Does God still protect the Jewish people?
Table for Five: Beshalach
Edited by Nina Litvak & Salvador Litvak, the Accidental Talmudist
The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people. Ex. 13:22
Rabbi Pinchas Winston, Thirtysix.org
Once upon a time, this verse only seemed to apply to the Jewish people crossing the desert after leaving Egypt. But anyone living in Israel feels its relevance once again as Israel is targeted by ballistic missiles from Yemen and elsewhere, and they are continuously shot down before reaching populated areas. The pillar of fire today might be the stream of fire leaving the anti-missile projectiles, which you can sometimes get a glimpse of as one races to blow up its target well above the ground. We call it Iron Dome, but it should have been called something like “Magen Avraham—Shield of Avraham.” Iron Dome makes it sound so technical and non-miraculous when, in fact, it is the same God protecting us with anti-ballistic projectiles as it was leading us through the desert, by a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. At the end of the day, the only difference between the two is the camouflage. There was no way to assume that it was manmade technology protecting us from the attacking Egyptian army, but it is hard to be so clear about the involvement of God today given what we have been able to produce in laboratories and factories. It makes the task of seeing the hand of God in what happens to and for us that much more difficult, and life more dangerous because of it. We’re here to connect to God. Seeing God behind everything is the way to do it.
Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz, Founder and Jerusalem Director, JewsforJudaism.org
I was overwhelmed with emotion when I received the verse the Table of Five requested that I write about. This verse spoke directly to my heart as I reflected on the journey my wife and I embarked upon a month ago. We made Aliyah, moving to Israel to establish a Jews for Judaism center in Jerusalem.
Before we left Los Angeles, people would often ask how we could move to a country fraught with terrorist attacks. Shortly after arriving in Israel, people here asked us how anyone could live in a dangerous city like Los Angeles, especially with the devastating fires that ravaged the area.
This week’s passage, which describes how God guided the Israelites through the wilderness with a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire by night, provided me with profound clarity. The passage reminds us of an important truth: the cloud by day and the fire by night were not just physical phenomena but symbols of divine protection and guidance. So too, wherever and whatever challenges we encounter, we must trust that God guides and protects us.
Clearly, we must take practical precautions and act responsibly. However, as the renowned book “Gates of Trust” teaches, recognizing that we are not in complete control and trusting in God is a source of blessing and comfort. May we experience God’s protection in a revealed way, and may the world be filled with true and lasting peace.
Rabbi Benjamin Blech, Professor of Talmud, Yeshiva University
Clouds!
What a fascinating irony: On the one hand the symbol of divine protection, the ever-present reality of G-d’s guidance and concern in the miraculous redemption of the Jewish people from the slavery of Egypt. On the other, the contemporary possibility of human suicide, the end of civilization and the tragic conclusion of history’s effort to create peace as a prelude to the original paradise intended by the Creator.
There are the clouds of this week’s Torah portion. “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night”. What a beautiful reminder of G-d’s constant presence in our lives to make possible our journey through the vicissitudes of life.
It was a lesson meant for all times. Balzac put it beautifully: “Clouds symbolize the veils that shroud G-d.” Our mission is to acknowledge their purpose. “The sky is the daily bread of the eyes” is the way Emerson said it – and it is the Torah’s reminder of ever-present divine love for us.
And yet, through our moral and ethical failures, the world – as Oppenheimer and Einstein clearly feared- the world may in fact end as a “failed heavenly experiment” with a cloud, a “mushroom cloud” of nuclear power produced by a world that abandoned God and chose the gruesomeness of war over the blessings of the garden of Eden. And the Torah reminds us that we still have a choice.
Lori Shapiro, Rabbi/Founder/Open Temple
Our ancients interplayed with Hebrew in ways that are lost to us. Like the flames of a fire, Hebrew moves. It has power.
“Lo Yamish” begins the pasuk; and yet, most favor a mid-verse translation: “did not depart.” But what if we preserved the position and offered an alternative translation: “Did not feel”? How might this famed verse of fire and clouds as shelter transform?
Perhaps as a description for our wounded city..our wounded people….our wounded world.
“It was not felt…it stood, the cloud (of smoke), for days; and it stood, the fire for nights, before the people.”
Indeed, all of us – from the Westside to Pasadena to the protestors in hostage square are unsure of how to feel as we watch the long arm of a plume of smoke snake over the city, seeming to extend from Israel to Los Angeles. Whatever we have been through, we have yet to fully process these feelings as we attempt to find meaning.
In the words of Aish Kodesh: “Each one of us worries and sighs, but finds no remedy to heal his broken heart.” If it is not in the fire nor the cloud that we will find God’s presence, but through one another, then perhaps a new translation of “Lifnei HaAm” is our true shelter: In the Face of the People. May we all see one another as a shelter through these fire storms.
Kylie Ora Lobell, Jewish Journal Community Editor
When the Israelites are in the desert, they must learn to rely on Hashem to break out of their slave mentality. One of the ways Hashem does this is by using a protective cloud that would follow them whenever they traveled. During the day, it would provide shade, and at night, it would give them light so they could see where they were going. We often forget that Hashem is with us at all times; even when it’s our darkest hour, He is still there behind the scenes. To what extent, it’s unclear, since we also have free will. I once heard a wise rabbi’s take on it: the more we believe in Hashem, the more present He will be in our lives. The more we push Him away, the more He retreats, and luck dominates our lives instead. We see in the Torah that the more the Israelites followed Hashem’s ways, the more blessed they became; if they didn’t listen to Him, there would be negative consequences. Things are not so clear now, since we don’t have that apparent closeness anymore. However, part of being a Jew is to have bitachon, to trust, that no matter what, He is there for us. Today, it’s even more powerful to believe this, since we have no real “signs” like a cloud to look to for guidance. I encourage you: Invite Hashem more into your life. Then, you will see all the incredible blessings He has bestowed upon you.
With thanks to Rabbi Pinchas Winston, Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz, Rabbi Benjamin Blech, Rabbi Lori Shapiro, and Kylie Ora Lobell
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