Weekly Portion – בְּשַׁלַּח – Beshalach – When He Let Go; Exodus 13:17 – 17:16; Judges 4:4 – 5:31
In the scene with Moses, Aaron, and Hur, we recognize that victory does not arise from some kind of magic, but from human strength and human weakness. A leader who holds the direction. A body that grows weary. And a people that can only endure if they support one another.
On raised hands and human leadership
This week in the weekly portion, Moses appears for a moment as the mere “tool” through which the people achieve victory. As long as his hands are raised, Israel prevails; when they drop, Amalek gains the upper hand. One could easily fall into the error of thinking that a mystical force is at work here, as if his hands were a magical scepter. But in a deeper, practical reading, the opposite becomes clear: it is a lesson about human leadership, about the limits of the body, and about a leader’s dependence on a supportive system.
The hands do not bring victory through...
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“For as in one body we have many members, and all members have not the same action:” Romans 12:4