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Orchard of Delights Beshalach
Rashi comments that verse’s use of “on this day” teaches us that the much spiritual work still needs to be done. Teshuvah is a process not
Torah’s words should always be experienced anew as if they were a finished product, a means more than a concrete end.
just given today.
The Jewish people experience the full force of this paradigm
When contemplating the above sources, a potent underlying when Pharaoh and his army trap them on the shores of the Reed
theme emerges. By connecting to God, Torah, and mitzvot, we Sea only three days after they had left Egypt. Would they succumb
essentially plug ourselves into the very act of constant re-creation. to their doubts and misgivings? Unable to truly break free, would
This realization alone (along with its integration) should suffuse our they “return to Egypt”? Or would they forge ahead even if it meant
lives with an abiding newness. However, even more profoundly, plunging into the sea, for only by crossing the sea could they get to
this connection to God, Torah, and mitzvot promotes renewal and the other side. The decision to cross the sea represents the Jewish
rejuvenation because it provides human beings with something people doing teshuvah on their teshuvah, reaching an even deeper
they all too often lack – a purpose. The over-all lack of purpose in level of faith then when they originally left Egypt; for here they were
life is one of the greatest contributors to boredom and destructive forced to face the “ghosts from the past,” and they did not waver in
behavior. When human beings have purpose and direction in life, their determination to truly achieve freedom.
every moment is a unique opportunity to fulfill those aspirations. These events at the Reed Sea mirror in many ways our own
This then is the Jewish people’s mission in the world – to receive, act experience of freedom. Sometimes people, after much work, inner
upon, and ultimately reveal this message contained in the Torah to debate, and decision making, embark on new paths, hoping to leave
the world – so that the world continues to be worthy of existing.
their old ways behind. The first days can be exhilarating as they
breathe the new scent of freedom. Yet more often than not when the
initial thrill wears off, they look over their shoulders to see an army of
doubts trailing close behind, and looking forward again, they perceive

F Further Secrets of the Ten Commandments a daunting sea of new challenges. At this point they must choose to
Further Secrets of the Ten Commandments urther Secrets of the Ten Commandments
do teshuvah on their teshuvah, so that they can truly remain free, or
and Creation – Learning from Parallel else they will slip back into their old habits and behaviors.
Processes of Contraction
Processes of Contraction
Processes of Contraction

£Beshalach and Tu B’ShvatBeshalach and Tu B’Shvat
As mentioned in the previous section, both the Ten Commandments ££Beshalach and Tu B’Shvat
and creation were predicated on God contracting His infinite being
in order to create a finite reality and reveal His will to mankind.
A deeper understanding of the parallels between the two is arrived Every year, the weekly Torah portion of Beshalach is read in close
at by comparing the various ways in which the Midrashic and proximity to the holiday of Tu B’Shvat. There are in fact many
mystical traditions, the derash and the sod, explain how this process beautiful and deep allusions to Tu B’Shvat (literally, the Fifteenth
of contraction manifests itself. These interpretive traditions apply [day of the month] of Shevat; the New Year of the Trees) in the
the same methodologies to both the story of creation and the Ten portion. Some of these relate to the healing power of trees and, on
Commandments in order to discover how greater energies are a symbolic level, to the Torah itself and some relate to the process
condensed in the two narratives.

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