Shira and Emunah

by Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

Seven days after the Jews left Egypt, Hashem performed the miracle of the splitting of the Yam Suf. When the Jews experienced this, they spontaneously sang shira (an inspired song of praise). In commemoration of this great miracle, we read this Shiras HaYam on the anniversary of the occurrence, Shevi’i Shel Pesach.

The Midrash (Shemos Rabba 23:4) tells us that Hashem declared, “I created Adam, but he did not say shira; I saved Avraham from the fiery furnace, but he did not say shira; I saved Yitzchak from the knife [at the Akeida], but he did not say shira; I saved Yaakov from the Angel, from Esav and the people of Shechem, but he did not say shira … Only on [the shore of] the Yam Suf did the Jews say shira. This is what I was waiting for.”

What was so important about singing shira, that Hashem was anticipating it? Indeed, if it was so important, why did the Avos not sing shira?

We must first understand what shira is: an expression of complete emunah (faith) and deveikus (connection) to Hashem. When the nation clearly recognized that Hashem controls everything and is the only power in the world, they felt an excitement and desire to come closer to Him. Thus, they expressed their emunah in shira.

Of course, the Jews in Egypt believed in Hashem before the splitting of the sea – they witnessed the Ten Plagues, after all. However, the Ten Plagues took place in Egypt, and despite them, Egypt still seemed quite powerful. Indeed, though Hashem destroyed all of the Egyptian deities, He left Baal Tzefon standing (see Rashi, Shemos 14:12 for the reason for this). Moreover, even after the last plague, Pharaoh was capable of mobilizing a large army with the most sophisticated weapons of their time. When the Jews saw this army advancing after them, they were very afraid. They did not yet feel that Hashem was the only power in the universe. The Jews were able to see the guardian angel of Egypt looming over the army and heading toward them (ibid. 10). There still seemed to be other powers in the world.

After the Splitting of the Yam Suf, all of these seeming powers were either dead or shown to be worthless. The Egyptian army drowned to the last man. Hashem enabled the Jews to see that He was smiting the population who had remained in Egypt (ibid. 25), Baal Tzafon did nothing, and the Angel of Egypt was laid waste (Shemos Rabba 14:5).

The Jews also saw great miracles at the Yam Suf – our Sages say that it was five times greater than the Ten Plagues – from the drowning of the Egyptians to all of the miracles that made their journey through the parted sea more comfortable.  Every Jew witnessed great spiritual revelations, enabling their emunah in Hashem to become crystal clear to them. Indeed, they were actually able to point and say, “This is My God!” (Rashi 15:2) Amid these awesome miracles and revelations, they stood up, ecstatic, and sang shira to Him. Such a great revelation had never happened before in history.

Rav Aharon Kotler notes that this shira was not only an expression of their emunah. Rather, the act of singing shira itself built their emunah, and brought it to this level (which was unparalleled in history). Seeing is one thing, but one must clarify what he is seeing by articulating it in order to internalize it. Talking about miracles that one experiences plants this emunah deeply into his heart and soul, especially when it is expressed through shira.

With this principle, Rav Kotler answers a question raised in the Gemara (Megilla 10b). The Gemara tells us that the angels wished to sing shira at the Yam Suf. However, Hashem silenced them, asking rhetorically, “My handiwork is drowning at the sea, and you are singing shira!?” The question is, if the loss of Hashem’s handiwork was a reason to silence the angels, why did Hashem not silence the shira of the Jews, too?

Rav Kotler explains that there is a fundamental difference between our shira and that of the angels. The angels wanted to say shira simply to praise Hashem, not to build their own emunah. After all, the emunah of angels is complete. It would not grow greater as a result of shira. Thus, Hashem did not want to be praised while His creations were dying. In contrast, our shira elevated our emunah and rendered it complete. This was the shira that Hashem had been anticipating since the creation of the world!

This may sound like a history lesson – something that was achievable at the Yam Suf, but is surely not in our times. This is incorrect! The Mishna Berura (51:17) cites the Zohar: “One who says Shiras HaYam every day with joy has all of his sins forgiven(!).” The Zohar is saying that our recitation of the shira towards the end of Pesukei D’Zimra can enable us to reach this awesome level. To do this, we can imagine that we personally are making our way through the parted Yam Suf, and feel the excitement that they must have felt when it happened to them.

In fact, we are expected to sing shira for more than just the Splitting of the Sea. In truth, we should sing shira for all of the good that Hashem does for us. Rav Shimshon Pincus infers this obligation from the text of the Nishmas prayer, which states that it is the “obligation of all the creations before You to thank and praise…”

The Midrash (Osiyos D’Rabbi Akiva, Alef) states that the world exists only because the Jews say shira to Hashem every day. The Pele Yoetz (Erech Hallel) says that one who merits special gifts from Hashem must sing shira to Him with greater fervor.

One may still wonder if this truly applies to him. After all, what can he sing shira about? Where is the joy, excitement and ecstasy supposed to come from? Did he ever get any special gifts? He may think that he is just an average guy, and there is no way for him to go into raptures in shira just because he has a shirt to wear or money to buy bread and milk at the grocery.

This is also incorrect. The Sages tell us that really, we should say Hallel for every breath of air that we take (Devarim Rabba 2:26). We should remind ourselves that even those things that we take for granted – like breathing, sleeping, waking up, tasting and digesting food –are great gifts from Hashem. When we thank him for these great gifts, it is most certainly correct for us to get excited about them.

Rav Shimshon Pincus notes (based on Pesachim 118a) that the miracle of one’s livelihood is likened to that of the Splitting of the Yam Suf. If a person has a reliable livelihood, even if it is not so big, he is receiving an exceptional gift from Hashem. After all, how many people have been desperately searching for a job, and not found one? How many people have lost their jobs? Even if most people around us manage to get by financially, that does not preclude it being a miracle. This is clear from Chazal (Taanis 25a), who describe how Hashem told an impoverished Torah sage that if he wanted, Hashem would reorganize the entire universe so that the sage would have a chance at a normal livelihood. It is clear from this that even a basic livelihood requires Hashem to involve Himself in all of the goings-on of the universe.

Shira is an obligation – but it is not merely an obligation. Like the Jews at the sea, saying shira is a chance to grow spiritually. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 91b) states that whoever says shira in this world will merit to say shira in the next world. What greater promise do we need than meriting a good portion in Olam Haba, and singing shira before Hashem?

My father lived with the obligation to say shira. He kept it to himself, but very early in the morning, he was accustomed to say Tehillim with great emotion. I only saw him doing this a few times. Although he said the words quietly, I could see that he was putting his heart and soul into it.

Once, on Shabbos Chol Hamo’ed Pesach, the reading of Shir Hashirim moved my father to tears. My brother-in-law asked him how he had reached such a high level of deveikus – so that he was able to cry over the words of Shir Hashirim?

“It doesn’t come in one day,” my father replied. “It takes work for all of your life.”

My father meant that one must always be working to recognize Hashem’s goodness and thank Him for it – to really feel the gratitude, and to be excited over it.

May we be zocheh to sing shira to Hashem every day!

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