BESHALACH 1987

In the Torah portion Beshalach we learn how the Jewish people are trapped.  The Egyptian army is advancing upon them and they have no place to go.  The people complain to Moshe, and Moshe says, "G‑d will fight for you, and you be quiet BaHetem Takarishim."  Then we find immediately afterwards that G‑d says to Moshe, "Why are you crying to me?  Speak to the Bnai Yisroel – to the Children of Israel – Vayeesovu – And they will travel."  Here we see there is a contradiction.  Moshe told them to be quiet, and G‑d tells Moshe that they should travel.  They should never give up.  Let them go into the water and the water will split.  And that is, of course, what happened.  The pursuing Egyptian army is then overcome by the cascading waves as the sea returns to its original position, and the Jewish people are saved.  In the morning when the Jewish people look and see what has happened to them, they shout a wonderful, beautiful song:  the Shire.  In fact, it mentions here "Lifnos Bokair toward the morning".  This word "Bokair" is mentioned three times in the Torah by significant events.

It is mentioned a second time in this Torah portion when we learn how the Jewish people are complaining.  They had just sung this beautiful song of faith and hope and belief in G‑d when, a few days later, they are in despair because they do not have food, they do not have water, and they are very much upset.  G‑d, though, tells them not to worry, that He will send them the manna, that in the morning they will go out and pick it up.  It says, "Ba Bokair Leesboa Beeshmoa Adonai – in the morning".  We learn also the expression in the morning" when it comes to the manna.

Later on, too, when the Jewish people received the Torah it also uses the expression "in the morning".  There are three basics of Jewish existence.  The most important is song.  The Jewish people have to have a song.  They have to have a belief.  They have to think they can be a light unto the nations, that it is important to be Jewish.  That is the song the people sang on the Red Sea.  That, of course, is the song the early Zionist pioneers had in their heart.  They knew that it was important that Jews and Judaism survive.  They may not have used means that we like, but, that, of course, was their vision.  But that was not enough.  In order to have a dream you must also have the wherewithal to implement that dream.  If you do not have food and water then the dream will wither and die.  In fact, toward the end of this Torah portion the Jewish people were suffering so much they went from the highest point of faith to the lowest point of doubt, and they doubted whether G‑d even existed because they did not have food and water.  We know that it is very important that people have food and water and the wherewithal in order to continue.

That is why we should all buy Israel Bonds.  That is why we should all help Israel.  That is why we should all participate in tourism and we should all view Israel.  It is not enough to have a dream.  You must also have the wherewithal in order to implement the dream.  We have the third Bokair, which stands for structure, for Torah.  Right now there is a conflict going on in Israel as to what the structure of the State should be.  But everybody in Israel at least agrees that there is a Jewish dream, that it is important to be Jewish, that it is important that Jews be a light unto the world.  It is different in America where we are beset by assimilation, where many Jews do not know at all what they should and could be, and many of them want to just disappear.  You don't have this dream and you cannot appreciate this dream unless you are given a Jewish education.
That is why Jewish education is so important.  When Moshe told the people to stop crying and be silent, what he was talking about was to be silent from moaning and making up stories and being filled with despair.  Do something.  "Takareesh" means not only "to be silent" but "to plow", "to devise strategem", "to be a craftsman".  You want Judaism to persevere and continue, then don't just cry.  Do something about it.  That is, of course, what G‑d told Moshe, too.  He told him to tell the Jewish people "Vayeeso – and travel".  Do things.  Don't just stand there.  That, of course, is the message we all must have.  In Israel today they are definitely doing things.  They are working out their problems.  They believe the dream is real, that it is important that we all be Jews and that we remain Jewish.  The argument is only about implementing the dream.  I must say I was very impressed by my trip to Israel this time.  It was the best trip I ever had to Israel.  The confidence and positive attitude of the people was inspiring.

I am reminded of the story they tell of an American, a Pole, a Russian, and an Israeli.  They were all asked the same question by a reporter who asked them, "Excuse me, what is your opinion of the meat shortage?"  The Pole answered, "What's meat?", the Russian answered, "What's an opinion?", that American answered, "What's a shortage?", and the Israeli answered, "What's excuse me?" In Israel we Jews do not have to make excuses for ourselves.  In Israel we do not have to grovel or pretend we have to be something for the nations of the world.  We can be true to ourselves.  We can have self-respect and dignity.  We can carry out our dream.  We are not subservient to others as the Jews were in Egypt.  We can proclaim openly the Jewish dream, the Jewish differences.  We do not just have to stress similarities.  We need the wherewithal in order to do it, and we need structure.  We do need to have a State based upon Torah and law, and that is coming.  You can see it in the people, in the confidence of the people, the welding together of the people.  The dream is still alive.  We should all help to make this dream a reality.