The Song at the Sea and the Essence of Shira (Beshalach & Shabbat Shira)

In this episode on Pashat Beshalach and Parshat Shira we discuss Az Yashir, the song that Israel sang at the sea. What was so tremendous about that moment of song? Why does the Midrash claim that God was waiting for this level of song since he created Adam in Gan Eden? What is so lofty about song in general, and how do we reach those heights of song ourselves? We'll get into all that and more!  

If you want to follow along in the text, it is Nesiovs Shalom on Shemot page kuf tet vav (115). You can find a pdf of the piece here. 

This episode is sponsored anonymously for a refuah sheleimah for Sarah bat Tolsa and for general peace in Klal Yisrael. 

This episode is sponsored anonymously with the following message: "It is with hakarat hatov to Rabbi Charnoff for establishing a women's midrasha at Queens College, which allowed me to continue my classroom Torah learning. And l'iluy nishmat HaRav Yehudah ben Dov Ber, Rabbi Yehuda Kelemer, from who I learned so much. May we all merit in their zechus to truly experience samcheinu b'yeshuasecha, boundless joy from Your salvation, Hashem."

Thank you so much to this week's generous sponsors!

If you would like to sponsor an episode of the podcast, please email Rabbi Charnoff at rabbicharnoff@gmail.com.

Transcript

Rabbi Charnoff: 0:01

Hello everyone, this is Rabbi Robby Charnoff and you are listening to the Hasidus for Life podcast. The podcast where we learn a deep Hasidic insight on the Parsha every single week, and not only gain a new understanding of an aspect of the Parsha, but explore how it can lead us to a more meaningful, vibrant, and spiritually uplifted life. In this episode, we are going to dive into Parsha Peshalach, specifically Az Yashir, the song that Israel sang at the sea. What was so profound about this moment of song? Why does the Midrash tell us That this level of song was what God was waiting for ever since he created Adam HaRishon. What's so special about song? And how do we achieve that tremendous level ourselves? We'll get into all of that and more today. If you want to follow along inside, you can open up a Nesivo Shalom Sefer Shmot to page Kuf Tet Vav and the piece entitled Ashira LaHashem Ki Ga'o Ga'ah or simply go to the show notes for a link to a PDF. But, feel free to just sit back, listen, and enjoy the ride. Most people do. I would like to take a moment to thank this week's sponsors. This episode is sponsored anonymously for the Refuah Shalema for Sara Bat Tulsa. And for general peace in Klal Yisrael. This episode is also sponsored anonymously with the following message. It is with Hakara Satov to Rabbi Charnoff for establishing the Women's Midrashat, Queens College, allowing me to continue classroom learning. And L'iloy Ben Dov Ber, Rabbi Yehuda Kellemer. from whom I learned so much. Maybe all merit in their skills to truly experience boundless joy from your Salvation Hashem, thank you so much to this week's anonymous sponsors. Your sponsorships are what make this podcast happen. If you would like to sponsor an episode of the podcast, please email rabbi chernoff@gmail.com or see the show notes for more details. alright, with that, let's jump into Parshat V'Shalach. We are in Yeshivot Shalom on Parshat B'Shalach, page Kuf, Tet, Vav, in the piece Ashira L'Hashem Ki Ga'o Ga'ah. Famously, this Pasuk is from Shirat HaYam. That we say after Kriyas Yam Suf when we come out the other side and we're on this Shabbos, Shabbos Shira, Shabbos that celebrates song. let's see what he has to say on the topic of this Pasuk, Shirat HaYam, and song in general. Az yashir Moshe u v'nei Yisrael tashira hazot l'hashem v'yomru leimor hashira l'hashem ki g'o g'ah Then they sang, at that point sang, Moshe and v'nei Yisrael this song to Hashem, and they said, let us sing to Hashem because he is so great. He's so lofty. says the Nesib O'Shalom. Zo ha madreigah ha'i la'it piyoter, she yisigu Yisrael b'kriyat yam suf. This is the tremendous height. that Klaal Yisrael achieved at Kriet Yam Suf, at the splitting of the sea. Keteit Tava Medrash, as the Medrash says, Miyom Sheh Bara HaKadosh Baruch Hu Et HaOlam Vee Ad Sham Du Yisrael Al Hayam Lo Matzinu Adam Sheh Baruch Hu Ela Yisrael Wild thing, the Medrash says, that from the day that HaKadosh Baruch Hu created the world. all the way until Klaal Yisrael stood at the waters of the Yam Suf, we don't find a single person who truly said Shira, who truly sang song to a Kadesh Baruch Hu, until Klaal Yisrael sang Shira Tayyam. Continues the Medicine says, Bara Adam HaRishon? V'lo amar shira. Adonai Mareshon was created, he didn't say shira. Hitzil Avram mikiv shan ha'esh. Avram avinu was saved from the fiery furnace. U'min ha'malachem, and from the four kings. V'lo amar shira, and he didn't say shira, he didn't sing to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. V'hein Yitzchak amar shira. Yitzchak saved from HaKedos Yitzchak, doesn't say shira. S whole life was, was challenges and difficulties he saved from the, he saved from AV himself. He saved from people of, and still he doesn't say Shira, but then once they got to Yamsu, when gets to the yasu. And it was split for them. They immediately sang song before HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Sh'ne'emar, as the Pasuk says, Az yashir Moshe uv'nei Yisrael. Then, meaning only then, finally then, did Moshe and Klal Yisrael finally sang shira before HaKadosh medrash, Amar HaKadosh Baruch Hu, La'elu hayiti mitzpeh. Says HaKadosh Baruch Hu. These were the ones I was waiting for. These were