B’shallach is extraordinary in many ways, from the layout of the Song of the Sea to the resonances of freedom that will become that clarion call, that lighthouse for all peoples who are experiencing subjugation.
The Shir, the Song is sung in alternating trop – one specific to this section of text and the other is sung in regular Torah trop. There are specific references to why these verses alternate in musical cadences – one verse using the special Shir trop references God, while regular Torah trop does not.
I also think these alternating cadences reflect the struggle we may have when we leave what we know; freedom can often hold an unmooring from the familiar that can be unsettling. These cadences reflect our own fears to struggle freely from the bonds of habit, of insecurity, of inner judgements. Push and pull, back and forth, few of us move forward in a straight line. Change is part of life.
In Bo, last week, we learned, albeit briefly, about the erev rav, the mixed multitudes who accompanied the Israelites leaving Mitzrayim, Egypt. Some rabbinic commentators saw these erev rav as the source of corruption and discord within Israel, they were a force of destruction, that enemy that encouraged the construction an idol, the Golden Calf.
The Zohar picks up on the idea of enemy but places the enemy not as an outsider, an ‘other’, but as an enemy within, naming that potential for chaos within. Tohu va’vohu: Primordial and continual, that potential we all hold for causing destruction.
These mixed multitudes evoke a question that hovers within us. Who am I? Who is that other, how do we include and welcome each other? We also hold potential that builds. We have the potential to create greater goodness, connection and order. To this end, I offer an opportunity to contribute to our beloved kehillah.
We need a shammas, someone to care for our physical space. This person would help set up tables, chairs, tablecloths, siddurim, etc. each week, preferably on Friday afternoon in preparation for Shabbat. The shammas would ensure that everything also got put back in an orderly fashion – in our cupboards in the front office, tables, chairs – all that we use. If you are interested and able, give me a call. I’m more than happy to show you what needs to be done.
With love,
Rabbi Lynn,
B’shallach
January 25, 2026 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk
B’shallach is extraordinary in many ways, from the layout of the Song of the Sea to the resonances of freedom that will become that clarion call, that lighthouse for all peoples who are experiencing subjugation.
The Shir, the Song is sung in alternating trop – one specific to this section of text and the other is sung in regular Torah trop. There are specific references to why these verses alternate in musical cadences – one verse using the special Shir trop references God, while regular Torah trop does not.
I also think these alternating cadences reflect the struggle we may have when we leave what we know; freedom can often hold an unmooring from the familiar that can be unsettling. These cadences reflect our own fears to struggle freely from the bonds of habit, of insecurity, of inner judgements. Push and pull, back and forth, few of us move forward in a straight line. Change is part of life.
In Bo, last week, we learned, albeit briefly, about the erev rav, the mixed multitudes who accompanied the Israelites leaving Mitzrayim, Egypt. Some rabbinic commentators saw these erev rav as the source of corruption and discord within Israel, they were a force of destruction, that enemy that encouraged the construction an idol, the Golden Calf.
The Zohar picks up on the idea of enemy but places the enemy not as an outsider, an ‘other’, but as an enemy within, naming that potential for chaos within. Tohu va’vohu: Primordial and continual, that potential we all hold for causing destruction.
These mixed multitudes evoke a question that hovers within us. Who am I? Who is that other, how do we include and welcome each other? We also hold potential that builds. We have the potential to create greater goodness, connection and order. To this end, I offer an opportunity to contribute to our beloved kehillah.
We need a shammas, someone to care for our physical space. This person would help set up tables, chairs, tablecloths, siddurim, etc. each week, preferably on Friday afternoon in preparation for Shabbat. The shammas would ensure that everything also got put back in an orderly fashion – in our cupboards in the front office, tables, chairs – all that we use. If you are interested and able, give me a call. I’m more than happy to show you what needs to be done.
With love,
Rabbi Lynn,