beshalach - united synagogue no.20 beshalac… · beshalach artscroll p.366 | haftarah p.1152 hertz...

BeshalachArtscroll p.366 | Haftarah p.1152Hertz p.265 | Haftarah p.281Soncino p.407 | Haftarah p.434

Shabbat Shira. Tu Bishvat is on Sunday night and Monday.

Volume 32No. 20

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In loving memory of Yehudah Lev ben Ze’ev Dov, Peter Colman

“Moshe stretched out his hand over the sea, and God moved the sea with a strong east wind all thenight, and He turned the sea to dry land and the water split” (Shemot: 14:21).

8 February 2020 13 Shevat 5780

Shabbat ends London 5.51pmJerusalem 5.56pm

Vol.32 No.20 BESHALACH new logo.qxp_Layout 1 23/01/2020 15:25

United Synagogue Daf HashavuaProduced by US Living & Learning together with the Rabbinical Council of the United Synagogue

Rabbi Editor-in-Chief: Rabbi Baruch DavisEditorial and Production Team: Rabbi Daniel Sturgess, Rabbi Michael Laitner, Joanna Rose, Rebbetzen Nechama DavisAvailable also via email US website www.theus.org.uk ©United SynagogueTo sponsor Daf Hashavua please contact Danielle Fox on 020 8343 6261, or [email protected] you have any comments or questions regarding Daf Hashavua please email [email protected]

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Sidrah Summary: Beshalach

1st Aliya (Kohen) – Shemot 13:17-14:8After Pharaoh sends the Israelites out of Egypt,God does not lead them on a straight paththrough the land of the Pelishtim (Philistines)towards Cana’an (later Israel), but rather towardsthe Sea of Reeds. Moshe is carrying Yosef’sbones, as Yosef had requested before his death(see Bereishit 50:25). A pillar of cloud guides theIsraelites by day, and a pillar of fire lights up theirjourney at night. God tells Moshe to turn back inthe direction of Egypt. God hardens the heart ofPharaoh, who pursues the Israelites with hisarmed chariots.

2nd Aliya (Levi) – 14:9-14The Egyptians catch up with the Israelites, who are encamped by the Sea. Seeing theapproaching army, the people cry out in prayer, and also ask Moshe why they left Egypt only to die in the desert. Moshe tells them not to fear; they will experience God’s salvation.

3rd Aliya (Shlishi) – 14:15-25Moshe raises his staff; an easterly wind blowsand the Sea splits. The Israelites walk through thedry channel, the water providing a wall on eitherside of them. The Egyptians enter the Sea butstruggle to move forward.

Point to Consider: Why did God move the seawith a “strong easterly wind”? (14:21)

4th Aliya (Revi’i) – 14:26-15:26Moshe raises his staff; the Sea closes on theEgyptians, drowning them. The Israelites see thedrowned Egyptians on the seashore. Togetherwith Moshe, they sing the Song at the Sea (ShiratHaYam) which celebrates God’s miraculoussalvation. The nation travels on, experiencingthree days in the desert without water. They cometo a place called Marah, where the water is too bitter to drink. They complain to Moshe,who is shown a tree by God. Moshe throws thetree into the water, thus sweetening it.

Question: Which nations are referred to in theSong at the Sea as being terrified by news of themiracle? (15:15) Answer on bottom of page 6.

5th Aliya (Chamishi) – 15:27-16:10The Israelites arrive in the Sin Desert andcomplain to Moshe that they are hungry. God tellsMoshe that he will send down a daily portion of‘bread’ from the heavens. Moshe tells the peoplethey will also get meat in the evening.

6th Aliya (Shishi) – 16:11-36The heavenly bread – called ‘man’ (manna) – fallsbetween two layers of dew (Rashi). Eachhousehold gets a daily portion sufficient for its members. Moshe tells them not to leave anyover until the next day. Some people ignore this warning; their manna becomes infested. A double portion falls on Friday. Moshe tells them to use the excess for Shabbat and not togo out to collect any manna on Shabbat. Again,some ignore this instruction. Moshe tells Aharonto preserve some manna in a container, as areminder to future generations.

