Published January 28, 2010
Parshat B’shalach describes how Hashem sends Bnei Yisrael on a roundabout journey, “Lest the people lament [their new found freedom], when they see war (BIROTAM MILCHMA) and return to Egypt” (Sh’mot 43:7).
Rabbi Julius Baker remarks that if this was literally true, then the Torah should better have said, “When war will befall them.” He suggests, however, that the use of the term, “seeing war”, implies that the recent slaves built up things in their imagination that were not actually extant and that they were busy conjuring up complaints and concoct- ing issues - all as a result of the fear of this newly found freedom.
For, paradoxically, when the people were in Egypt, they did not have to worry about food, water and shelter. Spoiled by the miracles in Mitzrayim, suffering from culture shock, and highly impassioned, the people now had to provide for themselves. Unable to adjust to this changing reality, their collective imagination ran wild and everyone but they, it seemed, was to blame for their misfortunes.
Three times in the wilderness the people moaned until they stood finally in front of Har Sinai - “as one man with one mind” (Rashi) - ready to receive the Torah. For only when we live our lives with faith and spiritual focus can we readily face fear and cope with life’s vicissitudes.
Shabbat Shalom, Menachem Persoff
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