THEIR SOULS BURST FORTH IN SONG
“Well! The princes dug it, the nobles of the people hollowed it out, with the style of the law on their staves, and from the wilderness it was gifted again. And from the gift, a stream of Hashem, and from the stream of Hashem up to the heights.”
The Ohr Hachaim asks, why did the Jews sing this song only now, 40 years after the well first appeared? Why not sing this song when they first received it? And why didn’t they sing a similar song of praise for the manna they ate?
The answer is that this song is in fact a praise of the Torah, which is likened to water (Taanis 7a). The Torah is the “well of life-giving waters” that was first dug by the Avos and completed by Moshe Rabbeinu, who actually brought the Torah from heaven into our world.
The Slonimer Rebbe asks: Still, why did the nation wait until now to sing this praise of the Torah? The rebbe answers that this song praises the depth and breadth of the Torah, which is similar to a well in that it is deep and perpetually flowing. It took 40 years of continuous study and analysis for the nation to truly appreciate how great and all-encompassing the Torah is (see Avoda Zara 5b).
Based on the Kli Yakar, we can suggest a variation on the previous answer, that the nation sang this song only now in recognition of the great power of the Torah. The well had originally come in the merit of Miriam, who represented chessed (particularly her chessed for Moshe as a boy). The clouds of glory came in the merit of Aharon, who represented avoda (as kohen gadol). The manna came in the merit of Moshe, who had the merit of Torah. Not that Moshe lacked chessed and avoda, or that Miriam and Aharon lacked Torah, chalila. Each possessed all three, only each helped Klal Yisrael in the merit of the particular aspect of service of Hashem in which they excelled.
After Miriam and Aharon passed away, the well and the clouds of glory that each had brought, respectively, disappeared and then returned in the merit of Moshe Rabbeinu (i.e., the Torah). When the nation saw that the well and clouds returned in the merit of Torah, they realized that the Torah was the ultimate life force, upon which their entire existence depended. This realization sent them into raptures and the song of the well burst forth from their souls.
In truth, Torah is the life source for the entire universe. The Nefesh Hachaim (4:11) states that there are numerous worlds, beginning from the physical world and ascending in ever-growing spiritual order, culminating with the Torah, which is at the zenith. If for one moment Torah would cease to be studied, the universe would cease to exist. To this day, it is the Torah that gives life and blessing to all of the lower worlds.
The Torah is also what protects Klal Yisrael. The nation would relearn this lesson years later when Sancheriv came against Jerusalem with a colossal army (Sanhedrin 94b). Yishaya the prophet instructed the people to engage in Torah study, and when King Chizkiyahu heard this, he had a sword thrust into the floor of the beis medrash, and declared that whoever dared to abandon his Torah study would be killed. It was clear to the nation that the Torah was what protected it.
Once, when the State of Israel was fighting a war, a bachur learning in the Kfar Chassidim Yeshiva told the mashgiach, Rav Elya Lopian, that since his brother was on the battlefield, he had decided to go out and join him in combat (this bachur had gone through military training in the past).
Rav Lopian told him he must not leave. “The real war is here, in the study of Gemara. For you, to stop learning and go to the battlefield would be a mistake. You would be putting yourself in danger. If you leave, you may not reach the battlefield.”
My great-uncle, Rav Meir Simcha, who served as the Rav of Dvinsk, was considered the gadol hador in his lifetime. Once, he was put into a position that demonstrated how much the Torah protects us, and the entire world as well. One spring on the outskirts of Dvinsk, there was an abundance of snowmelt that caused rivers to overflow. Large chunks of ice had broken loose and were causing major damage to the city’s surrounding villages. The water level was rising and threatened to flood the large city of Dvinsk.
The presiding officer of the area summoned my uncle to a remote location outside of the city. There, he showed him the rising waters, explained to him the danger, and asked if he could do something about it.
Rav Meir Simcha agreed, and stepped up close to the edge of the river. He called out to Hashem to have mercy on the people, and then said that “the waters will not pass this point.”
From that moment, the waters began receding. Even though this was an open miracle, witnessed by some of Rav Meir Simcha’s talmidim as well the presiding officer and his entourage, Rav Meir Simcha himself made light of it. “Why all the fuss?” he asked, as he saw people turning to him as a miracle worker. “Hashem can always make waters go back.”
May we be zoche to give life to the world through Torah!
Exciting news! Rabbi Krieger will soon be publishing a sefer featuring the “best” of the weekly Parsha sheet. If you would like to share in this celebration, please go to www.bircas.org for further details.