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Parshah Beshalach: Mi Chamocha

January 30, 2015 by Amanda Martin

music

As my voice rises with that of the cantor, I tell myself my enthusiasm more than makes up for my staggering lack of singing ability. Shul is the only public place where I will bust out song with abandon, disregarding the sidelong glances thrown my way. I am unabashedly loud, and also happiest, when worshipping through song.

In this week’s parshah, the righteous Miriam famously gathers the Hebrew women in song and dance to celebrate escape from the Egyptians. “Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her in dance with timbrels. And Miriam chanted for them: Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously; Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea” (Exodus 15:20-21). The late Debbie Friedman rendered this moment in her own track. “Miriam’s Song” is on regular rotation during the “Rock Shabbat” services staged by my local Reform Temple, a favorite of both adults and children.

Most of the music in which we engage during services, however, is prayer. It is praise, it is gratitude, and it is supplication. Whether Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Humanist, Orthodox or Renewal, the prayers are largely the same. Shalom Rav, Hashkiveinu, Lecha Dodi, and V’Shamru are familiar standards, though they may be delivered somewhat differently by each movement in our collective tradition. No High Holiday service is complete without Avinu Malkeinu and any Passover Seder would surely fall flat without the inclusion of Dayenu. Communication with the divine encompasses innumerable languages, including music. Its power does not reside in literal, linear understanding, but rather its ability to foster a certain feeling within and around us. I know I am not the only Jew who can sing a perfect Yismechu without being able to translate what any of those beautiful words actually mean.

In addition to Miriam getting her groove on with her sisters, Parshah Beshalach also includes a lyric poem that gives us the Mi Chamocha prayer of our modern day services. I have participated in slow, sonorous versions, as well as riotously joyful renditions and have felt the tones fill me with awe, deep appreciation and peace. Our tradition tells us that it is this song the Israelites sang after emerging safe from the Sea of Reeds. It begins with the somewhat rhetorical question, “Who is like you, Oh God, among the gods who are worshipped?”

Music is contextual in my life. What I listen to in the gym is quite different than what I put on when making dinner which is certainly not the same as my getting-ready-for-work playlist or the road trip compilations capable of fueling hours of driving. For spiritual purposes, I prefer our Hebrew prayers. Some I find comforting, others electrifying. All rouse within me a sense of connection to something greater than myself. For me, they also feel like home.

This is not true of all Jews, certainly. I know many for whom these prayers are simply something to sit through as we wait for the Mourner’s Kaddish to signal the end. Those I sit beside in Shul are often much quieter, participating by phrases, and sometimes taking the opportunity to whisper to their neighbor. This is ok. It can feel inherently meaningless to worship in a language other than our own, no matter its holy status. We may feel self-conscious exercising our vocals in front of strangers or friends. Perhaps it’s altogether just uncomfortable. Some find divine connection through the sermon or the oneg. Others, in simply donning a kippah or tallit. And others still, in skipping services entirely and enjoying a Friday night cocktail with a friend. All means of connection are valid and one is not inherently better than another.

Our Torah reminds us that celebration, song and dance are inherently human behaviors. They may be individual but are more often communal – connecting us to one another as we connect with God. Today, we need not limit ourselves to the songs of the siddur. Holiness may be found in the music outside of synagogues and summer camps, as well. Certainly, Jews continue to make positive contributions to all areas of music. Maybe the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” can prove a compelling anthem for the story of the Maccabees. Perhaps we can hear “Raise Your Glass” by Pink and be reminded of Miriam and other outspoken women in our tradition. Personally, I can’t listen to Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” without thinking of our ancestors wandering the desert for 40 very long years.

We are fortunate to be Jews. We live within a tradition that continues to evolve through our sometimes intentional, but often unconscious, contributions. Our Jewish identities are not simply one small compartment of who we are, but a glorious container encompassing the totality of our lives. We breathe, we eat, we listen to music. When performed by Jews, these actions are inherently Jewish. It’s a beautiful phenomenon. The next time you update your Spotify playlist, take a moment to think of it in a Jewish context. What of our vast tradition does listening to your go-to Pandora station evoke? Test the possibility of connecting with God through Grooveshark. Who are you when you hear your favorite song? All music is potential connection and a reflection of our very personal Jewish journeys. Music is language, it is prayer, and it is life.

