Parshat Beshallach

The Israelites leave Egypt. God deliberately leads them on a circuitous route. They come up against the Reed Sea. Pharaoh, having changed his mind about letting them go, pursues them with horses and chariots. The people come close to despair. Then, in one of the supreme miracles of history, the sea divides. The Israelites pass through and sing a momentous song of faith and deliverance. But their troubles are not over. They lack drinkable water, and food. God sends both: oasis springs and then water from a rock, and manna from heaven. The parsha ends as it began, with the prospect of war, this time against the Amalekites.

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