the ones that I was longing for. The hainu says the nesib o'shalom now. She'az higiyu la'asot si'hana chazruach l'mala shel ha'elu ha'iti mitzapeh. Then and only then says the nesib o'shalom. That they got to the place, to this height. of Nachas Ruach, They achieved that which our Kadesh Baruch Hu was longing for. He's quoting one more medrash in this opening paragraph, at least one more. Amru Chazal, Chazal saying, Machasechetz and Hedrin. Kol haomer shira bichol yom. Zocheh ve'omra l'olam haba. That anyone who says shirah every single day, shirah shachris, there'll be zocheh to sing shirah in olam haba. And we have another gemara, it also says in Sanhedrin, She ra'oi hayah chizkiyah ha melech liyot mashiyach. That chizkiyahu ha melech should've been mashiyach! He could've and should've been mashiyach! Ela shelo shal shal But he didn't say shirah, He didn't sing song when Sancheirov was defeated. So says the Nesib O'Shalom, which should hopefully be on all of our minds. V'yesh l'havin, gol del erech in yonah shel Shira. What's so impressive? What's so tremendous? What's so amazing about Shira? What's so wonderful about song? What's so impactful about song? That we have such heights that are achieved. That HaKadosh Baruch Hu is waiting for it, longing for Shira. That if somebody could have been Mashiach, Yitzchak could have been Mashiach, but he didn't sing Shira. So much is revolving around this concept. How do we understand the depth, the meaning, and the significance of Shirov's song? Valashon vayomru lemor tsarich peor lemi lemor He asks a couple more questions at the end of the paragraph here. He says that in the Possik it says vayomru lemor and they said who are they speaking to? So the explains the Suk that, who are they talking to? They were talking to every generation, even the later generations. So, the question the Sefer Shalom asks is, if it means for the future generations, What is the meaning that when they sang Shirat HaYam, they were also singing to, the later generations, how do we understand that? Second paragraph. A few more questions. Oh, D'yesh Lavin, we all seem to understand De'im Shirahi Kazo Nachat Ruach Lifnei HaShamis Barach That if Shirah is sung Give such joy and pleasure before our Kaddish Baruch Hu. Madua achayin lo amru shira ha'avos ha'kiddoshim? Ad ata v'chayin kiskia u'melech? If shira is so important, if song is so deep and so important, how is it possible that Chizkia'u didn't say shira? Why wouldn't he? How is it possible the avos didn't sing shira? The Medrash went through one by one. Avram didn't, Yitzchak didn't, Nebach Ya'akov. It's Avram Yitzchak and Ya'akov. They clearly understood Avodas HaShem. So why didn't they sing Shira? Why were they lacking Shira? How do we understand that in and of itself? Tov, so that's a lot of questions. Let's see what he says in the answers. Let's get to the answers. Third paragraph. V'yesh la'vi na'niyan. So how do we understand all of this? So it says in the Nesib O'Shalom, there's many different types of shira. There's many different types of song. Yesh shirat hamoach. There's a song of the mind. Sh'yudim meivin sha haKadosh Baruch Hu asai mocheset, It's a beautiful level. A Jew understands that a Keresh Baruch Hu did a chesed with him. He sees the good that a Keresh Baruch Hu did for him. V'humodeh l'ashei brach, and he gives thanks to a Keresh Baruch Hu. a person works on themselves, that when something good happens to them, they've worked on themselves to the point to recognize that when something good happens, I know it came from a Keresh Baruch Hu. A person intellectually has worked on themselves, that they know when, they get the job that they were looking for, they meet somebody that they were hoping to meet, or they come into money that they were hoping to come into, whatever the case may be, when this thing happens to them, they've trained themselves to recognize when something good happens to me, everything comes from my Kodesh Baruch Hu. And when that happens to say, Hodu La Hashem Ki Tov, Ki L'Yolam Chastum. And it's a big Madrega. So often in the good moments of life. We forget HaKadosh Baruch Hu. We forget to even recognize Him Bechla. Right, think about how many times, and this is not a dig at anyone, Chas V'Sholom, but a point of reflection for us to try and achieve greater heights, Navodas HaShem. Im Yirt HaShem when we have difficulties in life. Not that we should have difficulties, but when we have difficulties in life. We're able often to come to Shmona Esrei and we are able to figure out exactly which bracha in Shmona Esrei to fit it into. I'm having this particular challenge. I'm having dark times. I'm struggling. Go aleinu. Lo anebach, I got a little bit sick. Rifa'einu. I'm struggling parnasah. Barich aleinu. I want to do well on the test. I know exactly where to put each one. But it's, for many of us, we may not have the same sensitivity. I had such an amazing day. I can't believe this happened. I can't believe I met this person. I can't believe I got this opportunity. And now I'm going to have extra kavono and modim. And we should. We absolutely should. The same way, if it's on our mind, we dive into HaKadosh Baruch Hu, to ask Him for what we want in a personal way. If we work on our emunah and recognize that everything good that happens to us Legitimately comes from a Gadosh Baruch Hu. So then I should have a deeper modem that day. I should have a stronger modem that day. Thank you, a Gadosh Baruch Hu. So there's an intellectual side of it. And there's songs that we can sing from that intellectual place. I know I had