Last Days of Pesach 5631 Second Ma'amar

On the seventh day of Pesach the nation of Israel crossed the Red Sea and sang Shiras HaYam/The Song of the Sea. The Shirah starts with, “אשירה לה' כי גאֹה גאה/I will sing to God for He is most exalted.” The double wording “גאֹה גאה/He is most exalted” implies that He is the epitome of exaltedness, of greatness. To say that the difference between God’s exaltedness and that of others is simply a matter of degree is difficult. Instead, the Sfas Emes explains that the double wording teaches us something about the relationship of the greatness of others to God. It implies that the greatness of all others are only for His glory whereas God’s glory is inherent. It has no ulterior reason. How so?

We find in Mishlei, “לפני שבר גאון/Pride precedes destruction.” The greatness of the wicked glorifies God in their destruction. The greater they are, the greater God’s honor when they are destroyed. The greatness of the righteous glorifies God as well when the righteous even in greatness subordinates himself to God and recognizes His benevolence. The greater the righteous the more he glorifies God when he acknowledges God’s kindnesses. We see that the greatness of others is for the glory of God.

According to this we can understand why we find in the Shirah, “אמר אויב ארדוף אשיג .../The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will reach …” Why is this part of the Shirah? Do we care to know the intentions of the enemy? Is not the purpose of the Shirah to sing praises to God for having saved us? The Sfas Emes explains that this is exactly the reason that the enemy’s intentions are mentioned. The more impertinent the enemy the greater God’s glory when he is destroyed. The enemy’s intentions are followed directly with God’s action to destroy him, “נשפת ברוחך כסמו ים .../You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them …” The enemy’s impudence helped cause his own destruction.

Beshalach 5631 First Ma'amar

God’s providence on every aspect of Creation became known and revealed to all when He split the Red Sea to save us and destroy the Egyptians. We know this from the following Midrash. The Midrash states on the pasuk, “נכון כסאך מאז מעולם אתה/Your throne is established from then; You are eternal,” that even though You are eternal, Your throne became established only at the time of אז/Then (an allusion to Shiras HaYam/The Song of the Sea which begins with the word אז/Then.) The Midrash explains that God’s throne becoming established means that His providence became known in the world.

When the children of Israel realized that everything, including their very actions and the actions of every creature, is enabled because of the Godliness within, they sang. So, the song that the children of Israel sang was not so much a thank you to God for having saved them. Rather it was a spontaneous outburst of praise upon the realization that God is in everything. The Midrash, in fact, states this explicitly, “As soon as they came to the sea and saw God’s strength, how He punishes the wicked and immersed the Egyptians in the sea, ‘'ויאמינו בה/They believed in God.’ In the merit of this belief, Ru'ach HaKodesh/the holy spirit rested upon them and they sang.” Clearly, the key to their singing was their belief in God’s providence.

For this reason the introduction to Shiras HaYam is in the future tense, “אז ישיר/Then they will sing,” rather than the past tense, “אז שר/Then they sang.” The song is not thanks for a one time event. Rather it is an ongoing praise of God’s direct providence in the world. This is why the first pasuk of Shiras HaYam refers to השירה הזאת/this song, an allusion to a specific already known praise that rises from each part of the Creation.

When we praise God, indicating our belief that God is the force that gives everything its existence, we influence all His creatures to sing. How does a creation sing? To understand this we need to define song. Song is the physical expression of a spiritual essence within. Each creation is unique, has a unique task, a unique spiritual essence and therefore sings its own unique song to the Creator. This is the meaning of Perek Shira/The Chapter of Song which comprises the songs that each creature sings to glorify God. When we are aware of God in the Creation, when we sing God’s praises, the Creation can be said to be singing, as well. We know this from the pasuk "כל פעל ה' למענהו .../God created everything for His praise.

Chazal inform us that King Chizkiyahu did not sing (praise to God.) This is why he did not become the Mashiach. The Chiddushei HaRim explains that Chizkiyahu did not sing because God’s Providence was so clear to him that he was not moved by miracles. Chizkiyahu saw clearly the miracle of God’s life force in nature. To Chizkiyahu there was absolutely no difference between natural and supernatural phenomena. As we’ve said, singing to God is an outburst of praise stemming from the realization that God’s Providence is behind all. To Chizkiyahu this was so obvious that he was not moved to sing praises to God about it.
For us, though, singing God’s praise is a result of that special “aha!” that happens when we realize that God is the source Who gives life to every thing, creature and action in this world enabling us and the entire creation to come close to Him.