes there is a crisis in a community. The community will come together to process the crisis. This may happen by having the community join together in a synagogue to say Tehillim, psalms written by King David among others. Or it might happen in a community celebration if something good happened. It’s important to realize and lean on the community after we have gone through a scary experience.
TRANSITION
Now that Bnei Yisrael had crossed the Yam Suf, they walked for three days but could not find water to drink. They came to a place called Marah. Marah in Hebrew means Bitter, and the place was named Marah because the water there was bitter and undrinkable.
The people complained to Moshe, saying, “What will we drink?”
Moshe cried out to God. God told Moshe to take a piece of wood and throw it into the water and the water became sweet. God also assured Bnei Yisrael that if they listened to God, did what was proper in His eyes, and followed God’s commandments and laws then God would not bring all the sicknesses and plagues that He had brought upon the Egyptians upon Bnei Yisrael.
“I, the Lord, will heal you,” God concluded.
If you have read the Haggadah during your Pesach Seder, you may have noticed there is a section where the rabbis multiply the number of miracles that took place by the splitting of the sea, and the number of plagues that happened to the Egyptians. This is the reason why. The more plagues happened to the Egyptians, the more plagues and sicknesses God WON’T bring upon members of Bnei Yisrael as long as Bnei Yisrael follows God’s commands.
TRANSITION
Bnei Yisrael continued their journey through the desert. They came to a place called Elim that had twelve fountains of water and seventy date trees. They camped there for a while. Then they continued traveling to the desert of Tzin. By this point, the matzot they had taken with them from Egypt had run out, and they had nothing to eat.
So Bnei Yisrael complained to Moshe and Aharon and said, “If only we had died in Egypt, where at least we had pots of meat and plenty of bread. You brought us out to this desert where we will all starve to death.”
God told Moshe, “I will rain down bread for you from heaven. The people will go out each day and gather the amount they need for that day only. But on the sixth day, they will gather a double portion.”
You may be wondering why God set things up this way. Our sages compare Bnei Yisrael at this stage to a newborn baby. A newborn baby nurses from its mother. The baby only drinks the milk they need and then they are content and go to sleep. Each day the baby needs to drink the milk for that day, and they are completely reliant on their mother to give it to them. The baby is not able to eat solid foods yet and cannot store food for another time.
Similarly, God wanted Bnei Yisrael to learn they could trust Him. By relating to Him like a newborn baby, they would come to realize that God would always provide for them and they would always have food for them. Building trust was a very important goal of God’s and it was one of the main reasons God was taking the nation on the long way to Eretz Yisrael.
But why, you may be wondering, were Bnei Yisrael told to take a double portion of the special food on the sixth day?
That is because the seventh day would be Shabbat. Shabbat is the day of rest, and gathering bread and grinding it up or cooking it would not be allowed on Shabbat. Therefore, Bnei Yisrael had to prepare on the sixth day for the seventh day. Nowadays we remember this miracle because we have Lechem Mishna on our Shabbat table- two loaves of Challah. The two loaves of Challah remind us of the double portion of the special bread that God rained down from Heaven.
TRANSITION
That night Moshe and Aharon told Bnei Yisrael that in the morning they would see the glory of the Lord. They also clarified to Bnei Yisrael that when they complained about food, they weren’t really complaining to Moshe and Aharon, but rather against God, hoping Bnei Yisrael would learn their lesson and would start to speak more respectfully.
God decided to send meat for the afternoon and bread for the morning. In the evening, slav, quails, covered the camp. Quails are a kind of tasty bird.
In the morning, a layer of dew covered the ground. On the top of the dew there was a thin, white substance that looked like frost. Bnei Yisrael saw it and they asked each other, “Man hu,” meaning “What is it?” because they did not know what it was. The name stuck and the new food was called Mun.
God commanded each member of Bnei Yisrael to gather one Omer of the Mun for each person in their family. Miraculously, even if a person accidentally gathered more or less, when they would end up measuring it, they would end up having exactly one Omer for each member of their family.
Moshe also warned them not to leave any of the Mun over for the next day. Remember that Bnei Yisrael were supposed to be like a little nursing baby, who only drinks enough milk for their meal that day, and then has to drink again the next day- not able to save any of the milk.
But some people did not listen. They saved the Mun for the next day. It became moldy and filled with worms and was rotten. Moshe got angry at them for not having listened to God’s
instructions.
Each morning Bnei Yisrael would gather the Mun, and whatever was left over on the ground would melt and find its way into the surrounding streams. Rashi explains that deer and gazelles would drink from these streams, and their flesh would acquire an unearthly, delicious flavor. The nations of the world would hunt these animals and eat them and through them taste the flavor of the Mun.
When it came the sixth day, Moshe reminded everyone to gather a double portion. He also reminded them to bake or cook the Mun on the sixth day so that it would be ready for the seventh day, because the seventh day was Shabbat and was a day of rest. (One of the rules for that day of rest is that we do not cook.)
