DECISIVE DANCE: PARSHAT BESHALACH

Shira Smiles shiur – January 20, 2013/Shevat 9, 5773

Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein

      Did they march to the tune of their own drummer? The women at the shores of the Reed Sea not only marched, but sang and danced to the tunes of the drums and tambourines that, with extreme foresight, they had taken out of Egypt upon the exodus. While the women seem to be following the example set by the men, upon careful analysis, it is very possible that the women were the catalyst, and the men joined Moshe in song at the urging of the women, according to the Meged Yosef, Rav Soretskin.
The bigger question is why did Bnei Yisroel and then the women burst forth in song at this juncture. Weren’t they awed enough to sing by all the preceding miracles, by the plagues and by being carried on eagles’ wings from Ramses to Succot in less than eighteen minutes? What was it about the splitting of the sea and then watching it cover the Egyptians and their horses while they themselves escaped that now prompted them to sing?
Because we are talking about song, Rav Broide offers a musical explanation in Sam Derech. Just as a song is not one note but a collection of notes that come together in harmony to form a whole, so must the “lyrics” also be a collection of experiences that come together to form the whole song. If one note or experience is missing, we hear dissonance rather than harmony. Similarly, Bnei Yisroel could not sing the song after the plagues, for that was only part of the redemption experience, only one note (or ten). That is equally true of leaving Egypt itself, and also of their quick transport to Succot. However, when our ancestors saw their oppressors drowning, the entire redemption experience was complete. Each note was now in place to compose this glorious hymn of gratitude to Hashem Who had orchestrated the events that were the background to the song.
Besides being an additional stanza in the song of redemption, the experience at the Sea brought a new dimension not only to the redemption but also to the enslavement experience that gave each note its proper nuance and tone. The song speaks of different levels of drowning. Some of the Egyptians sank to the bottom of the sea like stone or like lead and drowned immediately. Others had a slower death, like straw bobbing up and down. When Bnei Yisroel saw this, they saw that the cruelest of their taskmasters who were drowning in the sea were having the slower, more painful deaths while the less cruel of the Egyptians died more quickly. Now, in hindsight, Bnei Yisroel realized that Hashem had been with them throughout their ordeal, watching them and loving them, and now He was meting out justice measure for measure to their oppressors. This new element, explains the Lev Tahor, enabled Bnei Yisroel to sing a song of praise, for the song must include verses not only of God’s power but also of His goodness to me, “The might and vengeance of God was salvation to me,” therefore, “This is my God and I will glorify Him.” For the men, whose faith was not as strong as the women’s, they could not sing until their salvation was manifest. They had to review the entire redemption process, but the women were convinced of the future salvation throughout the enslavement. To them, Hashem’s providence was always palpable. Their faith was strong enough to carry and encourage their husbands throughout the enslavement ordeal. For them, the only new experience was the miracle at the Sea, the drowning of the Egyptians as a measure for measure punishment. That was all they needed to sing about.
This idea forms the basis of the Chatam Sofer’s explanation of Miriam’s answering them (in the masculine). According to the Chatam Sofer, Miriam was not speaking to the women and urging them to sing; she was responding to the angels who felt it was their turn to sing God’s praises rather than the turn of the women. The angels argued that because the women were redeemed through their own merit, they were not entitled to sing. However, allowing the women to witness the downfall of the Egyptians and their measure for measure punishment was not a result of the women’s merit, but an additional kindness from Hakodosh Boruch Hu, and for this, argued Miriam, the women were entitled to sing. Therefore, their entire song was only about what they witnessed on the shores of the Reed Sea.
The Minchat Michoel offers a different, unique interpretation of the reasoning behind the one line song of the women. First he reminds us that the entire purpose of the redemption was so that we would receive the Torah at Mount Sinai. Perhaps the women felt they were being made second class citizens of our nation, for the obligation of learning Torah rested primarily on the men while the women were more likely kept busy with caring for the children and running the household. But here at the Reed Sea the women learned an important lesson that raised their self esteem and was certainly cause for joyful singing. Here they saw not only the evil Egyptians drowning, but their horses as well. Did the horses sin? No, but they enabled the Egyptians to pursue the Israelites, and for that they were punished. Similarly, the women who may not have the leisure to study Torah as regularly and full time as men will be rewarded because through their diligence in performing their tasks they enabled the men to keep their obligation. Therefore they “will sing to God Who is exalted, having hurled horse with its rider into the sea.”
