Fear of Philistines

We are now standing on the threshold of a new age, the Age of Redemption, which parallels the Exodus from Egypt. We must be mindful of the threat that comes from the modern day Philistines; from those who deride and mock all attempts at our liberating ourselves from the shackles of exile. BESHALLACH BESHALLACH

The Villainous Philistines

One of the numerous and persistent villains the Jewish people faced in Biblical times were the Philistines. When the Jewish people emerged from Egypt as a free nation, G-d did not allow them to use the direct and shorter route on their way to the Promised Land. Instead, He had them take a circuitous route, to avoid subjecting the Jews to a military confrontation with the Philistines.

In the Torah’s own words:

“When Pharaoh let the people leave, G-d did not lead them along the way of the land of the Philistines, because it was near; for G-d said: `perhaps they change their minds when they would see war and return to Egypt.”

On the surface it seems that G-d had them take the longer route to avoid fighting a war.

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Upon deeper reflection, however, one has to wonder as to why the Torah follows this up with a statement that “the Jewish people went up armed out of the land of Egypt.” If they were well equipped to fight a battle, they obviously anticipated the eventuality of a battle. After all, the Egyptians might have second thoughts about letting the Jews go, and would decide to pursue them – as they eventually did. This, of course, would have necessitated a battle.

In addition, there was always the possibility, that the Jews would have to fight the many hostile tribes that inhabited the area, such as Amalek, which is, in fact, what occurred, as recounted later in this week’s Torah portion. And, of course, they certainly anticipated entering the Promised Land, where they would inevitably have to engage the indigenous population in battle. Now, if the Jews were prepared to fight, why was G-d so concerned with this particular battle?

One answer to this question, provided by Rashi, lies in the close proximity this battle would have occurred to Egypt. The danger of them wanting to return to Egypt was much stronger if the return trip was so straight and simple. G-d was not concerned with the eventuality that the Jews would have to fight. He just wanted to make sure that it would not happen so close to Egypt.

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A Lesson for the Education of Our Children

There is a lesson we can derive from G-d’s concern for the fledgling Jewish nation for the education of our children in our own times. A nation, in its formative stages, needs to have peace and tranquility for it to survive. So too a young impressionable mind should not be subjected to all sorts of spiritually hostile influences that pervade our society. When we educate our children we should be most careful to expose them only to the most pure, positive and spiritual ideas..

And while we have to equip our young with the means to fight and prevail over these negative influences that will inevitable threaten us, we should not rush to expose them to what might be harmful to their spiritual development.

Avoiding the Cynics

There is also an additional lesson to be learned from the fact that G-d wanted to prevent them from engaging the Philistines in battle. What was so terrible about the Philistines?

According to our sages, the Philistines were known for their carefree lifestyle, caring for nothing and mocking everything and everyone serious. The Philistines were thus a constant BESHALLACH source of irritation to the Jewish people whose mission in life was a G-dly one.

The greatest danger that confronts our spiritual growth – and especially the growth of our youth – comes from those who sneer at our beliefs and practices.

For this reason, the Shulchan Aruch, Code of Jewish Law begins with an admonition not to be deterred by the mockers, because that is the most formidable challenge to our commitment to all that follows in the Code of Law, especially for beginners.

When the Jews left Egypt, the one battle this fledgling nation could not handle, was the battle against this spirit of mockery and derision that characterized the Philistines.

Mocking G-d and Moshiach

As we stand on the threshold of a new age, the Age of Redemption, which parallels the Exodus from Egypt, we must also be mindful of the threat that comes from the modern day Philistines, from those who deride and mock all attempts at our liberating ourselves from the shackles of exile.

Indeed, King David (Psalm 89) predicted that before the coming of Moshiach there will be those that will mock G-d BESHALLACH and Moshiach. This is a reference to people who deride the faith that Jews have that G-d will make good on His promise and bring Moshiach who will usher in an age of total freedom, goodness and an era of G-dly enlightenment. Our task now is resist the modern day “Philistine” attitude of scorn and march joyfully towards the Redemption.

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From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Beshalach by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.