By Marco Del Monte
There are many subjects in the weekly parashah: the Exodus from Egypt; the crossing of the Red Sea; the bitter waters of Marah; the manna; Shabbat; and the cowardly attack by Amalek. The names of the parashot contain their meaning.
We have another Parashah with a name similar to Beshallach, and that is Shelach; the initial letter Bet means inside, within, as if to say: compare this parashah with the text contained in the (Be-ב) parashah of Shelach (שלח). In the Parashah of Shelach, the main topic is that of the spies of the Promised Land and the description of the giants: "We seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we must have seemed to them" (Num 13:33). Shelach also speaks of Amalek; Shabbat is also discussed in this context. Let us now try to outline a line of interpretation that creates a logical thread between all the elements described above. Both in the crossing of the Red Sea and when facing the Nephilim-Giants, one is confronted with a very important, frightening, debilitating obstacle: sometimes one may think oneself so small as to be unable to overcome it. In these circumstances, it is we who construct our image of probable powerlessness: if in our eyes we evaluate ourselves as small, like grasshoppers, we will certainly also appear as such on the outside in the eyes of others. Our self-perception, both for better and for worse, is manifested and recognised externally as well. It is within ourselves that the uncertainty of whether we will make it or not creeps in; it is no coincidence that Amalek corresponds to the numerical value of the word Doubt-Safek. Thus, Amalek's attack on the weakest part of the people is the insinuation of doubt that strikes at our weaknesses. Amalek's attack occurs when the people say: "Is the Eternal One among us or not?" Rabbi Nachman tells us in his book "The Empty Chair" that "No obstacle is given to you that you are not able to overcome," so the greater the obstacle, the greater your potential. Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, known as the Ari Hakadosh, explains that what comes easily to you in this world is the purpose for which you came; what you find difficult is your Tikun, that is, what you came to repair and correct. In these days we have just held the seder of Tu Bishvat, where we drank, as on Pesach, 4 cups of wine, in this context, from white to red, to express the transition from the rigid, white winter to the blossoming of the first colourful flowers, like red wine; this represents that potential which was inside the bark and managed to overcome that obstacle, that limit, that narrowness which in Hebrew is written Meitzarim, exactly like the word Mitzrayim-Egypt. The element that allows us to destroy every physical and mental barrier is Emunah, Trust, and above all our action. In Chassidut and Kabbalah there are two concepts: "Itaruta de-letata" and "Itaruta de-leyla", that is, the awakening from below and the awakening from Above: when we initiate an action in this world (Itaruta de-letata), however difficult, let us realise that if it is performed in the name of Heaven, then all spiritual forces from Above will come to our aid (Itaruta de-leyla).
Just as the manna that descended day by day had in any case to be gathered, just as Nachshon ben Aminadav of the tribe of Judah threw himself into the sea almost until he drowned and only then did the sea split, so too we must be enterprising, even in the most difficult situations, with the certainty that help from Heaven will then arrive. Shabbat, the day on which one must not work, requires a massive dose of Emunah in the certainty that Kadosh Baruch Hu will compensate for the apparently lost earnings; when water is not found because what is there is bitter (Ex 15:23), when in front of us there is a Sea or Giants, the key is Emunah, faith, the trust that "The Eternal One is within us", we just need to realise it. This is why when Moses, in front of the sea, asks Hashem what to do, Hashem answers him: "Ma Tizak Elai, Daber el Bene Israel Veissau" "Why do you cry out to me, speak to the people of Israel and let them start to walk".
With the wish that each of us may learn throughout his life...to walk!
Shabbat Shalom Umevorach
Translated from the Italian with Google Gemini. The Italian text is the original.