something good happen to me. Hodu la'ashem ki tov ki ulam chasto. And I know that I can sing that. It's coming from my mind. It's a beautiful thing. From a recognition and a cognizance. a mindfulness. That God is in my life. And when the good thing happens, when I'm running and I just make the bus And I hop on, and I'm sweating, and I'm breathing heavy. And the first thing I say is, Thank you, Akadosh the bus wait. That's, that's an intellectual hodu. And that's a beautiful thing. That's level one. What's the next level? He says, Then there's a song that's Mamesh from the heart. That my heart, Mamesh, feels that Akadosh Baruch Hu is Mamesh with me, doing for me. It's a whole different level. And those of us who do have a connection to song, you know the difference. You know the difference between sitting at a kumzitz and singing because we're at a kumzitz, singing at a shalach shodos because we're singing at a shalach shodos, and being at a kumzitz or being at a shalach shodos, and closing your eyes and you feel the niggun coming from your heart. You feel it emanating from your insides, from your kishkas. You feel it in a different way. You feel like you're floating. It's a whole different experience. It's a whole different thing when you're singing from the heart. It's not that I know that Akadosh Baruch Hu did such a beautiful thing for me. I feel such a deep connection. I know he's with me and I feel that he's with me and I'm singing with him in a way that's drawing us close together. Two lovers singing to each other. I'm singing to Akadosh Baruch Hu and I'm hearing the song of Akadosh Baruch Hu being sung back to me. Bin Zohar to be at a concert like that. To be at a Kumsis like that, to be at a Shalach Shodos like that, right? To, to ebb at an NCSY Shalach Shodos or Havdalah like that, if you've had one of those, you know, you have those moments. Where it's not just in your head, you don't even know what the words mean, maybe. But there's something so deep because it's coming from the heart. It's a whole nother level of shira. It's a whole nother level of song. That's the second level. But he says, The biggest thing of all, the biggest song there is, is the song that does, that starts in the mind, and it goes in, it flows into my heart, but then it explodes in my body. My whole body is enraptured in the reality of that song. Sha'adam malei behargashat ki tov Hashem That the person is so filled with the feeling of how great HaKadosh Baruch Hu is. Sha'kol evarav margishim That my whole body, my whole being, feels, knows that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is good. And that all he wants to do is give good. Even my body is giving song. Like the post it says, we in, um, we say it in Nishman on Shabbos. That even down to my bones, I'm I'm singing to Akadosh Baruch Hu, Akadosh Baruch Hu, who's like you. ha'av biyotir, that the bones are our most physical parts of ourselves. there's the outside of my body and you go deeper, inner, inner, inner, more inside my physical body. At the center of the physical body is the bones. It's the most physical part of myself. Even when the rest of the body falls away after a person passes away. The bones stay. They're pure physicality. And I get down to the place where even my bones, even my pure physicality is singing to HaKadosh Baruch Hu is like you. All I can do is sing to you from the depth of the Chomer, from the physicality of my being. V'afheim tomar na'ashem mi'chamocha. that's a whole nother level entirely. It's an amazing thing just to recognize what we're doing here in terms of working in seemingly the counterintuitive order. I would think that the lowest level is physicality, the next highest level is emotions, and the highest of the high levels would be the mind. And the answer is, yes. That's 100 percent true. But in Avodah Hashem, it always flips. It always goes the other way. Because it's easiest to start on the highest of levels. It's tremendously sanctified to purify my thoughts, to have an intellectual song. But it takes so much more work to get from the mind to the heart. And the deepest level of Avodah is that I could take even that spiritual reality of song, song to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, of connection to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, and not only have it go from my mind and down to my heart, but for it to even extend into my physical body. Because it's the lowest level, that's what makes it the highest level. That the song to Al Qaraj Baruch was able to penetrate even the most physical parts of my being, that's what makes it the most elevated song that there is. The Rebbe of Amos said this, that it's an amazing thing by song. There's no other concept in Judaism where you have such a thing, where even if you don't realize it, even if you don't intend to, if you've ever been to a Simchas Besa Sho'eva, or you've been to a wedding, Where you've been to a concert, where you've really gotten into the singing, you've listened to beautiful amnestic Jewish music. You may not even realize that your body's moving until after your body's already moving. It's a koach of song. It's unique to song. I've never sat here at this desk where I'm learning with you right now. I've never accidentally started to sing and dance in the middle of a Pesach of Yechezkel. And maybe that's a, you read that in me, maybe that's a lacking in me. But you don't have that when you're learning, and you could be so into it. You could be shaking your hands, but it's not the same. And you realize, my whole body's moving. The song's penetrated