Go Back For the Bones, Moses

Leann Shamash
5 hours ago
4 min read

Updated: 19 minutes ago

#bshalach #parshatbshalach #beshallach #beshalach #gobackforthebones #rangvili #israel #sefershemot #moshe #moses

Hello Friends,

Parshat Beshalach comes to reward us with music in the middle of the winter in our hemisphere. The Exodus from Egypt comes to a towering pinnacle with the crossing of the sea, the drownings of the Egyptian soldiers and the subsequent songs of victory on the other side of the sea. Within one parsha exists both joy and sorrow, anxiety and exuberance.

The drama of Parshat Beshalach is so great that it is easy to miss this line:

וַיִּקַּ֥ח מֹשֶׁ֛ה אֶת־עַצְמ֥וֹת יוֹסֵ֖ף עִמּ֑וֹ כִּי֩ הַשְׁבֵּ֨עַ הִשְׁבִּ֜יעַ אֶת־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר פָּקֹ֨ד יִפְקֹ֤ד אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶתְכֶ֔ם וְהַעֲלִיתֶ֧ם אֶת־עַצְמֹתַ֛י מִזֶּ֖ה אִתְּכֶֽם׃

And Moses took with him the bones of Joseph, who had exacted an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will be sure to take notice of you: then you shall carry up my bones from here with you.”

Exodus 13:9

Use your imaginations to imagine the tumult of the preparations to cross the sea? The anxiety mixed with excitement? It is in the midst of this that Moses fulfills the promise to retrieve the bones of Joseph. We can ask ourselves the most basic of questions. How did this happen? What were the logistics? What did it entail for Moshe to undertake this task?

How would he find these bones? Answers are found in the Midrash.

Rabbi Alan Flam reviews a Midrash in a Dvar Torah.

"The midrash (Mechilta) teaches that Moses searched in vain for the coffin of Joseph for three days and nights. Finally, he consulted with Serach, the daughter of Asher, the niece of Joseph, a survivor of that generation, who told Moses where Joseph was buried.

She took Moses to the banks of the Nile, and she told him that the Egyptians had sunk Joseph’s lead coffin in the Nile so that its waters would be blessed. Moses stood on the banks of the river and cried out to the waters: “Joseph, Joseph, the time has come Joseph. The time has come to redeem the oath that you extracted from your brothers. It’s time to go home.”

With those words, the coffin floated to the surface, and Moses placed it on his shoulders and walked off into the wilderness."

And so, Moses went back and retrieved the bones.

Yesterday the Israeli army finally located the last body that remained in Gaza.

Tirelessly they have searched to bring those bones home. They did not give up.

At last today, January 27, 2026, or the 9th of Shvat, 5786, the last of the bones were retrieved. Not forgotten. The clock marking the beginning of the war was stopped at 843 days, 12 hours and 6 minutes as the last of those left in Gaza.

Ran Gvila has returned home.

And so, we see the connection between Beshalach and this very day. We often remember this parsha when we celebrate Pesach, but there is also a especially relevant lesson for us this week on the importance of keeping a promise, fulfilling a vow and not forgetting those who are gone.

Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom.

Leann

Go Back For The Bones, Moses

Go back for the bones, Moses,

as the pressure of the moment swiftly rises,

and you have an endless list of things to prepare.

How do you separate from

The Chaos swirling about you,

thrumming with an incessant hum of voices.

People reach for you,

cry out your name over and over.

How can one person answer so many questions?

Center yourself

for a moment

before the journey begins,

before you enter into the sea

and onto the other side.

Joseph's bones await you.

Go back for the bones, Moses.

Before you depart

and lead these people,

scarred and scared;

how could you not go back

For the bones?

It would be so easy to just forget them,

leave them quietly behind,

with Pharaoh still undecided

and the people wavering,

perhaps it go unnoticed,

but how could you forget Joseph?

After all this time he is not an afterthought

nor an added burden to be carried.

Search.

Find the bones of Joseph.

The History Maker,

The Ultimate Dreamer;

a link in the chain between

past and future.

Sneak away and Serach bat Asher will guide your path

as you swerve through knots of people,

around braying animals,

past crying children,

trying not to see trepidation in their eyes,

Go out and search the reeds;

the deep Nile.

Go back for the bones, Moses,

for you will not set foot in this place again.

Complete one story and begin another.

You do this for yourself,

for a promise made is a promise kept.

You do this for the generations,

so they will remember where their story.

You will reach out,

carry those bones with honor

for your shared history,

and a shared destiny.

Go back for the bones, Moses

perhaps Joseph wanted nothing more

than

go home.

Go Back For the Bones, Moses

Go Back For The Bones, Moses

Other Posts From Words Have Wings On Parshat Be'Shalach

Recent Posts

Comments