Yet from another perspective, Rabbi Chayim Vann offers another explanation for the differences in the songs of the men and of the women. While the men’s song included God’s salvation in so many ways, not only about the horse and rider being drowned in the sea, but also about His being a God of war and One Whose very breath causes the waters to stand like pillars creating paths for the Israelites to go through, the women’s song was focused on one experience only, the Egyptians and their chariots drowning. Here is the novel explanation Rabbi Vann offers in Gan Naoul for this discrepancy: The result of the Egyptians drowning was that all the gold and silver with which they had adorned their horses was being washed up on the shore. The Israelites stayed and collected this gold and silver and now became very wealthy. Unfortunately, this was also the downfall of the men who were led astray and used this gold and silver to form the golden calf. Therefore they were not entitled to sing only of this great miracle. On the other hand, the women were always steadfast in their emunah, in their beliefs. They could not be enticed to give up their gold and silver to create an alien god, yet they willingly gave it for the construction of the holy Tabernacle. Therefore they were entitled to sing exclusively of this event, for they were not led astray by this wealth. When Miriam was about to begin her song, she answered them (in the masculine), warning the men to use this new found wealth appropriately.
The Ner Uziel, Rabbi Uziel Milevsky, examines the medium through which men and women communicated their joy by probing their differences since creation. The Hebrew words for both man and woman contain two similar letters and differ only in one letter each. Each of these letters signifies a portion of the name of God, symbolic of the spiritual nature of human beings. Rabbi Milevsky finds the placement of these different letters central to the characters of Man and Woman upon creation. Ish, Man, has the letter “yud” in its center while Ishah has the letter “heh” at the outside. This placement, says the Ner Uziel, signifies that the spirituality of Man is within while the spirituality of woman is external. Our patriarchs contemplated God and His wonders while our matriarchs translated these thoughts to practicality in our physical world. When the serpent wanted to lead Adam and Chava astray, he knew his easier target would be Chava, since she was more attuned to the external world. By getting her to take the external world, the f ruit which was designated only as something beautiful to see, and taking it internally, she corrupted her strength and would now be subjugated to Adam who would now be her superior. At the Sea, woman regained her status as ruling over the external world. To symbolize this dominion, she used the drums and tambourines to accompany her singing and dancing. The men continued with internal meditation that found voice in song alone, without external accompaniment.
The experience at the Sea presented a new dimension of spirituality for the women, who retained their spirituality throughout the enslavement. Even Miriam, who had prophesied about the birth of Moshe now reached a new level of prophecy. To fix this experience in their consciousness, the women involved their entire bodies, their hands with the tambourines, their feet with dancing, their ears with music to always remember what their eyes had seen, says Rabbi Zaidel Epstein.
Rabbi Miller in The Sabbath Shiur reminds us of the great truth that whatever thoughts, ideas and inspirations remain simply intellectual and do not lead to external action are destined to fail and be forgotten. The excitement of the Sea Experience was internalized and transformed through the singing and dancing that they generated. The experience could then become the springboard for greater spiritual growth. Similarly, when we gain a new Torah insight, it must lead to implementing that knowledge with action so that it becomes part and parcel of our entire being. In a similar vein, prayer is meant to be transformative and not merely rote.
Our lives should form a song and symphony to Hakodosh Boruch Hu, says Sichot Hizchazkut. Every situation becomes a different instrument, making the music richer as we form a musical circle around our Creator, dancing around Him, each of us equidistant from the Source of our energy, each of us with the various instruments that define our lives. As the verse in Tehillim says, “I will sing to Hashem with my life …” At the Reed Sea, song and life became one, an ode to the Creator, the Basis of our existence.