Parshas Beshalach
By Rabbi Dovid Zauderer
My late beloved father Rabbi Dr. Erich Zauderer zt”l - Yisrael ben Mordechai a”h - compiled these “Parsha Thoughts” on the Torah (as he called them) over the course of a year in 5767. May the study of his Torah be a source of merit for his neshamah (soul).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Ed. note: To begin the present “Parsha Thought”, my father fondly refers to his father-in-law, my grandfather Rabbi Yosef Mordechai Baumol zt”l -dz.]
Zeide Baumol zt”l often spoke of Yetzias Mitzrayim (the Exodus from Egypt) as having a dual aspect. There was a physical departure of the Jews from Eretz Mitzrayim, the land of Egypt, and a cultural departure from Mitzrayim. First the Jews left the country of Egypt. However, because they were steeped in Egyptian culture during the long years of their captivity, Egyptian culture followed them even as they left the country of Egypt. As Possuk (verse) 14:10 says, even though the Jews left Egypt, Egypt was “running after them”. It was only on the seventh day, after Kriyas Yam Suf, the Splitting of the Sea that they finally broke with Egyptian culture. The Possuk (14:30) says that the Jews saw “Mitzrayim dead on the seashore”. This represented a total break with Egypt, the land and its culture.
The fact that Kriyas Yam Suf took place on the seventh day may have some significance. The Jews needed an entire week to remove all traces of Egyptian behaviour. The Egyptians would have some specific activities associated with each day of the week. As each day came, the Jews removed these activities and habits from their lifestyles.
The Possuk (15:22) states that the Jews travelled for three days after Kriyas Yam Suf and they found no water. Chazal (our Sages) say that water refers to Torah in this case. That is to say, they did not engage in any Torah study during that period, and this affected them negatively. They were spiritually depressed. Consequently, they were given a number of Mitzvos (commandments) to study when they arrived in a place called Moroh.(i.e. before receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai.) As indicated above, the seven days after leaving Egypt were spent removing Egyptian influences.
Now they needed to learn Jewish values to replace what they were accustomed to in Egypt. The Mitzvoh of Shabbos was given to them, to show how a Jew should behave on the seventh day of the week. However, since the entire week is geared towards Shabbos, (the days of the week are counted in relation to Shabbos) it showed them how to behave as Torah Jews all week long.
Another Mitzvoh was Kibbud Av vo’Em, respect for parents. Since their parents were slaves in Egypt, it was possible that the children disrespected them because of their previous low status. They were taught to behave otherwise.
Additionally, they were taught Jewish Judicial Laws to replace the Pharaonic laws of Egypt.
One additional Mitzvoh they were taught was that of the Poroh Adumoh, the Red Heifer. This Mitzvoh is referred to as a chok, a law that does not appear to have meaningful basis. It is performed solely because G-d commanded us to do so. While the Jews were in Egypt as slaves, they were under the absolute control of Pharaoh, and had to comply with his orders whether they were meaningful or not. Now they had achieved their freedom, they had to be taught that this did not mean that they could pick and choose what laws they would obey. They could not decide that certain laws make no sense to them and they will ignore them. They must obey G-d’s commands, whether they understand the reasons for them or not.
http://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=746