Beshalach, Beshallach, or Beshalah (בשלח — Hebrew for “when [he] 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 in the Diaspora read it the sixteenth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in January or February. Jews also read the verses at the beginning of the parshah, Exodus 13:17–15:26, as one of the Torah readings on the seventh day of Passover. The parshah is particularly 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 Shabbo