Parshat BeShalach: Some Highlights for Discussion

(17) Now when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearer; for God said, “The people may have a change of heart when they see war, and return to Egypt.”

(18) So God led the people roundabout, by way of the wilderness at the Sea of Reeds (Yam Suf). Now the Israelites went up armed (chamushim lit. 50'd) out of the land of Egypt.

(19) And Moses took with him the bones of Joseph, who had exacted an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will be sure to take notice of you: then you shall carry up my bones from here with you.”

(20) They set out from Succoth, and encamped at Etham, at the edge of the wilderness.

(21) The LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud by day, to guide them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, that they might travel day and night. (22) The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

At the very end of the book of Genesis...
(24) At length, Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. God will surely take notice of you and bring you up from this land to the land that He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”

(25) So Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “When God has taken notice of you, you shall carry up my bones from here.”

(2) Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth [the mouth of freedom], between Migdol [the tower] and the sea, before Baal-zephon [the master of hiddenness / the north]; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea.

(1) Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD. They said: I will sing to the LORD, for G-d has triumphed gloriously; Horse and driver G-d has hurled into the sea.

(2) The LORD is my strength and might; He is become my deliverance. This is my God and I will enshrine Him; The God of my father, and I will exalt Him.

Ozi v'Zimrat Yah - vayehi li lYshua

...

(20) Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her in dance with timbrels.

(21) And Miriam chanted for them: Sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously; Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea.

(22) Then Moses caused Israel to set out from the Sea of Reeds. They went on into the wilderness of Shur; they traveled three days in the wilderness and found no water. (23) They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; that is why it was named Marah. (24) And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” (25) So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood; he threw it into the water and the water became sweet. There He made for them a fixed rule, and there He put them to the test. (26) He said, “If you will heed the LORD your God diligently, doing what is upright in His sight, giving ear to His commandments and keeping all His laws, then I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians, for I the LORD am your healer.” (27) And they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; and they encamped there beside the water.

(10) And as Aaron spoke to the whole Israelite community, they turned toward the wilderness, and there, in a cloud, appeared the Presence of the LORD. (11) The LORD spoke to Moses: (12) “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Speak to them and say: By evening you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; and you shall know that I the LORD am your God.” (13) In the evening quail appeared and covered the camp; in the morning there was a fall of dew about the camp.

(14) When the fall of dew lifted, there, over the surface of the wilderness, lay a fine and flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground.

(15) When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” [man hu?] —for they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “That is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat. (16) This is what the LORD has commanded: Gather as much of it as each of you requires to eat, an omer to a person for as many of you as there are; each of you shall fetch for those in his tent.” (17) The Israelites did so, some gathering much, some little. (18) But when they measured it by the omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no deficiency: they had gathered as much as they needed to eat.

(19) And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over until morning.” (20) But they paid no attention to Moses; some of them left of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and stank. And Moses was angry with them. (21) So they gathered it every morning, each as much as he needed to eat; for when the sun grew hot, it would melt.

(22) On the sixth day they gathered double the amount of food, two omers for each; and when all the chieftains of the community came and told Moses, (23) he said to them,

“This is what the LORD meant: Tomorrow is a day of rest, a holy sabbath of the LORD. Bake what you would bake and boil what you would boil; and all that is left put aside to be kept until morning.”

(24) So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered; and it did not turn foul, and there were no maggots in it.

(25) Then Moses said,

“Eat it today, for today is a sabbath of the LORD; you will not find it today on the plain. (26) Six days you shall gather it; on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none.” (27) Yet some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found nothing. (28) And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you men refuse to obey My commandments and My teachings? (29) Mark that the LORD has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you two days’ food on the sixth day. Let everyone remain where he is: let no one leave his place on the seventh day.” (30) So the people remained inactive on the seventh day.

(31) The house of Israel named it manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and it tasted like wafers in honey. ... (35) And the Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a settled land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. (36) The omer is a tenth of an ephah.