Beshalach 5786 Let's wake up: rightfully dumbfounded, arousing ourselves from the ethical wilderness that is closing in on us.

Lost in the ethical darkness of the present moment, liberating ourselves to take action.

We are lost. We are shut in a space of darkness, lies, injustice. The sooner that we realize that we are ethically lost, the sooner we will be awakened to the need for action.

recent drawing by a 5-year old girl illegally detained (per the 2010 Flores ruling) at the Dilley Family Detention Center in Texas.

Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5 year old pre-school student detained by ICE in Minneapolis last week.

שמות י״ד:ג׳

(ג) וְאָמַ֤ר פַּרְעֹה֙ לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל נְבֻכִ֥ים הֵ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ סָגַ֥ר עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם הַמִּדְבָּֽר׃

Exodus 14:3

(3) Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, “They are astray in the land; the wilderness has closed in on them.”

(JPS translation)

Pharaoh will say of the Israelites: they are entangled/perplexed/confused in the land; the wilderness has shut them in. (my translation)

As I write these words, late in January 2026, early in Shevat 5786, each day it seems that the world is more and more entangled in a dark wilderness of injustice, cruelty, deceit, oppression. Citizens murdered by agents of the government; children detained; the rule of law disregarded by officials. Genocides that seem to be unnameable by so many.

Such a dark time.

And at this dark time, the verse I'm highlighting here speaks particularly strongly and clearly to me. I invite you to explore with me, what it means to be entangled in the wilderness; what it means when the wilderness has shut us in. And thus to be able to ask: how can we release ourselves from this dark, lost, ethically entangled state? How can we liberate ourselves to honor all life and to take action for tikkun olam, the repair and rectification of the world, notions that are so central to Judaism?

When we are in the dark, by definition we cannot really see. I explored this through the lens of the ninth plague, the plague of darkness, in my commentary last week, Bo 5786 - Night vision: What can we see in the dark? Learning from Levinas.

Let us learn from this week's Torah portion, Parashat Beshalach, to help us see more clearly at this time when we are so lost in crisis and entangled in uncertainty.

entangled in the land: the verb translated here as "entangled" נְבֻכִ֥ים - niphal, masculine plural participle:

One of the other rare occurrences of this verb in Tanakh is in the Book of Esther:

אסתר ג׳:ט״ו

(טו) הָֽרָצִ֞ים יָצְא֤וּ דְחוּפִים֙ בִּדְבַ֣ר הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וְהַדָּ֥ת נִתְּנָ֖ה בְּשׁוּשַׁ֣ן הַבִּירָ֑ה וְהַמֶּ֤לֶךְ וְהָמָן֙ יָשְׁב֣וּ לִשְׁתּ֔וֹת וְהָעִ֥יר שׁוּשָׁ֖ן נָבֽוֹכָה׃ {ס}

Esther 3:15

(15) The couriers went out posthaste on the royal mission, and the decree was proclaimed in the fortress Shushan. The king and Haman sat down to feast, but the city of Shushan was dumbfounded.

The "decree" mentioned here, that causes the city to be dumbfounded / utterly confused / perplexed, is the decree issed by King Ahasuerus and Haman that all Jews be annihilated. Of course the fellow citizens of the Jews are dumbfounded to learn that an entire group of their neighbors should be subjected to total slaughter because of the fact of their membership in an ethnic group; of course the citizenry of Shushan is shocked to learn that their king has ordered a genocide to occur.

יואל א׳:י״ח

(יח) מַה־נֶּאֶנְחָ֣ה בְהֵמָ֗ה נָבֹ֙כוּ֙עֶדְרֵ֣י בָקָ֔ר כִּ֛י אֵ֥ין מִרְעֶ֖ה לָהֶ֑ם גַּם־עֶדְרֵ֥י הַצֹּ֖אן נֶאְשָֽׁמוּ׃

Joel 1:18

(18) How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are bewildered Because they have no pasture, And the flocks of sheep are dazed.

The herds of cattle are bewildered - the same verb: נָבֹ֙כוּ֙

רש"י על יואל א׳:י״ח:א׳

(א)נָבֻכוּ. נִתְעַרְבְּלוּ וְנִסְגְּרוּ וְתָעוּ בַּיְּעָרִים וּבַמִּדְבָּרוֹת:

Rashi on Joel 1:18:1

(1)herds of cattle are perplexed—They are confounded. They are closed in and astray in the forests and in the wilderness.

Why? because their accustomed, previously dependable source of sustenance is lost; it has been decimated by a plague of locusts.

I suggest that it is correct to be dumbfounded when learning of massive injustices; indeed, we very well should be נְבֻכִ֥ים in this current moment.

What about the second part of this verse?
"the wilderness has 'closed in' upon them"...
The verb here: סָגַ֥ר. In the qal binyan it means: to shut, to close, close up, closed up, closely joined, to shut up.