7th Aliya (Shevi’i) – 17:1-16The Israelites travel to Refidim, but again do notfind water. God tells Moshe to strike a rock withhis staff; water emerges from the rock. Amalekattacks the Israelites at Refidim. Yehoshua(Joshua) leads the battle against them, whilstMoshe, Aharon and Chur (Moshe’s nephew)ascend a nearby hill. Whenever Moshe raises hisarms, Israel overcomes Amalek. Aharon and Chursupport Moshe’s tired arms. Yehoshua isvictorious.

HaftarahDevorah was a prophetess and a judge. Thehaftarah, from the Book of Judges, includes thesong that Devorah sang to celebrate the defeatof the evil Ca'ananite general, Sisera. This defeatwas facilitated by the bravery of Yael, whoattacked and killed Sisera with a tent-peg.


Having witnessed themiraculous division of the Sea of Reeds andexperienced their ownsalvation, the Jewish peoplebroke out into a song ofpraise to God. The Torahtestifies: “And the people

believed in God and in Moshe his servant”(Shemot 14:31).

This seems to imply that until that point they didnot have this faith. However, that implicationwould run counter to an earlier verse, in ParashatShemot, which tells us that even before theredemption from Egypt, when Moshe performedmiraculous signs before the Israelites, ‘the peoplebelieved’ (ibid 4:31). What new dimension wasadded to their faith following the splitting of theSea of Reeds?

There is an important distinction between‘intellectual faith’ and a stronger form of faith,which ‘encompasses one’s entire being’. Thisdistinction can be best understood by thefollowing examples:

One can believe in God because it is logical to do so. When the famous Rabbi Akiva, one of themost notable Talmudic sages, was asked by a Roman princess to provide her with proof ofGod’s existence, he asked her rhetorically, ‘Who wove your garment?’

Rabbi Akiva went on to explain that just as agarment must have had a manufacturer andcould not have come into being of its own accord, so must the world. However, such abelief, based on cold intellect, will not necessarilyspur one into righteous actions for the sake ofHeaven.

Charles Blondin, a famous tightrope walker wholived in the nineteenth century, once announcedthat he was prepared to cross Niagara Falls

high up on a tightrope. One fatal slip would havecost him his life. Before beginning his perilouscrossing, he shouted to the huge crowd, ‘Do you believe that I, Blondin, can walk over thistightrope?’ The audience responded amidst greatcheering, ‘Yes, we believe!’ After accomplishingthis magnificent feat, he announced, ‘Do youbelieve that I, Blondin, can cross Niagara Fallsblindfolded and wheeling a barrow?’ ‘Yes’ theyshouted ‘... we believe’. ‘All lright then,’ saidBlondin, ‘who would like to volunteer to sit in thewheelbarrow?’ There was an eerie silence.

It is one thing to believe intellectually, but quiteanother to put that belief into practice by riskingone’s life in the process. That was the type of belief demonstrated by Nachshon benAminadav and the tribe of Yehudah when theyleapt into the waters of the Sea of Reeds as the Egyptians approached. It was then that the waters parted.

Only after the Israelites’ final salvation, when the Egyptians were drowned and they weresaved, did they all reach that extra dimension, the pinnacle of faith which encompassed theirvery being, and which motivated them to break out in tumultuous song of affirmation: ‘This is my God and I will exalt Him’ (15:2).

3In memory of Tikva bat Joseph

Encompassing One’s Being by Rabbi Emaunel Levy, Palmers Green & Southgate United Synagogue


4In memory of Yitzchak ben Yehudah ha Levi

Messages of Resilience from Tu B’Shevatby Rebbetzen Rina Shindler, Richmond United Synagogue

One of my favourite thingsabout living in London is justhow mild the winter andsummer seasons are. I feelgrateful every time I defrostmy car in the early, darkmorning before the school runthat we don’t live somewhere

with a harsh, unforgiving winter where it bitesdeep. Still, winter here is a cold, dark, barren time of year. The trees are bare and, aside fromthe avid horticulturalists among us, so are ourgardens. The vibrant colours of spring andsummer have fled and in their place we face agrim, grey few months.

