Beshalach

Not to be confused with Vayishlach.
Pharaoh's Army Engulfed by the Red Sea (1900 painting by Frederick Arthur Bridgman)

Beshalach, Beshallach, or Beshalah (בְּשַׁלַּח‎—Hebrew for "when [he] let go" (literally: "in (having) sent"), the second word and first distinctive word in the parashah) is the sixteenth weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה‎, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the fourth in the Book of Exodus. It constitutes Exodus 13:17–17:16. In this parashah, Pharaoh changed his mind and chased after the Israelites, trapping them at the Sea of Reeds. God commanded Moses to split the sea, allowing the Israelites to escape, then closed the sea back upon the Egyptian army. The Israelites also experience the miracles of manna and clean water. And the Amalekites attacked, but the Israelites were victorious.

The parashah is made up of 6,423 Hebrew letters, 1,681 Hebrew words, 116 verses, and 216 lines in a Torah Scroll (Sefer Torah).[1]

Jews read it the sixteenth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, in January or February.[2] As the parashah describes God's deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, Jews also read part of the parashah, Exodus 13:17–15:26, as the initial Torah reading for the seventh day of Passover. And Jews also read the part of the parashah about Amalek, Exodus 17:8–16, on Purim, which commemorates the story of Esther and the Jewish people's victory over Haman's plan to kill the Jews, told in the book of Esther.[3] Esther 3:1 identifies Haman as an Agagite, and thus a descendant of Amalek. Numbers 24:7 identifies the Agagites with the Amalekites. A Midrash tells that between King Agag's capture by Saul and his killing by Samuel, Agag fathered a child, from whom Haman in turn descended.[4]

The parashah is notable for the Song of the Sea, which is traditionally chanted using a different melody and is written by the scribe using a distinctive brick-like pattern in the Torah scroll. The Sabbath when it is read is known as Shabbat Shirah, as the Song of the Sea is sometimes known as the Shirah (song). Some communities' customs for this day include feeding birds and reciting the Song of the Sea out loud in the regular prayer service.

  1. ^ "Torah Stats for Shemoth". Aklah, Inc. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
  2. ^ Fred Reiss, The Standard Guide to the Jewish and Civil Calendars: A Parallel Jewish and Civil Calendar from 1899 to 2050 with Parashiyyot and Haftarot and Candle-Lighting Times for Selected Cities (West Orange, New Jersey: Behrman House, 1986); “Parashat Beshalach,” Hebcal.
  3. ^ Esther 1:1–10:3.
  4. ^ Seder Eliyahu Rabbah, chapter 20. Targum Sheni to Esther 4:13.