the deepest, parts of myself, my physicality. How could I not move? I'm jumping up in song. I can't restrain myself. I can't hold myself back. If you've had that experience of where it's happened on its own, or you've had that experience where you've been at a concert and it goes from a beautiful slow niggun and then suddenly it explodes into a fast niggun and everybody gets up and you can't not dance, you'd have to hold yourself back and why would you? To feel your whole body sing to a kodesh boruchu, it's so, so beautiful, it's so, so deep. Song is on a whole nother level. Roshol Moshe Karabakh Zatzal taught a tremendous amount of Torah to a tremendous amount of Jews. But the Torah never would have even been able to get close to them if he didn't start with song. The song opened up everyone. He opened up an entire generation of Jews who didn't even know what Judaism was. He started with song. And suddenly everybody's hearts opened. When he said, Chever, open your hearts, the hearts were already open. And then he could tell a story. And the story could become a Torah. It opens up a whole different level of your being. A whole different level of self. It gets the deepest chambers. The Leviim had to be singing in the Besa Mikdash. You couldn't bring a korban unless the Leviim were up there singing. Why? The Svarim bring down that up in the upper realms the Chamber of Chuva is right next to the Chamber of Song. You can't really have chuva without song. And you can't really have song without chuva. The two go hand in hand. Can you imagine a real Yom Kippur with no nigunim? I'm sure that some people may wish that they had a Yom Kippur with a really short davening and no piyutim and no chasar ha'sashat so they could get out of shul in ten But those people, I don't think, really understand what Yom Kippur is about. Why is there so much singing on Yom Kippur? Why not add six more Shmon Asherahs? Why not fill it, just have us be in Shmon Asherah all day? Why not? Why chasar ha'sashat? Many reasons, but one is so we can all sing together. How can you possibly do the tshuva of Yom Kippur? how could you cry in the same way? How could you open up your heart in the same way? I struggle, my, those of you who have davened with me in Leiv. Um, so, I struggle because my Shmoneh Asheri tends to go a little bit longer on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. and for me, like, how do I, how do I miss the songs? So, you, if, if you've dove in near me, I don't care, I'm in Shimon Esri still, doesn't matter, if there's a good niggin, I close my eyes, I get in the zone, and I'm nigh nigh nighing along with everybody else, but it's not, it's not just for the sake of it. It's because I'm trying to do tshuva. I'm saying al kheytz. How can you do tshuva without niggun? How can you do tshuva without shira? The two gates are right next to each other. You couldn't bring a korban without the leviyim singing. Why? Because how can you do tshuva without song in the background? Even say it's very, very harsh gemara. that when a person brought a korban, they had to actually mean bringing the korban. if they would go and bring the korban, just because they were going through the motions and they didn't mean it. So when they put the korban on top of the mizbeach, they would see this image of a fiery dog. And everybody there would see this image of a dog on the mizbeach, reflecting on how little thought and care this person had given to actually do tshuba before a kodesh boruchu for the sing that he did. And so what happened when he saw the dog? Then the leviyim would start to sing. And as the leviyim sang The song of the Leviyim, he would start to cry, and he would break down in his mind, in his heart, in his body. He would just cry real tears, real tears of tshuva. And when he did, then the image of the fiery dog would change into an image of a fiery lion. This is the koach of song. This is the power of song. It's not a cute thing that we add on to other things. Chas v'shalom lo aleinu. It's not how we fill time in Kabbalah Shabbos. It's not how we pass the time at Shala Shuddos. Malka. aleinu. Elevate it with song. We take it to a place it could never have gotten to with song. Song that originates from the mind, moves itself down into the heart, and eventually explodes into the body. That's Shira. That's song. Judaism without song, is it even Judaism? I don't know. You have to have it. You have to have it in order to truly live, and to truly do tshuva, and truly b'simcha, and truly connect with the Kadesh Baruch Hu. You need song. And that's what he's bringing down here. Song Shira. Shara. We're in the middle of the paragraph. He gets to and says, so all these people that Al said, how could the Adam said, Shira, there was a whole list of people, Ko, how could it be? Um, of course they said, Shera. Of course they sang song. You can't say that Anu didn't sing Shera. You can't say such a thing. He was the first one doing kiruv, bringing people into the tent. You think NCSY came up with this? Nahav Rabinu was singing shirah with the people he brought into the tent and gave them food, not to worry. He was saying shirah all the time. Of course he was. Aval haleyv. But pari avos. And again, I don't know how else you would explain the medrash. But it explains the Nesib O'Shalom. Everybody else beforehand, they'd sang Shirat HaMoach. And they'd even sang Shirat HaLeif. Of course they did! How could they have not? But they hadn't reached the highest level of song. They weren't able to reach the level of song where the song ish gets into my bones, where