page_title: Beshalach
section_title: Exodus chapter 15
hierarchical_section_title: Beshalach / In classical rabbinic interpretation / Exodus chapter 15
caption_attribution_description: English: The Songs of Joy, c. 1896-1902, by James Jacques Joseph Tissot (French, 1836-1902), gouache on board, 7 7/8 x 10 1/2 in. (20.1 x 26.7 cm), at the Jewish Museum, New York
context_page_description: Beshalach, Beshallach, or Beshalah is the sixteenth weekly Torah portion 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 changes his mind and chases after the Israelite people with his army, trapping them at the Sea of Reeds. God commands Moses to split the sea, allowing them to pass, then closes the sea back upon the Egyptian army. There are the miracles of manna and clean water. The nation of Amalek attacks and the Israelite people are victorious.
  The parashah is made up of 6,423 Hebrew letters, 1,681 Hebrew words, 116 verses, and 216 lines in a Torah Scroll.
  Jews read it the sixteenth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, in January or February. 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.
context_section_description: Rabbis in the Talmud gave differing explanations of how, as Exodus 15:1 reports, the Israelites sang the song of Exodus 15:1–19 along with Moses. Rabbi Akiva taught that Moses sang the entire song, and the Israelites respond after him with the leading word, as where an adult read the Hallel (Psalms 113–118) for a congregation and they responded after him with the leading word (or some say, with "Hallelujah"). According to this explanation, Moses sang, "I will sing to the Lord," and the Israelites responded, "I will sing to the Lord"; then Moses sang, "For He has triumphed gloriously," and the Israelites once again responded, "I will sing to the Lord." Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Jose the Galilean taught that Moses sang the entire song, one verse at a time, and the Israelites respond after him by repeating the entire song, one verse at a time, as where a minor read the Hallel for a congregation and they repeated after the minor all that minor had said. According to this explanation, Moses sang, "I will sing to the Lord," and the Israelites responded, "I will sing to the Lord"; then Moses sang, "For He has triumphed gloriously," and the Israelites responded, "For He has triumphed gloriously." Rabbi Nehemiah taught that Moses sang the opening, the Israelites repeated the opening, and then Moses and the Israelites recited the balance together, as where a school-teacher recited the Shema in the Synagogue. The Gemara explained that each of the three interpreted Exodus 15:1: Rabbi Akiva held that the word "saying" in Exodus 15:1 refers to the first clause, "I will sing to the Lord," and that was the Israelites' only response. Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Jose the Galilean held that "saying" refers to every clause of the song. And Rabbi Nehemiah held that "and spoke" indicates that they all sang together, and "saying" indicates that Moses began first.
  The Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael counted 10 songs in the Tanakh: (1) the one that the Israelites recited at the first Passover in Egypt, as Isaiah 30:29 says, "You shall have a song as in the night when a feast is hallowed"; (2) the Song of the Sea in Exodus 15; (3) the one that the Israelites sang at the well in the wilderness, as Numbers 21:17 reports, "Then sang Israel this song: 'Spring up, O well'"; (4) the one that Moses spoke in his last days, as Deuteronomy 31:30 reports, "Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song"; (5) the one that Joshua recited, as Joshua 10:12 reports, "Then spoke Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites"; (6) the one that Deborah and Barak sang, as Judges 5:1 reports, "Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam"; (7) the one that David spoke, as 2 Samuel 22:1 reports, "David spoke to the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul"; (8) the one that Solomon recited, as Psalm 30:1 reports, "a song at the Dedication of the House of David"; (9) the one that Jehoshaphat recited, as 2 Chronicles 20:21 reports: "when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed them that should sing to the Lord, and praise in the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and say, 'Give thanks to the Lord, for His mercy endures forever'"; and (10) the song that will be sung in the time to come, as Isaiah 42:10 says, "Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise from the end of the earth," and Psalm 149:1 says, "Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise in the assembly of the saints."
  Ben Avvai said that everything is judged according to the principle of measure for measure; just as the Egyptians were proud, and cast the male children into the river, so God cast the Egyptians into the sea, as Exodus 15:1 says, "I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed triumphantly; the horse and his rider has he thrown into the sea." (Ben Avvai read the double expression of "triumphing" in Exodus 15:1 to imply that just as the Egyptians triumphed over the Israelites by casting their children into the sea, so God triumphed o
caption: The Songs of Joy (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot)
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