Other instances of this verb in Tanakh:

ישעיהו כ״ד:י׳

(י) נִשְׁבְּרָ֖ה קִרְיַת־תֹּ֑הוּ סֻגַּ֥ר כׇּל־בַּ֖יִת מִבּֽוֹא׃

Isaiah 24:10

(10)Towns are broken, empty;
Every house is shut, none enter;

איוב י״ב:י״ד

(יד) הֵ֣ן יַ֭הֲרוֹס וְלֹ֣א יִבָּנֶ֑ה יִסְגֹּ֥ר עַל־אִ֝֗ישׁ וְלֹ֣א יִפָּתֵֽחַ׃

Job 12:14

(14)Whatever [God] tears down cannot be rebuilt; Whoever is imprisoned cannot be set free.

Do we have choices? Must we adhere to this fatalistic view? Can we release ourselves from the state of being imprisoned in an ethical wilderness?

We are at a critical moment in the history of humanity. Let us turn to verses from later in the Book of Job that illustrate this moment of crisis:

איוב כ״ו:ח׳-י׳

(ח) צֹרֵֽר־מַ֥יִם בְּעָבָ֑יו וְלֹֽא־נִבְקַ֖ע עָנָ֣ן תַּחְתָּֽם׃ (ט) מְאַחֵ֥ז פְּנֵֽי־כִסֵּ֑ה פַּרְשֵׁ֖ז עָלָ֣יו עֲנָנֽוֹ׃ (י) חֹֽק־חָ֭ג עַל־פְּנֵי־מָ֑יִם עַד־תַּכְלִ֖ית א֣וֹר עִם־חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃

Job 26:8-10

(8)The waters were wrapped up in God’s clouds;Yet no cloud burst under their weight.(9)[God] shuts off the view of the heavenly throne,Spreading a cloud over it, (10)Drawing a boundary on the surface of the waters, At the extreme where light and darkness meet.

Surely we are at an extreme moment where light and darkness are meeting.

Later in Parashat Beshalach, in the Song of the Sea, we read of an attitude of exultation at the annihilation of the Egyptians. We also have the verse:

שמות ט״ו:י״ד

(יד) שָֽׁמְע֥וּ עַמִּ֖ים יִרְגָּז֑וּן חִ֣יל אָחַ֔ז יֹשְׁבֵ֖י פְּלָֽשֶׁת׃

Exodus 15:14

(14)The peoples hear, they tremble; Agony grips the dwellers in Philistia.

I suggest that at this moment in history, we keep ourselves entangled and shut in when we exult at the suffering of others.

משלי כ״ד:י״ז

(יז) בִּנְפֹ֣ל (אויביך)[א֭וֹיִבְךָ] אַל־תִּשְׂמָ֑ח וּ֝בִכָּשְׁל֗וֹ אַל־יָגֵ֥ל לִבֶּֽךָ׃

Proverbs 24:17

(17)If your enemies fall, do not exult;If they trip, let your heart not rejoice,

In the Talmud we read in two places that in fact, God does not rejoice at the downfall "of the wicked":

סנהדרין ל״ט ב:ד׳-ה׳

וּמִי חָדֵי קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא בְּמַפַּלְתָּן שֶׁל רְשָׁעִים? הָכְתִיב: ״בְּצֵאת לִפְנֵי הֶחָלוּץ וְאֹמְרִים הוֹדוּ לַה׳ כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ״. וְאָמַר רַבִּי יוֹנָתָן: מִפְּנֵי מָה לֹא נֶאֱמַר בְּהוֹדָאָה זוֹ ״כִּי טוֹב״? לְפִי שֶׁאֵין הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא שָׂמֵחַ בְּמַפַּלְתָּן שֶׁל רְשָׁעִים. דְּאָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹנָתָן: מַאי דִּכְתִיב ״וְלֹא קָרַב זֶה אֶל זֶה כׇּל הַלָּיְלָה״? בְּאוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה בִּקְּשׁוּ מַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת לוֹמַר שִׁירָה לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא. אָמַר לָהֶן הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: מַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי טוֹבְעִין בַּיָּם וְאַתֶּם אוֹמְרִים שִׁירָה לְפָנַי?

Sanhedrin 39b:4-5

The Gemara asks: But is the Holy One, Blessed be He, gladdened by the downfall of the wicked? Isn’t it written in the verse describing the victory of the Jewish people in battle: “He appointed them that should sing unto the Lord, and praise in the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and say: Give thanks to the Lord, for His mercy endures forever” (II Chronicles 20:21). And Rabbi Yonatan says: For what reason is it not stated in this praise: “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endures forever,” as is stated elsewhere, e.g., Psalms 118:1? This is because the Holy One, Blessed be He, is not gladdened by the downfall of the wicked.The Gemara comments: As Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman says that Rabbi Yonatan says: What is the meaning of that which is written in the passage describing the splitting of the Red Sea: “And the one came not near the other all the night” (Exodus 14:20)? At that time the ministering angels desired to recite a song before the Holy One, Blessed be He. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to them: My handiwork, i.e., the Egyptians, are drowning in the sea, and you are reciting a song before Me? Apparently, God is not gladdened by the downfall of the wicked.

