This week we're in parashat Beshalach, in which the Israelites pass through the Sea of Reeds and begin their wandering in the wilderness. In this portion, the Israelites find themselves without water; when an anxious Moses turns to God for aid, God says something slightly cryptic about God standing before him on a rock, and instructs Moses to strike the rock in order to make water flow.

That moment sparked this week's d'var at Radical Torah:

There's a reciprocity here. One only gets as much out of an experience as one's able to put into it. In this case, the Israelites only get water from the rock when they're both willing and able to take action to generate that water. When we stand before God fully present, then God in turn stands fully present before us...which means that when Moses taps the rock with his staff, God is already awakened to the Israelites' presence and their need, and in response God causes shefa, divine abundance, to flow forth.

Read the whole thing here: Water from the rock.

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