Mem Moment | Packing Up The Past
Parashat Beshalach “When [Pharaoh] Sent Away” / Shabbat Shirah “Shabbat of Song”
In Parashat Beshalach, the Israelites are preparing to cross the Red Sea. This highly anticipated moment must happen in great haste. However, Moses is not only focused on getting the Israelites safely across, he is also dead set on fulfilling a long-held promise. In Bereshit (Genesis), Joseph makes the sons of Israel promise saying, “When God has taken notice of you, you shall carry up my bones from here [Egypt].” This is the moment that God is taking notice of them, and Moses is set on making good on this promise. But first he has to locate the bones! Midrash Tanchumah says that the bones were in a metal coffin at the bottom of the Nile and upon Moses’s command the coffin rose to the surface and Moses was able to bring this piece of the past with the Israelites into their new future.
This story in the book of Shemot (Exodus) emphasizes the ever-repeated lesson in Judaism to hold the past close. It’s through our history and our past that we are able to step into the future. Moses prioritizes taking a literal piece of the past with them so that they will remember the people and struggles that got them to this life changing moment. When I think about this idea on a micro scale, I think of my grandfather’s tallit and my grandmother’s Shabbat candlesticks. These things (and the stories that go with them) keep me tethered to my ancestors so that I am always thinking about the people and practices that got me to this moment of my life even as I innovate my Jewish practices and move our tradition into the future.
What objects simultaneously tether you to your past and help you shape your future? What stories do these items tell about your past? What role do you hope they play in your future?