The first section of today’s Sidra describes the Israelites’ journey out of the land of Egypt. They travelled from Sukkot to Etam, which was situated on the edge of the desert. The Torah tells us the route by which the Almighty decided to take them. There were three possible routes: the North Eastern route, the route through the middle of the Sinai Peninsula and the South Eastern route. The first two routes were rejected. The North-Eastern route would have taken them in the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, which was used by the Egyptian army and was patrolled regularly. The middle route would have taken them towards Be’er Sheva and the Negev, which was Philistian territory. The third, South Eastern route, was chosen because it was the safest, although it was a much longer route. The South Eastern route was circular and took the Israelites around the edges of the Peninsular. This explains the use of the verb VAYASEV, which comes from the Hebrew verbal root SVV, meaning to surround. It took them towards YAM SUF, which some commentators translate as the Stormy Sea, for SUFA is the Hebrew word for a storm. This is a most appropriate translation in light of the unique storm that took place there shortly afterwards. The Torah tells us that the Almighty chose this route because He did not want the Israelites to become involved in a war at such an early stage of their journey. He was concerned that they would want to return to Egypt, rather than fight. The Israelites had become used to being slaves, dominated by others. Indeed, later on in the journey, when they were much nearer the land, they sent 12 spies’ to investigate the land. Went 10 spies returned with a negative report, they denounced Moses and announced that they wanted to return to Egypt.
In his philosophical work, Guide For The Perplexed, Maimonides explains that the Almighty took them on a very long route because He wanted the Israelites to stay in the desert, for some time, and suffer its hardships, so that they would be happy to arrive safely at the end. If it hadn’t been for the considerable challenges of getting through the desert, they would not have been able to fight and conquer the land. A life of comfort, he says, causes human beings to lose courage, whereas little food and afflictions strengthens their resolve. This was the benefit which they gained from their affliction.
The Torah interrupts the report on the journey to tell us that Moses took Joseph’s bones with him. He took personal charge over them because, as the leader, he was responsible for the fulfilment of the solemn oath with Joseph had imposed upon his brothers, just before he died. The oath that they had taken was that they would take Joseph’s bones ‘with them’ back to the land. Torah’s emphasise is on the words ‘with them’. Joseph did not want to be taken back to Israel, immediately after his death, as his father, Jacob, had been taken. He wanted to go back with the entire nation, because, for him, it was a most appropriate closure to a great tragedy. His brothers had sold him to Egypt. The entire family followed him. Now all the tribes took back his bones. In this way, the children and grandchildren rectified the terrible crime which their fathers and grandfathers had perpetrated.
One of our commentators offers a symbolic interpretation to the sentence: Moses took Joseph’s bones. The Hebrew word for bones is ATZAMOT. It is the same word as OTZEM, which means strength and power. Moses took with him Joseph’s heroic spirit, which was his extraordinary capacity to overcome his hostile feelings towards his brothers and replace them with compassion. He repaid them with goodness in return for their evil. Moses did the same throughout his 40 years of leadership. The Israelites caused him a great deal of pain, yet he tried to help them in every way that he could.
The centrepiece of this Sidra is the Song of the Sea, which Moses and the Children of Israel sang after the Miracle of the Sea. In the synagogue, it is sung in an extremely joyful tune, whilst the entire congregation stands in respect. By standing we show that, even though almost 3000 years have passed since that unique event, we still feel a sense of overwhelming gratitude for that remarkable miracle that our forefathers experienced. To this day it is a mitzvah to thank God for miracles that happened to our parents and members of our family in previous generations. When we thank God for miracles we should be standing, as we stand during the Hallel, while we recite it during the Festivals.
The Song of the Sea is divided into three parts. In the first part, the Israelites sang God’s praises for his triumph in the war against his enemies. In the second part, they described the enemies’ defeat in greater detail and in the third part there is a vivid description of the terror that befell all the surrounding nations. The song concludes with a prayer that the Israelites should arrive and settle in the land safely and with a solemn declaration of God’s sovereignty.
The prayer for the safe arrival in the land is found in chapter 15 verse 17. It reads: “You will bring them and plant them in your own mountain,/ The place you made to dwell in, O Lord/ The sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands established./” Since this special Shabbat of Song is always on TU BISH’VAT, or during the week when it falls, it is remarkable that the verse speaks about God planting the Jewish people in the land. Tu Bish’vat is at the modern Festival of Planting. When the Jewish people dwell securely and permanently in their own land they are compared to a tree. Trees symbolise firmness, stability, longevity and prosperity. The prayer also expresses the hope that we shall never be uprooted from the land. It also serves as a hint that it is a great mitzvah to plant trees as soon as we settle in the land. Indeed, when the Jewish people began to settle the land again in the 1880’s, one of their greatest aspirations was to make the land fertile by planting as many trees as possible. They succeeded and made the land beautiful again, after almost 2000 years of complete dereliction. When the Jewish people returned to the land in modern times the majority of them became farmers and agriculturalists and planted a massive number of trees, throughout the land, with extraordinary devotion and love. This was one important aspect in their lives which enabled them to be planted again in our Holy Land.