my whole body is filled with that. Shira says, only at csu. Shahi Whereso reached this level. At that moment, they achieved the highest level of Shira. As it's hinted to in the saying of Al, that even a, even a maid servant by Chris. Saw the same vision, saw greater than even the vision of Yehoshua Muzad. They saw the greatest of where there was of Az Yashir. Dimiru mazala madrigash fil habioter. Meaning, what does it mean? Shifcha alayam. It means even the person who was in the lowest place, and even inside a person who was in the lowest place. Even such a person was able to sing that level of Shira at Shirat HaYam. Sha kol hazo. That they all were raised up to this tremendous, tremendous level. Next paragraph, three lines from the end of the page. V'atam she rak b'krias yamsuv figiyu lamadrega hazo. And the reason why only at krias yamsuv, Were they able to reach this level? she'inyan shira hu ka'asher yehudi masig she'kol higayon ve'anacha ve'kol ha'yishurim se'ovrim ha'kol etovah The only way that a person can get to that place of shira from the moach, to the lathe, to the evarim, to the bones, to the body is when a Jew understands, internalizes, processes on the deepest of levels. That all of the pain, and all of the difficulty, and all the yasurim that they went through, when they realize and understand that it was all for the good. That level of shira is on a whole different level. Shashami parach, top of the next page. Manahig kol zot kidei lahavi likrata tov. When I finally realized that it was all to bring me to the good. That's when I can reach that level of Shira when I go through difficulty when I go through challenge When I'm living in darkness and I come out the other side That's a level of Shira like I could never have experienced When I go through the pain and the difficulty I go through such a dark period of my life And I don't understand why and I'm not sure is it ever going to pass Am I ever going to get out of this and I come out the other side and I look back and then suddenly it all makes sense I'm able to turn and be like, Oh, I just burst out with singing. My whole body starts singing. My whole being starts singing. When a person goes and well, you know, if they struggle to have kids. When that child is born, I'm looking back, all of it makes sense. I see it was all to get here. Can you imagine how Avram and Sarah must have sang and danced when they finally gave birth to Yitzchak? I once heard a beautiful vort. It's in a sefer. is. I apologize. a beautiful vort from the sefer. how was it that Avram and Sarah, how is it they couldn't have kids? What took so long? What was going on? So in the sefer, says so beautifully because they weren't davening for a child. They were davening for the child. And if you don't want a child, you want the child. You want a yitzchak? That's not gonna happen so fast. That takes years and years and years of tefillah if your goal is to have the child. Totally different place. So you can imagine the simcha, the tzchok, the laughter, the joy when Yitzchak is born. Taking it a step back. The dating process is not fun. I just did this with The Shana'al of course this week, and they were like, no, no, it's got to still be fun. I'm like, no, no, no, dating is not fun. It's, it's a means to an end. Nobody has a joyous time. It's fine. There can be fun moments. You can have joyous moments, but it's not a fun process. And then when you finally get to meet the one and you finally get to the wedding, there's a reason why the Chasen is in the center and the Kala is in the center of the other circle. Why? The joy that they're experiencing, the explosion of joy, is not just a finding your basheret, but in everything up to that moment making sense retroactively. That sense of pure, explosive joy. There was a wedding I went to in the last year or two, let's say, let's leave it vague. And it was a student of mine who I'd known for a very long time. And he'd struggled with dating. He was waiting a long time to get married. And Baruch Hashem, he finally found his bashert. I don't think I've ever seen in all the weddings I've been to as a rabbi. The Hassan and the Kala, the second she got under the chuppah, their eyes were locked for the entire chuppah. I don't know if they processed anything that happened. I don't even know if they realized they had Ariadne Kodesh Ali, I don't even know if they noticed they had Melech Ketubah. They were just gazing into each other's eyes and nothing else in the world mattered. But I, I'd been there with him, I knew the process that got him there. When you realize this is where it got me to, the simcha retroactively is in a whole different place. Those moments in life when you finally get to the place where you had longed for. Az You can't have a Shira like Krias Yamtsef. You don't have 210 years of terrible servitude that makes no sense. And then finally you get through the Aseret Hamakot and you come out and you think you're gonna make it and then the Egyptians are running after you and now you think you're gonna die again and then God splits open the sea and you see the Egyptians wash up on the shore. You see, literally and metaphorically, the death of Mitzrayim and the birth of Kedusha's Klau Yisrael. Az Yashir Moshe Uvne Yisrael. You have a song like there never was. You have a song at that moment of clarity. When Klal Yisrael stood by Kriaz Yamtsev, they sang and danced from their bones, from creaky, achy, pained bones of 210 years of servitude, as all of that snapped into place and made perfect sense. As they connected to Al Qarash Baruch Hu on the