Parashat Beshalach

In this week’s parashah, B’Shalach, the Israelites cross the sea and burst into song. And in that song—Shirat HaYam—we get something new. For the first time in the Torah, God is called Melech, King:
“Adonai yimloch l’olam va’ed—God will reign forever.”

What’s interesting is that nothing changed about God in that moment. What changed was the people. They had just survived something overwhelming. They had just crossed from fear into freedom. And they needed language that made sense of that experience.

Calling God “King” wasn’t a theological statement as much as it was a human one. It was their way of naming the force they felt had carried them through—whether that force was power, justice, protection, hope, or something they didn’t yet have words for.

And here’s why this matters for us.

Not everyone here believes in God. Some of us do. Some of us aren’t sure. Some of us don’t—but still show up for Shabbat, for community, for values, for food. And Judaism actually has room for all of that.

Because even if you don’t believe in God as a being, B’Shalach still asks a real question:
What do you call the things that guide you when life shifts?
Freedom. Resilience. Community. Moral courage. History. Love. Responsibility.

The Israelites sang because they needed language for transformation. We still do that today. We just use different words.

So maybe the invitation of this parashah isn’t to agree on what we believe about God—but to recognize that Judaism trusts us to name what gives our lives meaning, and to let that name evolve as we do.

As we enter Shabbat, a time to pause and reflect, the question isn’t “Do you believe?”
It’s: What carries you—and what do you call it?

Judaism doesn’t ask us all to use the same name—it asks us to be honest about what gives our lives meaning.

Shabbat shalom.