Parshat Bshalach Begins at the moment the Israelites leave Egypt at last. After generations of slavery and months of witnessing the power of G-d through the plagues, we finally step into freedom. Yet the Torah adds an unexpected twist: G-d does not lead the Israelites on the direct route to their destination. The shorter path exists, but G-d chooses a longer one. The people are not yet ready for the challenges ahead, and so their journey begins with a detour.

When the Israelites reach the edge of the Red Sea, they find themselves trapped between the water in front of them and the Egyptian army racing toward them from behind. Their newfound freedom seems to be at jeopardy. They cry out. They question. They fear they have made a terrible mistake.

bAnd in that moment of chaos, G-d offers a single instruction: “Tell the Israelites to go forward.”

Forward into what? There is no path. There is only water.

According to the Midrash, it is only when Nachshon ben Aminadav steps into the sea, walking deeper and deeper despite his uncertainty, that the waters finally part. The miracle does not appear in advance; it reveals itself through movement. The people cross safely to the other side, where the Song of the Sea bursts forth. It is the first great moment of collective Jewish praise, a moment where the people look back on what just happened and understand, perhaps for the first time, that they are being carried into a new story.

But the journey doesn’t end there. Almost immediately, doubt returns. The people face bitter water, then no water, then hunger, then confusion. Each challenge commands a response that teaches something new; and with each step, the journey shapes them. Slowly, through experience, they begin to learn what it means to live with faith rather than fear, with responsibility rather than reaction. None of these lessons are delivered in a single moment; they come as the journey unfolds.

And that- right there, is the very message of Beshalach:

The journey is not what interrupts the destination.

The journey is what prepares us for it.

We often imagine that the Promised Land is the goal and everything in between is simply the obstacle that delays arrival. But Beshalach invites us to see it differently. The people cannot receive the Torah at Sinai, cannot build a society rooted in justice, cannot enter their land, until they have been formed by the path that leads them there.

The sea teaches courage.

The desert teaches endurance.

The moments of fear teach trust.

The moments of uncertainty teach faith.

And the moments when the people must rely on one another teach community.

As we stand less than a month away from International Convention, this message lands with particular force. Because all of us, no matter where we come from, no matter our journey, are walking on our own paths toward a shared moment.

IC is not just an event we attend. It is the gathering point of five thousand individual journeys.

Just as the Israelites were transformed by every step before the sea, we are transformed by everything that leads us to this moment. And when we finally come together, thousands strong, we bring all of that with us.

Every step becomes part of something larger.

Every lesson becomes part of something lasting.

Every journey becomes part of a shared future.

Bshalach teaches that the destination gains its meaning only through the path that prepares us for it. And in the same way, IC is meaningful not just because we arrive, but because of everything that carried us there.

In the coming weeks, may we enter this moment as the Israelites did: shaped by our journeys, strengthened by our challenges, and ready for what comes next as one people, one community, and one Movement.

‍Shabbat Shalom,

Ike Diamond, Lonestar Region