{"id":1923,"date":"2018-01-23T17:14:59","date_gmt":"2018-01-23T17:14:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/batkol.info\/?p=1923"},"modified":"2018-01-23T17:14:59","modified_gmt":"2018-01-23T17:14:59","slug":"parashat-bshallah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/2018\/01\/23\/parashat-bshallah\/","title":{"rendered":"Parashat B\u2019Shallah"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Shabbat Table Talk<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Parashat B\u2019Shallah <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 Erev Shabbat 26 January 2018<\/em><\/p>\n

Week of 21-27 January 2018<\/em><\/p>\n

Torah portion<\/em><\/strong>: Exodus 13:17-17:16 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Haftarah<\/em><\/strong>: Judges 4:4-5:31<\/em><\/p>\n

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Download<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/em>T<\/em><\/strong>his parashat, along with an accompanying legend, presents us with two different attitudes towards the path on which we all walk\u2014the path of yesterday, today and tomorrow.\u00a0 One attitude is shown by the Israelites, who are leaving Egypt and a life of slavery.\u00a0 The other is shown by Joseph, who arrived in Egypt as a slave and rose to a position of power thanks to his ability to predict the future by interpreting dreams. The Israelites complain to Moses: \u201cWas it for want of graves in Egypt that you brought us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, taking us out of Egypt? \u2026. it would have been better for us to serve Egypt than that we should die in the wilderness.\u00a0 (Ex 14:11-12) As we read in Leibowitz (245): \u201cEgypt is an eternal refrain in their mouths\u2026They yearned for Egypt as a babe for its mother\u2019s breasts\u2026. better to serve the Egyptians than to live in a strange clime\u2026They looked to the future with trepidation.\u00a0 The future was epitomized in a four-letter Hebrew word: midbar<\/em> (wilderness).\u201d For years of servitude had made the Israelites at home with a life in which today is like yesterday and tomorrow will be like today.\u00a0 The thought of tomorrow being different from today, no matter whether that difference might be better or worse, is terrifying to them\u2014the future is <\/em>wilderness. \u00a0And what they fear\u2014death in the wilderness\u2014is exactly what will come to them. (Num 26:63-65) \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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In contrast, Joseph, on his deathbed, looked to the future and said to his brothers: \u201cGod 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. So Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, \u201cWhen God has taken notice of you, you shall carry up my bones from here.\u201d (Gen 50:24-25) At the beginning of this week\u2019s parashat we read: \u201cAnd Moses took with him the bones of Joseph\u2026\u201d (Ex 13:19) The bones of Joseph are finally interred in land that his father Jacob had bought at Shechem. (Josh 24:32)\u00a0\u00a0 Joseph did not dread the future as if it were a wilderness.\u00a0 Instead, with the eyes of faith, he saw it as the domain in which God will make good on the promise.\u00a0 To Joseph the past\u2014when the promise was made, the present\u2014in which he looks forward to the fulfillment of the promise, and the future\u2014when his bones will be carried into the land that was promised, all make up a living whole.<\/p>\n

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Joseph trusted that the sons of Israel would remember what they had sworn to do. According to legend, while others were busy \u201cgathering in the treasures of the Egyptians,\u201d it was Moses who went to the royal mausoleum to retrieve Joseph\u2019s bones. But so many had been interred there over the centuries that he had no idea where Joseph was.\u00a0 His mother, Jochebed, came to his rescue and \u201cled him to the very spot.\u201d Presumably the knowledge of Joseph\u2019s burial place had been passed down the generations so that memory could make possible action in the future.) Moses then spoke to Joseph, telling him that the time of the fulfillment of the promise had come at last.\u00a0 \u00a0The future had arrived; tomorrow had become today.\u00a0 At once \u201cthe coffin stirred and rose to the surface.\u201d (Ginzberg, 346) The people fear the journey into the wilderness; the dead bones of Joseph are eager to start on their way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Bibliography<\/em><\/strong>: \u00a0Ginsburg, Legends of the Bible (<\/em>Philadelphia, 1956); Leibowitz, New Studies in Shemot (Exodus) Part 1 <\/em>(Jerusalem, 1976)<\/p>\n

For Reflection and Discussion<\/em><\/strong>: \u00a01: <\/strong>What has been your experience of clinging to the way things are and fearing the future? 2<\/strong>.\u00a0 What has been your experience of facing the future with a trust in God that overcame your fear? 3. <\/strong>Has a memory of the past ever helped you or prepared you for the future?\u00a0<\/p>\n

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This week\u2019s teaching commentary is by<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Anne Morton, BA, MA, MA (Theology). Winnipeg, Canada;<\/strong> Bat Kol Alumna 2010
Email address: <\/strong>anmorton@mymts.net<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

[Copyright \u00a9 2018]<\/strong><\/p>\n

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PLEASE NOTE<\/em><\/strong>: The weekly Parashah commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol.\u00a0\u00a0 The commentaries, along with all materials published on the Bat Kol website, are copyrighted by the writers, and are made available for personal and group study, and local church purposes. Permission needed for other purposes.\u00a0 Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.<\/em><\/p>\n

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B<\/em><\/strong>at <\/em><\/strong>K<\/em><\/strong>ol <\/em><\/strong>I<\/em><\/strong>nstitute for Jewish Studies, <\/em><\/strong>J<\/em><\/strong>erusalem<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

~~<\/em><\/strong>1983<\/em><\/strong>–2018<\/strong><\/em>~~<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cChristians Studying the Bible within its Jewish milieu, using Jewish Sources.<\/em>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Website:<\/em><\/strong> www.batkol.info<\/strong>;<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0Parashat Admin: <\/em><\/strong>gill@batkol.info<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Shabbat Table Talk Parashat B\u2019Shallah \u2013 Erev Shabbat 26 January 2018 Week of 21-27 January 2018 Torah portion: Exodus 13:17-17:16 \u00a0\u00a0Haftarah: Judges 4:4-5:31 \u00a0 Download \u00a0 \u00a0This parashat, along with an accompanying legend, presents us with two different attitudes towards the path on which we all walk\u2014the path of yesterday, today and tomorrow.\u00a0 One attitude…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":1916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1923"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}