Filed Under: Jewish Media Reviews, Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), Judaism & Belief Tagged With: beshalach, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, jewish music, Music, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Torah

Parting the “Red Sea” with Heston, Spielberg and a High School Homecoming Game: Parsha Beshalach (Torah Video Mashup)

January 6, 2014 by Patrick Beaulier

Just like it says: three ways to part the Red Sea aka Sea of Reeds. What’s your favorite miracle?

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), Podcasts & Videos Tagged With: beshalach, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, D'var Torah, darshan yeshiva, exodus, Moses, online conversion, parshah bechalach, parting red sea, parting the sea, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, sea of reeds, torah video mashup

PARSHAT BESHALACH

January 29, 2010 by Patrick Beaulier

Is G-d With Us?

The Israelites have left Egypt and are experiencing freedom for the first time. Obstacle one: the Sea of Reeds. Moses and G-d tag team it, and the Israelites cross. Next, the bitter water of Marah. Again, Moses and G-d make a miracle and the bitter water becomes sweet. And to eat, a heavenly food called manna that comes from the sky.

Every time the Israelites come up against an obstacle, G-d gives them exactly what they want. That’s a pretty sweet deal! It seems like G-d does not do that for people anymore. Rough, huh?

We live in an amoral universe where good and bad things happen all the time. We can’t pin point the “why” of certain things. And when we read stories in the Torah about G-d handing things out like a cosmic Santa Claus, it seems really unfair. It makes people doubt how G-d can even exist.

The thing to remember about this Torah portion is that the Israelites were slaves. And slavery can do a lot to the psyche. They may have had post-traumatic stress disorder, where they constantly have feeling of re-living the darkness of their old lives, despite the fact that they are free. They have never had the ability to make choices for themselves and are now burdened by their own free will. And even though they are free, what good is it if they are going to die in the desert?

So G-d throws them a bone. G-d puts up with their complaining because G-d knows that they are dealing with a lot. This is where the g-dly sense of “doing good” comes from. Preparing food for a family, caring for the sick, giving money to those in need: this all stems from a divine precedent set for us in the Torah.

You can pray all you want, but G-d will not always give you exactly what you want. That’s because we are free now. G-d helped our spiritual ancestors to go from slavery to freedom, so that we can turn inward and see the g-dliness that is inside us, and perform miracles for others.

Does this mean that G-d is no longer with us? Absolutely not! Later in the Parshat, Amalek attack the Israelites. Moses begins praying and Joshua raises an army. Between the two of them, they defeat Amalek.

It took a combination of Moses praying and Joshua acting to defeat the Amalekites. Not one of them could have acted without the other. G-d didn’t destroy the army of Amalek for the Israelites. Instead, G-d inspired their strength and encouraged the Israelites to work together to achieve their goal.

This, I believe, is where G-d is in our lives: the divine inspiration to band together against obstacles we cannot endure alone, giving us the g-dly power to overcome whatever we face.

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), Podcasts & Videos Tagged With: beshalach, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, Counterculture, darshan yeshiva, Jewish, Judaism, online conversion, Parsha, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, Punk, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Religion, Torah

Was the Diet of the Exodus Vegetarian? (Parshat Beshalach by Michael Croland)

January 10, 2010 by Patrick Beaulier

Writer and former blogger for HeebnVegan Michael Croland gives us this week’s d’var Torah. Post your own d’var by emailing questions@punktorah.org

I have claimed in the past that when G-d gave the Jews in the Exodus manna—a food that is widely accepted as vegetarian—He had “a chance to start over” with vegetarianism and He again “intended humans to be vegetarian.” This argument suggested that manna was the Jews’ lone source of food in the desert prior to the flesh mentioned in Number 11:31-34. I had based my argument on that of Richard Schwartz in Judaism and Vegetarianism, who said that “after the Israelites left Egypt, G-d tries to establish another non-meat diet: manna.” In a “Jews and Food” class this fall, I reviewed the two chapters in the Torah in which manna was mentioned—Exodus 16 and Numbers 11—and I questioned whether manna was eaten as an all-vegetarian diet.