contrasting background of Mitzrayim and watched them dead on the shore as they were about to march forward to Matan Torah and become the Holy Chosen People. They sang from their bones. Az Yashir Moshe Ove Nei Yisrael. Let's take it a little bit further. Let's take it from the top of the column of, he says, that was when they got to the place of ish singing from their bones Birole, when they realized that everything that had happened to them in the exile in Egypt. It was all just for the goal of getting to this tremendous revelation of that they were socha to this tremendous revelation of This is my God. I'm going to glorify him shi that the, that the lowest person, the little maid servant on the ya, she saw more than the greatest vu that ever was, more than Avi saw on my, and it was something which they could only have achieved after the exile in Egypt. The exile in Egypt purified them. It brought them to a place where they could experience that level of Shira. How so? Well, Kimot Shaviar, no, as we've previously explained since the Nesib O'Shalom. The Inyan Galut Mitzrayim. Lo hayah ka'oneh shalcheit. When we think of exile, we always assume that exile is a punishment. There's many, many layers to exile. But that's certainly not true of the exile in Egypt. Why can't that be true of the exile in Egypt? How could it not have been a punishment? Shaarei Yardulisham, who went down? Think for a second. Who went down to Mitzrayim? Who was, quote unquote, exiled to Mitzrayim? Yaakov Avinu, the Shiftei Ka, the twelve origins of the Shvatim, the Banim of Yaakov. Literally, B'nai Yaakov, B'nai Yisrael, and their families. These were Kochi Kadashim. These were the holiest people that ever lived. You think they were sent down because of a sin? You think they were sent to Egypt as exile? Can't be! It was 70 people who were cut off in Torah like malachs! They were pure and holy like angels. Alakia yut srikhim Yisrael la'avor zikukh akhar zikukh liman yukhlu la'agia lidkalut ha'gdola shimatdim la'be krias yamsuv akabalas ha Torah. But the only way for Klaal Yisrael to get to a place where they could experience krias yamsuv, where they could receive the Torah, it necessitated them going down to Mitzrayim through the fiery furnace of Egypt. Burning away all of the impurities, burning away all of the issues to allow them to come out completely pure from Miran and to March impurity to cabal, sat and receive the Torah. It was a process that was necessary. Avram's told your children will be strangers in a strange land. How could God have told that to Avram Avinu? Who says his children would mess up in a way where they would require going down to Mitzrayim? The answer is it had nothing to do with messing up. God was telling Avram Avinu from the very beginning. Part of what it means to be a Jew is that you're going to need to go through Mitzrayim's in life. And nationally, you're going to need to go through Amitraim regardless of the choices that your children make. Because through that process of challenge and difficulty and overcoming, that's what's going to produce the reality of Kal Yisrael. It's a necessary part of the process. The whole difficulties and challenges they went through in Egypt was all to purify them. That they should be ready and purified for this revelation. And that's why up until now, there had never been true Shira, full Shira, complete Shira. Shekulam hayu rak shirat hamoach ba'alei ba'al chesed Hashem And then everybody sang before them, They all sang from the mind, from the heart. From the deepest depths of their emotions they sang to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Rach pe'omdam al hayam, but only when they stood by the water. L'achar after the pain and suffering of Egypt. Higiyu shel shira, then they reached the highest level of shira. Az yashir Moshe uv'nei Yisrael, et ha'shira hazot la'Hashem, then they could truly sing to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Song is so special, song is so deep. Just to add one more thing in that context, before we go forward, this Shabbos of Shabbos Shira and this topic of Az Yashir and Shirat Ayam, it's a time of year for us to stop and to meditate and to reflect on the power of song, on the depth of song, on the necessity of song in our lives. And if so, in what ways we're including song in our lives. We just learned how big Shira is. A Kodesh Baruch was longing for it. how Hezekiah wasn't able to become a shiach because of it, because he didn't sing with this level of shira. It's a time to remind ourselves how beautiful, how deep shira is, that it's in the chamber next to Tshuva that was sung in the base of Migdash, that it lifts us up on every level. And to take time in Yertz Hashem this week and this Shabbos to ask ourselves, on what level are we purifying our song in our lives? To what extent are we including song in our lives? How much do we let song play in the background? And maybe even play in the foreground. How much do we listen to it in the background, and how much do we sing with it and interact with it? How much do we elevate our Shabbos tables with it? Do we sing Zmiros and Nigunim on Friday night, on Shabbos day, on HaMalka? Do we sing because we're supposed to? Or are we opening up our mind to what song really is? And then maybe for Zoha, opening up at least our mind and our heart to what song really is. And who are we listening to? What are we listening to? Are we still listening to songs from sources? We don't want that to be where song is coming from in our lives. To purify and to remove the meaningless nonsense Shira that can