Parashat Beshalach with children

Have a great Shabbat, and don't forget to feed the birds this week (before Shabbat, of course...!) it's a tradition. 

My children enjoyed paint the birdcases and collect seeds and bread to give to the bird on Erev Shabbat 

 "Even the birds chirped and fluttered their wings when the Jewish people sang and the little children picked the buds off the sea plants and fed them to the chirping birds."

 

Long ago, in the days of the famed rabbi, the Maharal of Prague, the children of the city looked forward eagerly to Shabbat of the Torah portion of Beshalach. Even the cold European winter could not keep them home on this Shabbat.

After the story was told, the teachers, following the rabbi's instructions, gave the children buckwheat grains which they tossed to the birds and the hens below. "Just like the children fed the birds at the splitting of the sea," the children of Prague called out with delight.

Then a hush swept over the roof of the synagogue. Everyone turned toward the beloved leader of Prague. The Maharal himself had joined them, and now he blessed the children. "May you merit to bring your children to Torah, marriage, and good deeds," the Rabbi said.

This was the custom that the Maharal encouraged in ancient Prague.

Are you wondering why the rabbi insisted that the children follow this custom, and why he himself took the time to participate? The Maharal was a brilliant scholar who taught and wrote very deep explanations of the Torah.

This practice on Shabbat Shirah taught the people a great lesson, but the lesson was not about how to keep mitzvot. After all, it only recalled a story in the Midrash. The story wasn't even about people, but about birds. And the day was Shabbat, when a Jew should strive to be involved only in holiness. Still, the Maharal gave some of his precious time to the little children. The reason was that he wanted to stress to them how important it is to follow our customs and to be happy about keeping our ancient traditions.

For those interested in the custom of leaving bread for birds Erev Shabbat Beshallach, two reasons are cited:

1. In the desert, there were those who wanted to prove Moshe a liar. So, when Moshe had told the Jews to collect a double portion of manna on Erev Shabbos, because they wouldn't find manna in the desert on Shabbat itself, they left some over to give the impression that it had indeed fallen Shabbat. However, the birds beat them to it, and the next day, on Shabbat, the manna wasn't anywhere to be found, as Moshe had warned them.

2. The birds daily chirping is like shira (song) to G-d, praising Him, so we recall this in the parshah that our Shira occurs in as well.