Yet strangely, we find a bizarre celebration ofbotanical life right at this juncture in our calendar.When the world appears most barren and devoidof the life and vitality that the spring seasonheralds, what message can we take from TuB’shvat, the so-called “new year for the trees?”

In her book, Emotional Mastery, 90 Seconds to a Life You Love, Dr Joan Rosenberg presents a striking analysis of what she believes is the pivotal determinant in whether a personexperiences a life of confidence, resilience, andsuccess. Based on the latest neuroscience, Dr. Rosenberg shares that the key to living a life of growth and mastery is one’s willingnessand ability to embrace unpleasant emotions andfeelings such as embarrassment, disappointmentand vulnerability. If you can experience and movethrough eight core unpleasant feelings, she says,you can pursue anything you want in life. Our firstawareness of any feeling comes as a biochemicalrush which is fired off in our brain and then flowsthrough our bloodstream. This is experienced asphysical sensations in the body which linger forapproximately 60-90 seconds and then subside,similar to a wave. Being in touch with andremaining in a state of present awareness can bedifficult and uncomfortable. But it is our ability toride the wave – to experience and move throughthe unpleasantness – which leads directly to our

inner strength and the vibrant life of joy which weseek.

Life is comprised of seasons. For many of us, the winter times in our life can feel bleak,hopeless and barren. We naturally shrink away,distract, or avoid the difficult stuff. Yet it is now that the “sap is rising in the trees.” Tu B’shvat shows us that deep beneath the hard frozen surface, beyond the here and nowwhich our eyes can see, there is a magicaltransformation that is already taking place. Whatis happening deep inside the tree during theunpleasantness of winter is that which allows forthe magnificent blossoming and flowering of the tree in the warmer months. When we are ableto embrace our moment to moment experienceseven when they are uncomfortable, it is the verywillingness to fully experience and move throughthat discomfort which brings the promise of aseason to come pulsating with life and energy,full of dazzling colour, warmth and joy.


5In memory of Bayla bat Eliyahu

The United Synagogue @150 – 2. Movement and Actionby Simon Goulden, Education Consultant to the United Synagogue

The continuing movement ofJews away from their oldlocations in the City ofLondon to the new suburbsmeant that the communityhad to adapt. In 1848, a yearof revolution throughoutEurope, the Committee of the

Great Synagogue decided to set up a ‘satellite’community west of Regent Street and invited theother two synagogues to participate. This ‘Centralbranch’ community was only intended to be justthat, with no honorary officers of its own and nomarriages permitted, but it proved a very popularmove. As the Jewish population expanded andmoved further west, there were demands for anenlarged building and another community evenfurther west.

Within a few years, the three founding Citycommunities were facing financial challenges, sothat by 1859 they had resolved to amalgamateand invite other Metropolitan synagogues to join them. By 1861 the Great and the NewSynagogues continued to nurture the Bayswatercommunity – but still only as a branch. As thiscommunity grew stronger, the BayswaterSynagogue applied to the Board of Deputies tobe recognised in its own right. This proved achallenge to the old order, but eventually theBayswater Synagogue was given its way. A request for building funds to the Great from the Borough congregation was turned down, but when the committee of the North LondonSynagogue, which initially met in a room in UpperStreet, Islington, applied for a building loan of£1,100, (now perhaps about £1million), theresponse was far more favourable. Perhaps thiswas because it would have been of direct benefitto its members, who had begun to migrate northto the leafy suburbs.

The migration of members away from the City tothe suburbs, both north and west, was in no smallpart due to the rapid growth of railway lines in alldirections out of the capital. The shrinking

membership of the three original synagoguesmade some sort of action almost inevitable.