be in our lives, and even the negative and tumidic Shira that can be in our lives. And to start to purify that, to elevate that, in Likutey Moharan, in the Nachman, he says very beautifully in the third Torah, he talks about Shira and Nigun, and he talks about the importance, the deep, deep importance of who you're hearing Shira from, to be careful not to hear any song from what he calls a Menage in Rasha, Moalino from somebody who's a Rasha, and to search and search and search for a Menage who's Tahor, who's Kadosh. He says that song that comes down, that the song that comes down, it's Mamish Nevuah. one time I, I was with a friend of mine in Shana Aleph. I'd heard the classic songs when I was growing up. When I got to my Rebbe's house in Shana Aleph and I would, came for a few Shabbos's and got to sing there a little bit, I heard an igunim that I'd never heard in my life and they opened me up in a way I'd never been opened up before. And a very good friend of mine, we went together to my Rebbe, and he looks at me and he says, Rebbe, where did you get these nigunim from? And one of the reasons Rebbe is because he answers with answers that seem like they're meaningless, and you know that they're meaningful, and you spend your whole life waiting and hoping that somehow the gates of wisdom will open for you and you'll understand what he said. And he turned around and he says, Listen, I got them from the birds, and that was all he gave us. I got them from the birds. And then you get to this Torah of Enoch, so what does he say? What was I already hinting to, he was saying, when you get to that place and you understand, you'll understand. He says that the kol, the nikon, nimeshechet minat tziporim, it's black and white in the Yikutei Moran, Torah gemol. He says song comes from the birds. As the Medrash says, Mipnei ma mitzora tzippurim Why would a mitzora, who spoke Lashon Hara, who used words in a negative way, why is he purified with two birds? Because one song comes to purify from another song. You gave negative voice, you need to be purified with the beautiful songs of the birds. Nim'sa mishu kashir, therefore somebody who's kashir. He brings down that shira, Nim'shechet ta'arot He brings it down from the birds. and he says so deep, he says, and that's why A is called aan. Why do we call Himan? We don't realize what we're saying. He says, why Isan called fri. What? What is AAN truly meant to be? Is called because of the word has. What does mean? It's a word in a is somebody who's really singing kosher song from a kosher place, from a pure place, from a holy place. They're bringing down nevua, it's coming down from shamayim through the birds, through nevua, down to the menagin and then he's singing the shira, he's bringing us the shira from all the way up in shamayim. It's a tremendous thing, it's a beautiful thing. It's mamish nevua when it's done right. That's why I'm very careful and I try to put a lot of effort into who I listen to I think I can openly talk about one of them, one of the menagins, Baal menagins, who's clearly Kasher of Etahor, who so speaks to me, but also the way he relates to song speaks to me. And I'm giving you this one example, Everybody has their own way of deciding who they want to listen to and connect to. But I'm, I'm always awed by Eitan Katz. First of all, if you ever heard him sing, and you've been in his presence, you can't not see it, you can't not feel it. But I remember hearing him, and to me, this just It was so beautiful to hear from him. I heard him on a podcast. Maybe he was interviewed on Meaningful People, maybe something like that. He said, somewhere buried deep in that podcast, He said something to the effect of, I don't share every niggun that I come up with with the world. I'm very careful with it. He says some niggun, I sit there and I think and I meditate. Is this niggun coming out because it's something that I want to say? Or is it something that I'm drawing down from Shemayim? Because it's a niggun that's coming from within me. Who says it's for the world? Who says that I'm even supposed to share that? I'm here to share what Akadosh Baruch Hu wants me to share. And I'll share the nigunim that I know are coming down from Shemaim through me to be shared with everybody else. I don't know what he means when he says that. I don't know how he makes that determination. But that's a person, that's a Menagen, that's a Chazan, Milashon Chazon, that I want to get my music from. That's who I want to sing with. That's how I want to engage this tremendously deep concept of Shira. It's an incredible opportunity this time of year to think about, to reflect on, who am I listening to? What am I singing along to? What do the words mean? And perhaps even deeper, who are the words coming from? Because the words of their soul are coming into my soul and they're bringing me to Shamayim and they're bringing me to Tshuva and they're bringing me, they're trying to schlep me to the heights of Kriyaz Yom Suf. Hallelujah, I was I was a servant standing there on the shores of the Yom Suf. Who can get me there? Az Yashir, Moshe, the biggest Navi there ever was. Who led that song? It had to be the person with the greatest nivua there ever was. He could lead that song. I've never seen this written anywhere, but I suspect it's true and I'm going to drop it here. And who does Moshe marry? Obviously, he married Sipporah, and I've always strongly suspected, of course, Moshe married Sipporah. Because Moshe is the biggest nevuah there ever was, so who does he marry? He marries the birds. He marries those who the