The questions ancient Yisra’el asked after the Exodus from Mitzraim are similar to what we often ask ourselves today: Is God with us or not? Are we really free? Where are we going? How will we get our “daily bread”? Where will we find “living water”? That’s the focus of the Torah reading Beshalach (“when he sent”), covering Exodus 13:17-17:16.
What we see in this story are the actions of God, not the actions of the people. We can learn a lot about God if we just read the story carefully. In this passage, rocks play an important role and are important symbols of God at work. First was the rock Moshe sits on raising his arms during the daylong battle with Amalek. Second was the rock from which “living water” came to quench the thirst of Israel.