Negotiations on amalgamation of the three citysynagogues continued for several years, with theGreat and Hambro coming close to agreement in the mid-1860s. Onto the scene came twoimportant lay figures, Lionel Louis Cohen and Dr Asher Asher, who had both been active in the formation and development of the Board ofGuardians, the forerunner of Jewish Care. In theend, it seems that changes in membershipnumbers and transfers drove the communitiestowards the idea of some form of union. At thatpoint, the decisive action of Chief Rabbi NathanMarcus Adler brought all sides together at thefamous breakfast in his sukkah in September1866, where he suggested that the variousLondon synagogues sink their differences. It ispossible that it may have been ‘stage managed’,as it seems that he was pushing through an opendoor, with the idea of a union having been thoughtout and agreed well in advance.

The stately progress towards the formation of theUnited Synagogue was gathering pace.

Chief Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler (1803-1890)


6In memory of Ze’ev Dov ben Yehoshua Zvi

Answer: Edom, Moab and Cana'an

Shefford – Dr Judith Grunfeld l ’ ’ z

Dr Judith Grunfeld was the headmistress of theJewish Secondary School in Stamford Hill in1939, whose 450 children and staff wereevacuated to Shefford and the neighbouringtowns in Bedfordshire for the duration of WW2.

One of our young masters, a keen musicenthusiast, actually succeeded in convincing SirAdrian Boult that a visit to the evacuated Jewishyouth, so hungry for musical inspiration, wouldbe a service of human love worthy of so great aman. Sir Adrian came to our school. The rumourthat he was expected was going round in the village a few days prior to his visit. It sounded rather incredible. When I invited thelocal headmaster to join us to hear Sir Adrian’stalk in our dark and primitive school hall, heprobably thought that I had an illusion ofgrandeur; but Sir Adrian did come.

In my small Morris Minor, a shabby veteran, I collected him from the station and brought himto the school hall. How he could manage todouble up his large frame to save me theembarrassment of owning such a small car I donot know. We arrived at the hall and theincredible became true. Sir Adrian Boult, thecelebrated conductor, accustomed to crowds inthe Royal Albert Hall, lectured to our children,who listened spellbound and had eagerquestions ready for him. It was a great eventwhich brought us much prestige. It was like aking visiting his common troops on thebattlefield, leaving them with a heightened senseof their own significance which they would needto continue their hard life. We were grateful to thedistinguished man who came down to the lonelyand struggling evacuated Jewish school. It maybe that he who was used to the glaring limelightand to the applause of a wider public, neverknew what a stir he caused when he shared hisown personal glory with us.

“Be careful with the children of the poor” – forfrom them you may yet see great things. Thereare men and women, doctors, lawyers,scientists, rabbis and teachers in almost everypart of the world who, when the occasion stirs

their memory, will tell their children or their friendswhat their world offered them when they wereyoungsters in Shefford. They will remember manysmall events that I may have never known, funthat warmed them, laughter that cheered them,hopes that were dashed and revived, humour ofthose days that becomes more poignant as theyears roll by, as all the hardship is forgotten andonly the memory of the sweet heroic timeremains.

They recall the days in the “Ashby Hall”. Only thesenior pupils knew all its hidden corners and its quaint curiosity. It was originally a chapel andit belonged to a Mr Ashby. But he gave it to the“Children of Israel in Exile” because he believedin God and in the blessing of a good deed. This“Ashby Hall” not only served as a form room to Form V, but it was also a lecture hall, debatingroom and the intellectual head-quarters. Its very walls seemed to breathe erudition. Theacademic wisdom taught in the top class ofgrammar schools was here dispensed to theyoung minds in the process of gradual adaptionto the English way of thinking, humour, calm and reserve. It also served on Sabbath and Holy Days as a shul (Synagogue) in which theyoung boys conducted the entire service withzeal and harmony.

Reproduced with permission

Sir Adrian Boult (1889 – 1993)

by Hilda Wiener


beshalach - united synagogue no.20 beshalac… · beshalach artscroll p.366 | haftarah p.1152 hertz...

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