Manna was mentioned as a prominent food in those two chapters, but quail was also discussed. In Exodus 16:12, G-d told the Israelites, “By the evening you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread ….” The following verse explained, “In the evening quail appeared and covered the camp.” Then in Numbers 11:4, some of the wandering Jews “felt a gluttonous craving” and said, “If only we had meat to eat!” In Numbers 11:33-34, after they received quail, they were punished: “The meat was still between their teeth, nor yet chewed, when the anger of the Lord blazed forth against the people and the Lord struck the people with a very severe plague. … [T]he people who had the craving were buried there.” The role of quail in Numbers 11 seemed to support the argument that G-d preferred vegetarianism, but the mention of quail in Exodus 16:12-13 appeared to suggest otherwise.

When I e-mailed Schwartz to ask for clarification, he replied, “The fact that the eating of quail is not mentioned in Numbers, before the Israelites cried out for flesh, and that Exodus 16:35 states that the children of Israel ate manna for 40 years, with no mention of eating quail for these 40 years, leads me to think that the initial eating of quail [in Exodus 16:12-13] was a singular event before the Israelites started eating the manna.” Schwartz also checked with a couple of rabbis, but their responses—which I do not have permission to quote from—offered varied, inconclusive reflections on the apparent contradiction.

I followed the paper trail leading from the citation Schwartz used in Judaism and Vegetarianism. Schwartz attributed his claim to “Rabbi Isaac Arama (1420-1494), author of Akedat Yitzchak” and included a footnote with three citations. First, I was unable to find an English-language copy of Rabbi Isaak Hebenstreit’s Kivrot Hata’avah. Second, a 1967 article supported Schwartz’s argument by calling the diet of the exodus a “second attempt to introduce a vegetarian diet.” However, this superficial overview—written by a reverend in a British publication called The Jewish Vegetarian—did not seem to bear much authority. Third, in Animal Life in Jewish Tradition, author Elijah Schochet noted, “Arama theorizes that G-d had hoped the Israelites, once freed from Egyptian bondage, would willingly subsist on a diet of vegetation.” Although I did not have too much information to go by yet, Schochet at least provided a direct citation to what Arama had written. When I tracked down the appropriate passage in Arama’s Akedat Yitzchak, I had my first a-ha moment:

The fact that in answer to the Jewish people’s request G-d did provide meat, but in a manner much less gracious than the way in which the Manna was supplied, leads one to believe that the supply of quail was a one time occurrence. . . .

[M]eat had not been part of their diet all along. Further proof that meat was an exceptional provision, lies in the fact that it came unaccompanied by such ordinances as the manner in which it had to be slaughtered, specific quantities per person provided, how long it could be preserved, etc., all details that were spelled out about the Manna.

I looked into the perspective of anthropologist Jean Soler, whose name had come up in another class session. Soler did not conclude that there had been an “attempt to impose a vegetarian regime on the Hebrews,” but he pointed to the diet of the exodus as “[a trace] of such an attempt or, at any rate, of such an ideal.” Soler also said that manna was “the only daily nourishment of the Hebrews during the exodus” and added that the Hebrews demanded meat twice.

I also checked in with Rabbi David Kraemer, author of Jewish Eating and Identity Through the Ages. Although Kraemer stated that he had “no opinion on how these stories fit together,” he said that both Rashi and Nachmanides interpreted Numbers 11:4 to mean that “meat was available all along.” Nachmanides stated quite clearly that “there was not enough meat for the whole people to have every day, although they did eat it many times, for some of them had herds, but [only] the important people ate it [every day], as happens in camps and places where prices are high.” While I cannot say with absolute certainty that Rashi’s commentary takes as strong a position, I respect Kraemer’s affirmation that Rashi held the same view:

Did they then, not have flesh?

Was it not already stated (Ex. 12.38),
“And also a mixed multitude went with them;
and flocks, and herds,” etc.?

If you say, “They had eaten them,”
is it not stated, when they entered into the Land (Num 32.1),
“Now the children of Reuben had a very great multitude of cattle,” etc.?
However, they (only) sought some pretext (for grumbling).

As with so many other matters in Judaism, there is no unanimity on whether manna was part of an all-vegetarian diet. I will no longer look to claim that it was, but I will still look to Richard Schwartz’s writing as the best starting-off point for discussing the role of vegetarianism in the Jewish tradition.

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud) Tagged With: beshalach, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, jewish vegan, jewish vegetarian, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, peta, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, shalomveg, Was the Diet of the Exodus Vegetarian? (Parshat Beshalach by Michael Croland)

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