shirah comes down through. He marries a woman who is reflective of the connection to HaKadosh Baruch Hu that brings down shirah into the world, that brings down nevuah into the world. I've never seen that written anywhere, but I strongly suspect that that's being hinted to even in the name of his wife. It's a time, Shabbat shirah, to reflect on shirah, to try to strive and aspire to these levels of song. And to bring them out in our lives, but that comes from reflecting and engaging in a meaningful way. Nothing in life is free. Everything needs to be worked on. Which songs we sing, who we sing with, who we sing from, when we sing. This is Shira. This is what it brings Geula. This is what brings Geula, the Geula of Qiasyam Suf, the Geula of Yitzchak Mitzrayim, the Geula the times of Hezekiahu, and the Geula that will be latid levoh comes from Shira. Let's see if we can fit in one more paragraph. He says the says, this is what I was longing for as said. That the goal of creation itself, is that a Jew should be happy and have favor with HaKadosh Baruch Hu, should be joyous with HaKadosh Baruch Hu. BeYaduah Shekol Elimo To know deep down in my kishkas that everything that HaKadosh Baruch Hu does to me, does with me. HaTovot Varaot, the good and the bad, the challenging and the easy, the pain in life and the deepest levels of joy in life. Ha'kol b'kdei sh'yucha la'agia el ha tov ha miu'adlo. That it's all to get to the ultimate good that I'm destined for. V'hu malei shir v'shevach la'shem yiparach. And that I should be filled with song to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Al kol ma'adei avi atav avi. To know that everything that HaKadosh Baruch Hu does with me, He's doing for the good. Even the difficult, even the painful. It's all to get li'tov, to get to the good. It's all part of that journey. Va'afim sovel yesuim rachman al itslan And even if I go through tremendous difficulties, rachman al itslan. Harim piniyut ha kol chesed ve rachamim ve kulo tov In the innermost spaces of that difficulty, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is guiding me to the good. It's all for the good. we'll unpack that concept more in future pieces. This is the greatest level of that a Jew should have such joy in who is guiding me. The Alzeh Amar and about this HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, La'eilu Ha'iti Mitzpeh, this is what I was waiting for. This is what I was longing for. La'madregah zo shil shira, to a level of song, She'ikar Ha'ikarim, v'tachlit HaBri'ah, that the whole goal of creation is this level of song, of a recognition that HaKadosh Baruch Hu, everything He did for me, and everything He did for me was for the good. The Alzeh Ne'emar, and about this it says, VA more. Who are they singing it to for all generations through shi. That's what allows us for every single generation. After shi, it opened the door that we can know and feel how good Hashem is. Yisrael, Yismach Yisrael Be'osav, to have joy in our Creator. sh'yudi. that a Jew can be joyous with a Kadosh Baruch Hu and joyous in that he's a Jew. Tov. This is, this is what song is all about. it's a taste of what song is all about. That we get to come into this Shabbos, Shabbos Shira, the opportunity to reflect on song, what song is, how tremendous song is a Kadesh Baruch, is longing for song in the Bria, but what is he really longing for? He's longing for us to have the recognition and the understanding that we achieved this week's Parsha at Krias Yom Suf. The recognition that all of the challenges and difficulties of life, HaKadosh Baruch Hu brings us all of them, and they're all ultimately for the good, leading to the good, to get to the good. And at Kriyas Yom Tuv, as a nation, we had a moment where everything snapped into place, where we totally understood everything that we went through, why we went through it, and how it was getting us to be here. To be at Krias Yom Suf, to see the Egyptians watch up on the shore, to pave the way for us to dance to Matan Torah and get married to a Kodesh Baruch Hu and receive the Torah. That produces Shira, and it opens a door for all generations for us to sing Shira, for us to think about what Shira is, what song truly is, how to bring it into our lives, how to bring it into my mind and let it move into my heart and let it explode through my body in a song of Shira. atzmotai tomarna, HaShem mi chamocha, that My whole body is singing. And the most beautiful melody and harmony is just sing to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. HaKadosh Baruch Hu, there's nobody like you. We should be zohet to be able to Be connected to a menagin kashir, to kosher menagnim, to beautiful people who bring out the songs of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, who bring it through, the songs of the birds down, al pinavua, down into this world, so that they penetrate our minds and our hearts, to sing and dance with them, and sing and dance with their nigurim that they've let us through the generations. And through that, to be able to sing and dance our way. To the geula, to the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash with the return of the Shira Tel Avivim, Bezrat Hashem bimhera b'yameinu wa'amein. Thank you so much for tuning in to this week's episode. If you enjoyed the episode, please rate the podcast, and hit the follow button and join us every Wednesday for a new episode on the Parsha. Once again, thank you so much to this week's sponsors. And a reminder that you too can sponsor an episode of the podcast. 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