מגילה י׳ ב:כ״ה-כ״ו

וּמִי חָדֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בְּמַפַּלְתָּן שֶׁל רְשָׁעִים? וְהָא כְּתִיב: ״בְּצֵאת לִפְנֵי הֶחָלוּץ וְאוֹמְרִים הוֹדוּ לַה׳ כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ״, וְאָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: מִפְּנֵי מָה לֹא נֶאֱמַר ״כִּי טוֹב״ בְּהוֹדָאָה זוֹ? לְפִי שֶׁאֵין הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא שָׂמֵחַ בְּמַפַּלְתָּן שֶׁל רְשָׁעִים. וְאָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן, מַאי דִּכְתִיב: ״וְלֹא קָרַב זֶה אֶל זֶה כׇּל הַלָּיְלָה״ — בִּקְּשׁוּ מַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת לוֹמַר שִׁירָה, אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: מַעֲשֵׂה יָדַי טוֹבְעִין בַּיָּם, וְאַתֶּם אוֹמְרִים שִׁירָה?

Megillah 10b:25-26

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asked: Does the Holy One, Blessed be He, in fact rejoice over the downfall of the wicked? But it is written: “As they went out before the army, and say: Give thanks to the Lord, for His kindness endures forever” (II Chronicles 20:21), and Rabbi Yoḥanan said: For what reason were the words: “for He is good” not stated in this statement of thanksgiving, as the classic formulation is: “Give thanks to the Lord; for He is good; for His kindness endures forever” (I Chronicles 16:34)? Because the Holy One, Blessed be He, does not rejoice over the downfall of the wicked. Since this song was sung in the aftermath of a military victory, which involved the downfall of the wicked, the name of God was not mentioned for the good. And similarly, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “And the one came not near the other all the night” (Exodus 14:20)? The ministering angels wanted to sing their song, for the angels would sing songs to each other, as it states: “And they called out to each other and said” (Isaiah 6:3), but the Holy One, Blessed be He, said: The work of My hands, the Egyptians, are drowning at sea, and you wish to say songs? This indicates that God does not rejoice over the downfall of the wicked.

At this extreme moment, where light and darkness are meeting, although we may be dumbfounded and perplexed, we can arouse ourselves, we can remember the experience of being brought up from oppression and slavery. We must not tolerate being shut in, being enclosed in the wilderness. ... this is a state that requires a change.

Here it is useful to remember the precept - command - of our obligation to rebuke when we perceive injustice:

ויקרא י״ט:י״ז

(יז) לֹֽא־תִשְׂנָ֥א אֶת־אָחִ֖יךָ בִּלְבָבֶ֑ךָ הוֹכֵ֤חַ תּוֹכִ֙יחַ֙ אֶת־עֲמִיתֶ֔ךָ וְלֹא־תִשָּׂ֥א עָלָ֖יו חֵֽטְא׃

Leviticus 19:17

(17) You shall not hate your kinsfolk in your heart. Reprove/ rebuke your kindred but incur no guilt on their account.

May we value light, and life, and the Divine source that flows through all life, more than we value darkness. May we be so dumbfounded that we are aroused to release ourselves from the wilderness of ignorance and injustice and fulfill our obligations to others.

משלי ד׳:י״ח

(יח) וְאֹ֣רַח צַ֭דִּיקִים כְּא֣וֹר נֹ֑גַהּ הוֹלֵ֥ךְ וָ֝א֗וֹר עַד־נְכ֥וֹן הַיּֽוֹם׃

Proverbs 4:18

(18)The path of the righteous is like radiant sunlight, Ever brightening until noon.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/18/a-visual-guide-to-the-destruction-of-gaza

דניאל י״ב:ג׳

(ג) וְהַ֨מַּשְׂכִּלִ֔ים יַזְהִ֖רוּ כְּזֹ֣הַר הָרָקִ֑יעַ וּמַצְדִּיקֵי֙ הָֽרַבִּ֔ים כַּכּוֹכָבִ֖ים לְעוֹלָ֥ם וָעֶֽד׃ {פ}

Daniel 12:3

(3) And the knowledgeable will be radiant like the bright expanse of sky, and those who lead the many to righteousness will be like the stars forever and ever.

Rabbi Anita Josefa Barzman MD Founder, micro-mishkan.net

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