Parashat Beshalach: The Long Short Way

Have you ever disobeyed your GPS’s instructions to make a detour only to find yourself stuck in traffic? Sometimes the shortcut actually takes longer.

This happened to Rabbi Yehoshua:

“One time I was walking along the path, and the path passed through a field, and I was walking on it. A certain young girl said to me: My Rabbi, isn’t this a field? I said to her: Isn’t it a well-trodden path? She said to me: Robbers like you have trodden it. One time I was walking along the path, and I saw a young boy sitting at the crossroads. And I said to him: On which path shall we walk in order to get to the city? He said to me: This path is short and long, and that path is long and short. I walked on the path that was short and long. When I approached the city I found that gardens and orchards surrounded it. I went back. said to him: My son, didn’t you tell me that this way is short? He said to me: And didn’t I tell you that it is also long? I kissed him on his head and said to him: Happy are you, O Israel, for you are all exceedingly wise, from your old to your young.” (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Eruvin 53b)

Short-long or long-short?

In the first encounter, Rabbi Yehoshua took a shortcut through a field. A girl challenged him – didn’t he see walking here was forbidden? He pointed to the trail. With a child’s clarity, she replied that lawbreakers like him had created this offensive path. The short way is sometimes illegitimate.

In the second scene, a boy at a crossroads offered two routes: short-long or long-short. Rabbi Yehoshua chose the short way, only to find gardens blocking the city entrance. When he returned, the boy reminded him: “I told you it was short-long.”

Although it was nearer

This Talmudic parable echoes in Parashat Beshalach: “Now when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearer; for God said, ‘The people may have a change of heart when they see war, and return to Egypt.’ So God led the people round about, by way of the wilderness at the Sea of Reeds” (Exodus 13:17-18).

What does “although it was nearer” mean? Commentators debated this phrase. Some believed it meant near to Egypt. Walking along the Egyptian border risked attack, and there would be no sea to part for escape that will then close over the Egyptians. It might also tempt people to return to Egypt – despite the slavery and mistreatment, Egypt offered food and shelter. People crave certainty and security, even in oppression.

Other commentators argued that “nearer” meant the wars would be too close together. The Israelites couldn’t cope with fighting the Philistines immediately after battling the Egyptians – and Amalek would arrive soon after. Too many wars in too short a time. The long way would spare them this trauma.

Too soon

The Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael offers the deepest interpretation: What is “nearer” is the Land of Israel itself. The way to Israel is too short. If the Israelites took the direct route, they would arrive too soon, before they were ready. They would immediately become absorbed in possessions and daily life, in fields and vineyards, neglecting the Torah. Instead, God led them through the wilderness for forty years – eating manna, drinking from the well – so the Torah could become integral to who they were.

A much longer process was needed to rid themselves of the foreign worship in which they’d been immersed. The journey wasn’t just geographical but spiritual, toward a fundamentally different kind of life. To pass from slavery to freedom, for the worlds of spirit and morality to become part of us, often requires the long-short way.

When we aspire to real greatness, when we seek accomplishment with deep value rather than the shallow illusion of success, shortcuts may destroy others’ fields and ultimately prove longer. Meaningful transformation demands the path that seems inefficient but leads somewhere truly worth going.

Lior Tal Sadeh is an educator, writer, and author of “What Is Above, What Is Below” (Carmel, 2022). He hosts the daily “Source of Inspiration” podcast, produced by Beit Avi Chai.

For more insights into Parashat Beshalach, listen to “Source of Inspiration”

Translation of most Hebrew texts sourced from Sefaria.org

Main Photo:  The Fall of Manna\ Wikipedia