(יז) וַיְהִ֗י בְּשַׁלַּ֣ח פַּרְעֹה֮ אֶת־הָעָם֒ וְלֹא־נָחָ֣ם אֱלֹהִ֗ים דֶּ֚רֶךְ אֶ֣רֶץ פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים כִּ֥י קָר֖וֹב ה֑וּא כִּ֣י ׀ אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֗ים פֶּֽן־יִנָּחֵ֥ם הָעָ֛ם בִּרְאֹתָ֥ם מִלְחָמָ֖ה וְשָׁ֥בוּ מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃ (יח) וַיַּסֵּ֨ב אֱלֹהִ֧ים ׀ אֶת־הָעָ֛ם דֶּ֥רֶךְ הַמִּדְבָּ֖ר יַם־ס֑וּף וַחֲמֻשִׁ֛ים עָל֥וּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃
(17) Now when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was near; for God said, ‘The people may have a change of heart when they see war and return to Egypt.’ (18) So God led the people roundabout, by way of the wilderness at the Sea of Reeds. And the Israelites went up armed out of the land of Egypt.
The Midrash Sekhel Tov explains both the phrase "although it was near" and the reason why God diverted the people onto a roundabout route:
(ג) וכן כי קרוב הוא, וכיצד הי' קרוב למצרים, שהרי עזה היא סמוכה לגושן, וגת סמוכה לעזה שהרי פלשת וכפתור בני בניו של מצרים הזקן היו, והיתה נחלתם בין אחיהם בני מצרים, ובין בני כנען, וזה דרך שהי' קרוב וישר לצאת מגושן וללכת דרך עזה וגת ומשם ליכנס לארץ כנען, שכולן סמוכות וקרובות, ומפני מה לא ניהגם כך:
(ד) כי אמר אלהים. למשה:
(ה) פן ינחם העם. שיצא מיד עבודה קשה ועכשיו יצאו לקראתם בני פלשת שהן מלומדי מלחמה להלחם אתם, כדרך שעשו עם בני אפרים שמנו לקץ וטעו שלשים שנה ויצאו שלא ברשות והרגום בני פלשת, שנא' (בני) [ובני] אפרים שותלח (בנו בכר) [וברד] בנו וגו' (דה"א ז כ), וכתיב והרגום אנשי גת הנולדים בארץ כי ירדו לקחת [את] מקניהם (שם שם כא), וכתיב בני אפרים נושקי רומי קשת הפכו ביום קרב (תהלים עח ט), מפני מה, מפני שלא שמרו ברית יהוה ובתורתו מאנו ללכת (שם שם י), עברו על הקץ שנגזר בין הבתרים, עברו על השבועה, דכתיב וישבע יוסף את בני ישראל לאמר (בראשית נ כה), ועכשיו יראו ישראל מלחמה שקשה עליהם, ויראו עצמות יוסף אחיהם מושלכין בפלשת ושבו מצרימה, ו' שבראש התיבה ושבו משמעתה לשון עתיד:
(3) "How was it near to Egypt? Gaza is adjacent to Goshen, and Gath is near Gaza, for Philistia and Caphtor were the descendants of old Egypt, and their inheritance lay between their Egyptian brothers and the Canaanites. Thus, the straight and near route would have been to leave Goshen, pass through Gaza and Gath, and enter the Land of Canaan, as they are all close together.
(4) But why did God not lead them this way? Because God said to Moses:
(5) ‘Lest the people reconsider.’ They had just left harsh labor, and now the Philistines, who were skilled in warfare, would come to fight them—just as they had done to the descendants of Ephraim, who miscalculated the time of redemption and left Egypt thirty years early without divine permission, only to be slain by the Philistines."
(Here, the lesser-known story of the tribe of Ephraim is mentioned—they left Egypt thirty years before the rest due to a miscalculation, and the Philistines—Palestinians?—killed them.)
This week’s Haftarah, the Song of Deborah, was chosen, of course, due to its parallel to the Song of the Sea in our parasha (both of which, in the past, we had to memorize in school, even in the secular system!). But it also speaks of detours and winding paths as a symbol of times of disorder:
(ו) בִּימֵ֞י שַׁמְגַּ֤ר בֶּן־עֲנָת֙ בִּימֵ֣י יָעֵ֔ל חָֽדְל֖וּ אֳרָח֑וֹת וְהֹלְכֵ֣י נְתִיב֔וֹת יֵלְכ֕וּ אֳרָח֖וֹת עֲקַלְקַלּֽוֹת׃
(6) In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, In the days of Jael, caravans ceased, and travelers took to winding paths
.
In these historic times, we are witnessing the cost of roundabout and winding paths—of the fear to walk directly toward what is right. We all knew, even 480 days ago, that we would have to release arch-terrorists to bring our captives home. We knew this on the second day, on the terrible 8th of October, when we demanded a full prisoner exchange. But the State of Israel and its leadership have become addicted to detours, to procrastination, to avoiding problems instead of confronting them, to wavering between options, to endless temporary regulations instead of real laws. Or, as Ephraim Kishon—whose 20th yahrzeit we marked last week—once wrote long ago:
"The true prattachi (a term for an Israeli who makes do with makeshift solutions) loves fresh paint. If something is dirty, he paints over it. If it’s rusty, another coat. For repairs requiring welding, he uses office glue. Instead of screws, he uses Scotch tape. If he does use screws, then just one, maybe two—it's enough."
Yet later in Parashat Beshalach, we find the Egyptians chasing after the Israelites, with the Sea of Reeds ahead of them. This time, there are no detours or winding paths—there is only one option: move straight ahead, forward, in the right direction, toward the right action. And this is exactly what God tells Moses:
(טו) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יהוה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה מַה־תִּצְעַ֖ק אֵלָ֑י דַּבֵּ֥ר אֶל־בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל וְיִסָּֽעוּ׃ (טז) וְאַתָּ֞ה הָרֵ֣ם אֶֽת־מַטְּךָ֗ וּנְטֵ֧ה אֶת־יָדְךָ֛ עַל־הַיָּ֖ם וּבְקָעֵ֑הוּ וְיָבֹ֧אוּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל בְּת֥וֹךְ הַיָּ֖ם בַּיַּבָּשָֽׁה׃
(15) Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward.
(16) And you, lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and split it, so that the Israelites may march into the sea on dry ground.’
At the end of the road, like the Promised Land, awaits a political settlement. Once, we dared to call it peace. Right now, the agenda includes finalizing the ceasefire agreements and bringing back the hostages. But the country's leadership is searching for detours and winding paths to avoid completing them. At times, it seems as if we have become the people of “Lest they reconsider when they see peace.”
In this struggle, as in others for long-term solutions, we must demand of ourselves and our leaders the courage to walk straight toward what is right:
"Tell the Israelites to go forward!"
Enough of Winding Paths.
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Rabbi Amnon Ribak is ordained as both a Reform and Israeli rabbi. He serves as the rabbi of the Ma'alot Tivon community and in Kfar Tikva, a village for people with special needs. He is a poet, a dedicated social justice and interfaith harmony volunteer, and a promoter of Jewish-Israeli culture. Amnon is married to Tirza, a father of three, and a proud grandfather of two granddaughters.