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.