The Inner Song
PASSOVER PASSOVER
The Culmination of the Exodus
The last two days of Passover are commemorations of the final phase of the exodus from Egypt. On the seventh day after their departure from Egypt, the Jewish nation crossed the sea that had miraculously split for them. The Jews crossed on dry land while their Egyptian pursuers drowned.
The seventh (and eighth day in the Diaspora) are thus considered to be holidays because they mark the culmination of the liberation of the Jews. As long as the Egyptians could still pursue the Jews, the Jews were not totally free, for the potential existed for them to be enslaved again.
On the seventh day of Passover we therefore read the section of the Torah that describes this phenomenal event. The highlight of this PASSOVER reading is the song Moses and the Jewish people sang when they crossed the sea.
How Could They Sing?
The very fact that they sang this joyous song—and we repeat it—raises a question.
On each of the Jewish Holidays we recite the selection of Psalms known as Hallel. These psalms were composed and are recited to express gratitude for the miracle of the exodus and other miracles that are associated with the Holidays. However, on the last days of Passover—despite the fact that they are full-fledged Holidays that commemorate the great miracle of the crossing of the sea—we only recite half Hallel. The question has been asked: why this holiday is different from all the others?
The Midrash explains that the reason we do not recite the entire Hallel on the last days of Passover is because, notwithstanding the incredible miracle of the splitting of the sea; our song of praise is somewhat tempered and muted because of the loss of Egyptian life. They too are, after all, G-d’s creatures.
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A similar sentiment is expressed by the Talmudic Sages who tell us that the angels sought to sing praise at that time. However, G-d silenced them by stating: “My handiwork is drowning in the sea and you seek to sing praise?!”
The question is, if we cannot recite the entire Hallel and the angels were totally silenced, why did the Jews at that time sing the song?
Spontaneous Song
One answer is that there is a difference between spontaneous song and praise and one that is premeditated. With respect to the angels it does not say “they began to sing praise” and were cut short, but rather “they sought to sing praise,” suggesting that they were entertaining the possibility of singing praise when they were told not to.
The difference is that when one’s praise emanates from the inner precincts of one’s heart and soul and is sung spontaneously, we know that it is untainted by feelings of revenge or egotistical expressions of triumph.
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Rather, it derives from the soul’s exultation and unity with G-d. It is pure and unadulterated.
When we recite the song the Jews sang when they crossed the sea we have the potential to feel the same pure outpouring of faith and ecstasy the Jews felt then.
However, when we sing our own song of praise, we have to acknowledge that in the ideal world, there would be no need for miracles that involve the loss of life. It’s not that we pity the wicked, but we feel the loss of life that could have been a positive force in G-d’s world.
The Players and the Instruments
The question still remains, why would the angels not sing spontaneously? Why did they just “seek” to sing praise, getting stopped before they could start?
The answer perhaps lies in a better understanding of the difference between humans and angels. Angels are predictable and consistent. They are programmed PASSOVER spiritual beings. They have no inner and outer personas. What you see on their surface is what lies in the core of their beings. They do not exhibit fluctuations. They do not have times when they prepare for their missions and when they are spontaneous.
When an angel is exposed to G-dly light, it automatically responds with songs of praise to G-d. It is like a finger on the key of a piano or a gentle wind gliding across the strings of a harp. The music comes naturally. The angels cannot be spontaneous anymore than a piano can be spontaneous. G-d is the Musician and they are the instruments.
Thus, when the angels sought to sing praise to G-d while the Jews were crossing the sea, G-d stopped them. G-d, as the Creator of all humanity, was not expressing overt joy because His creations were being destroyed. Thus the normal celestial music that reverberates throughout the cosmos was silenced. The angels, which are part of the natural order of creation, could not sing because the Divine music was muted.
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Stopping an angel from singing can be defined figuratively as removing the finger from the piano or preventing the wind from blowing on the harp strings. If no one is strumming the guitar there will be no music.
The angels, therefore, cannot be said to be the creators of the music; they are the instruments of G-d’s music. And when G-d is not “inspired” to play His instruments, they do not produce music.
By contrast, a human soul is not just an instrument. The human being is charged with creating the music. One can create this divine music when he or she is inspired or one can sing to become inspired. In either case the music must be created by the human being, albeit with outside inspiration.
In Touch with G-d’s Inner Rhythm
When human beings break out in spontaneous song it is a sign that they are in tune with G-d’s inner “rhythms” that transcend His role as the Creator of the world. And while G-d did not express His joy PASSOVER and song overtly with the angelic orchestra playing, we, the Jewish people, felt the hidden music intuitively and began to sing. We were in touch with G-d’s inner joy at having saved the Jewish people from drowning and their complete liberation. It is the joy of a parent knowing that his or her child is safe.
G-d manifests Himself in two ways. G-d is the Creator of the natural order and G-d transcends the natural order. At the time of the Exodus, G-d expressed His transcendent nature, which only the Jewish people could feel. And that feeling inspired them to sing the song that expresses G-d’s inner joy.
The Tenth Song
Our Sages tell us that the song of the sea is one of the ten songs of the Jewish people; the tenth we will sing in the future Messianic age. This is alluded to in the very first words of the song they sang while crossing the sea: “Then Moses and the Jewish people shall sing.” The Torah here employs the future tense to allude to the song of the future.
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It stands to reason that just as the song of the sea was a spontaneous expression of joy that reflected G-d’s inner and transcendent joy, so too the song of Moshiach we will all sing will be spontaneous and reflect G-d’s essential joy.
May we sing this song this year with Moshiach and Moses and all the Jewish people in the Beis Hamikdash!
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From the book Light from the Future: Last Days of Passover by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
