Parshas Beshalach: Pre-Born Babies Sing Praises to God!
Parshas Beshalach inspired great rabbis to know and declare that babies in the womb sing, that they are human, alive, sentient, and aware.
Parshas Beshalach Shemot (Exodus) 13:17-17:16 dramatizes the miracles that make Operation Freedom From Bondage successful. These supernatural events include the protective, guiding cloud and light from Heaven, the splitting of the Red Sea, the demise of the entire Egyptian fighting force, the sustenance of meat, bread and water during the trek to Mt. Sinai, and the victory over the Amalekites.
Depending on God Brings Victory in Battle
In Exodus Chapter 15, when they reach dry land after the walls of water close in to drown their pursuers, Moses, the prophetess Miriam and the Israelites sing praises and thanksgiving to God for His help. Our sages write that even the babies in their mothers’ wombs sang!
https://www.sefaria.org/Sotah.31a.2?lang=bi
and https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.50a.12?
In our Haftarah portion this week, Judges 4:4-5:31, the prophetess Deborah leads another Israeli freedom movement, this time from a 20 year oppression by the Canaanite King Jabin of Hazor. The Almighty tells Deborah to persuade General Barak of Israel to engage in battle with General Sisera of Hazor. A Jewish fighting force of ten thousand men engages with nine hundred Canaanite chariots at the Battle of Mt Tabor. After the Jewsih victory, Deborah sings songs of praise to God. The demise of the Canaanite chariot forces in the Kishon River and Deborah’s song corresponds to the downfall of the Egyptian chariot forces in the Red Sea and the Israelite’s Song.
Denying God Leads to Tribulation
Generations have passed since the miracles at the Red Sea and the Kishon River. Our collective memory of these events slumbers in our unconscious. Our need for water is supplied through modern plumbing instead of a miraculous gushing of water from a rock; our need for food is guaranteed at the grocery store rather than on a heaven sent flock of quail every evening; our bread comes from the bakery rather than the dew. Protection from our enemies comes in the form of high tech weaponry. Money, reputation, professional standing, political affiliation, and social position round out the myriad dependencies that have replaced a simple reliance on the God of our ancestors.
These dependencies turn out to be unreliable and untrustworthy. The human administrators of our state policies lack wisdom and accountability. Mismanagement of our municipal water systems and food industry results in polluted water and contaminated food. Allies and friends let us down. Money loses value. Politicians, social, and professional affiliations fail to deliver promised relief and success. As the prophet explains in Samuel 12:9, And when they forgot the Lord their God, He sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab; and they fought against them. Our current tribulations have the same cause.
A Merciful God in Heaven
For those who hesitate to follow the God who allows catastrophic losses in battle, this Torah portion includes God admonishing the angels who celebrate the Egyptian charioteers drowning in the turbulent waters. God rebukes them, “My handiwork is drowning in the sea, and you wish to sing before Me?!” Rest assured that our Creator regrets every human life destroyed, whether that destruction occurs in the defense of innocent human life or in the deliberate killing of a pre-born baby.
Once upon a time great rabbis whose minds were infused with the presence of the Almighty, knew and publicly declared that babies in the womb sing, that they are human, alive, sentient, and aware. A few outspoken rabbis and Jewish women and men today understand and voice this viewpoint. We are honored to know them. We eagerly anticipate the renewal of this knowledge and public declaration throughout modern Jewish culture and the global human family, as well. When it does, our tribulations will cease and our victories will increase.
Torah provides an everlasting reminder that HaShem exists and is ever present in our lives. We know this reality to the degree that we relinquish worldly dependencies and adopt a faithful approach based on fundamental principles of Judaism: Dependency on God, Torah based moral decision making in policy and law, respecting life, protecting the vulnerable and innocent, and speaking the truth in the face of criticism and cancel culture. While modern day slave masters manipulate and strategize to keep us dispirited and dependent, we liberate the world with our moral example and confidence in Hashem’s providence.
Please share this post on your social media to amplify our message in this troubled world. Thank you.Please share this post on your social media to amplify our message in this troubled world. Thank you.
Cecily Routman
May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and good life upon us and upon all Israel. Amen.
Cecily Routman is the founder and president of the Jewish Pro-Life Foundation. She opposes abortion homicide in general and among Jews in particular and laments secular policy making in Israel that results in loss of Jewish life and delays the messianic redemption. Cecily envisions a Torah based holy Land of Israel and a world that respects the life of every human being from conception.
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