Sing Along
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (the founder of the Chabad- Lubavitch movement, known as the Alter Rebbe) once remarked: “Speech is the pen of the heart, song is the pen of the soul.” This means that while one can express one’s ideas and even feelings by way of speech, one cannot express one’s inner soul with the spoken word. To reveal one’s innermost spiritual sentiments, one must have song. BESHALLACH BESHALLACH
A Shabbos with is Own Name
Every Shabbos has a distinctive character. Usually it is based on a special theme that can be found in that week’s Torah reading. It can also be a holiday that the Shabbos coincides with, that gives the Shabbos a distinctive ring. There are several weeks, however, where the Shabbos is given its own name. This week’s Shabbos is one such Shabbos. It is referred to as “Shabbos Shirah-The Sabbath of Song” because of the reading of the song the Israelites sang when they crossed the Sea of Reeds.
One might ask, why is the fact that we read a song the Jews sang when they crossed the sea, more important than the reading of the very miracle of the crossing of the Sea of Reeds itself?
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The Kabbalah of Song
The answer to this lies in a better understanding of the concept of song in Judaism in general and in Chassidic literature in particular.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (the founder of the Chabad- Lubavitch movement, known as the Alter Rebbe) once remarked:
“Speech is the pen of the heart, song is the pen of the soul.”
This means that while one can express one’s ideas and even feelings by way of speech, one cannot express one’s inner soul with the spoken word. To reveal one’s innermost spiritual sentiments, one must have song.
Furthermore, R. Schneur Zalman explains, the only way we can rise to a higher plane of spirituality is by way of melody. Thus, the angels who are in constant pursuit of higher spiritual levels, are always singing. Without song, we cannot “get away” from the state we are in.
(To be sure, not all melodies can express one’s inner soul and elevate a person to a higher spiritual plane. The songs that are contained in the Torah, as well as songs that were composed and sung by holy people, are capable of that. There are, however, certain songs that can actually have a BESHALLACH deleterious effect on one’s inner soul and stunt the process of spiritual growth.)
Thus, when the Jews left Egypt, making a transition from one state of existence to a much higher one, they needed to sing. Their song ensure that their movement out of Egypt was more than just a geographic change, but primarily a major spiritual transformation.
Shabbos Transition through Song
What happened then in terms of “space” is true of every Shabbos in terms of “time.” Just as the Exodus from Egypt was a twofold movement; a physical and geographic transition coupled with a spiritual transformation that was reflected in their song, similarly, every Shabbos is a twofold movement. It is a physical transition in time, moving from the weekday to the Shabbos, but it is also a spiritually transforming experience as well. As the Sages of Kabbalah have taught us, on the Shabbos the entire universe is elevated to a higher plane of existence.
Just as the transition from Egypt to the desert required song to imbue the transition with soul and spiritual meaning, so too, the transition we make from the weekday to the Shabbos and the process of the elevation of the world, occurs through the medium of song.
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We can now appreciate the significance of this week’s designation as Shabbos Shira, the Sabbath of Song rather than the Shabbos of the Crossing of the Sea of Reeds.
The song that was sung by the Jewish people then, in one important way, was more significant than the miracle of the splitting of the sea itself, because the song reflected the dynamic of change that was going on within them and was the underlying spiritual catalyst for the entire miracle.
Future Redemption through Song
We therefore also find many references to the fact that the future Redemption will be accompanied by song. Not only will song express our obvious joy for having been redeemed, but it will also be the medium through which we express our innermost divine feelings and the force behind the transition from the state of exile to the state of Redemption.
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From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Beshalach by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
