Beshalach, Beshallach, or Beshalah (בְּשַׁלַּח — Hebrew for “when let go,” the second word and first distinctive word in the parshah) is the sixteenth weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the fourth in the book of Exodus. It constitutes Exodus 13:17–17:16. Jews read it the sixteenth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in January or February.
As the parshah describes God’s deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, Jews also read part of the parshah, Exodus 13:17–15:26, as the initial Torah reading for the seventh day of Passover. And Jews also read the part of the parshah about Amalek, Exodus 17:8–16, on Purim, which commemorates the story of Esther and the Jewish people’s victory over Haman’s plan to kill the Jews, told in the book of Esther. Esther 3:1 identifies Haman as an Agagite, and thus a descendant of Amalek. Numbers 24:7 identifies the Agagites with the Amalekites. A midrash tells that between King Agag’s capture by Saul and his killing by Samuel, Agag fathered a child, from whom Haman in turn descended.
The parshah is notable for the “Song of the Sea,” which is traditionally chanted using a different melody and is written by the scribe using a distinctive brick-like pattern in the Torah scroll. The Sabbath when it is read is known as Shabbos Shirah, and some communities have various customs for this day, including feeding birds and reciting the "Song of the Sea" out loud in the regular prayer service.
Read more about Beshalach: Summary, In Classical Rabbinic Interpretation, Commandments, In The Liturgy, The Weekly Maqam, Haftarah