The Mun was delicious. It was white, round like a coriander seed, and tasted like a wafer with honey.
Based on God’s instruction, Aharon took one Omer of the Mun and put it in a jug. This jug of Mun would be saved throughout the generations so there would be proof to show them of how God had fed Bnei Yisrael in the Midbar.
TRANSITION
Bnei Yisrael then traveled again. They came to a place called Rephidim. There was no water for the people to drink.
By now, you might have hoped that Bnei Yisrael would have learned to have trust in God. But instead they argued with Moshe and said, “Give us water so that we may drink!’ Moshe said, “Why do you fight with me? Why do you test God?”
The people complained to Moshe, asking once again why he had brought them up out of Egypt because now they and their children and their animals would all die of thirst.
Moshe said to God, “If I wait just a little longer, Bnei Yisrael will stone me!” Because he saw Bnei Yisrael were not thinking clearly.
God instructed Moshe to take his staff, which he had used when splitting the sea, and go to a rock on Chorev. Moshe should hit that rock and water would flow out of it.
This is exactly what happened. Moshe named that place Maaseh and Merivah meaning Testing and Quarreling because Bnei Yisrael tested God and fought with Moshe about the water there.
TRANSITION
Until this point, Bnei Yisarel had to contend with natural occurrences like a lack of water or a lack of food. But they had not been set upon by any enemies. This was because, quite logically, the enemies were afraid of them. They had all heard what had happened to the Egyptians, both the plagues and the way that the entire army had been swallowed up by the Yam Suf. So nobody wanted to start up with Bnei Yisrael!
Except along came a group of people who decided to change all that. They were called Amalek. According to Midrash, Amalek attacked the weakest members of Bnei Yisrael, who were in the back of the nation as they traveled.
Moshe instructed Yehoshua, another member of Bnei Yisrael, to select fighters from among the nation. Tomorrow Moshe would stand on the hill with the staff of God in his hand, while the fighters would fight down below. Moshe, Aharon and Chur (who was the son of Miriam and her husband Caleiv) all went up the hill.
When Moshe would raise his hand, Bnei Yisrael would win against Amalek and when Moshe would let them rest, Bnei Yisrael would start to lose. This was symbolic, because when Moshe’s hands were raised Bnei Yisrael were concentrating on what they pointed to, the heavens, and God who dwelled in the heavens. When they were concentrating on God helping them, they won, but when they were not, they lost.
Moshe’s hands became heavy so he sat down on a stone and Aharon and Chur held up his hands. This is a beautiful example of teamwork, where everyone helped each other so that they could succeed.
Yehoshua was able to kill Amalek’s strongest warriors but he was not able to get rid of all of them. It was still enough to win the battle.
Since Amalek came to attack Bnei Yisrael before any of the other nations dared to do so, God promised that He would wipe out Amalek.
Moshe built a mizbeach, an altar, and named it Adonoy Nisi, God is My Miracle. And Moshe said that there would be war against Amalek for every generation.
Many questions have been raised about who is Amalek and what it means that there is war against them in every generation. Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, a very learned man, explained that Amalek is not just one Bedouin tribe. Amalek is made of people who have a certain kind of attitude, and that attitude is one where they hate Bnei Yisrael simply because they are Jews. Amalek doesn’t actually want something from you- they aren’t fighting against you in order to conquer your land, or to take your spoils. They are simply fighting against you because they hate you because you are Jewish.
Unfortunately, there are people like that in every generation- people who are not logical, but who simply have hatred in their heart against Jewish people. It is a kind of sickness. Sometimes people like that can learn more and change their ways. But sometimes all these people want to do is destroy Jews, in which case it is important that Jews destroy them first in self defense.
TRANSITION
So here’s what we learned this week!
It’s important to put people into situations that are appropriate for them and where they can succeed. That’s why God took Bnei Yisrael on a longer path to Israel- so they should not immediately see war and become frightened. Good parents and teachers do this, too.
No matter whether God seems like a far away cloud or a close, burning fire in your life, He is still always with you.
When there is a crisis that has to be dealt with right away, one should only pray for a short time, and not spend a long time in prayer.
God loves His nation and will fight for them, just like we saw Him do when He swallowed up the Egyptians into the sea.
It is a good idea to show gratitude and come together as a community when a crisis has been solved.
God wanted Bnei Yisrael to learn to trust Him, which is why He set up the Manna system- similar to how a nursing baby trusts their mother to feed them milk each day.
Amalek was the first group to dare to fight against Bnei Yisrael, and they did so for no obvious reason- seemingly only out of hatred for them. It is important for people who hate Jews to either learn better and change their ways or for us to defend ourselves against them.
If you have any questions or comments on this week’s episode, please email me at parsha4kids@gmail.com. That’s parsha the number 4 kids at gmail.com. Good Shabbos!