Lucidness and Loftiness
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
The dramatic miracles of the exodus are not yet over. Bnei Yisroel has indeed left Egypt, but within three days Pharaoh regrets sending Bnei Yisroel out. He gathers his chariots and sets out in pursuit in pursuit of Bnei Yisroel, coming up behind them as they approach the Red Sea in front of them. Frightened, the people cry out, believing they will die in the desert. Moshe reassures them that Hashem will again save them. Hashem tells Moshe to stretch out his hand above the water and to tell Bnei Yisroel to continue moving forward. Nachshon ben Aminadav moves forward, continuing until the waters come up to his neck, at which point the sea miraculously splits, allowing Bnei Yisroel to pass through on dry land. The Egyptians, on their chariots, follow in hot pursuit, but as soon as Bnei Yisroel ascended the river bank, the walls of water collapse, drowning the Egyptians and their chariots. Moshe and Bnei Yisroel, witnessing the total destruction of their enemy so miraculously, then burst out is song/oz yashir. It was oz/then, at that moment of Divine revelation and salvation, that Moshe and Bnei Yisroel spontaneously burst into song.
While the simple understanding of oz is explained as spontaneity, it behooves us to explore the deeper reasons behind the timing of this special song evoked by this particular word. The Midrash hears in this word echos of its earlier use. This was the same word Moshe himself had used as a complaint against Hashem. When Moshe first approached Pharaoh to permit Bnei Yisroel a few days to serve Hashem, Pharaoh not only rejected the request, but imposed further burdens on Bnei Yisroel, forcing Bnei Yisroel to provide their own materials while requiring the same brick production. A frustrated and angry Moshe couldn't understand why Hashem had sent him to Pharaoh, for, "Mei'oz/from then...[Pharaoh] did [greater] evil to his people and You did not rescue them." With this oz at the Sea, Moshe is counteracting and rectifying the first oz. As the Bircas Mordechai suggests, Moshe underwent a change of mindset here that rectified the earlier doubt.
The Ksav Sofer sheds light on Moshe's new perception. When Hashem first told Moshe to ask Pharaoh for a three day leave, Moshe thought of the request as benefiting Hashem rather than benefiting Bnei Yisroel. Pharaoh, however, would think the request was a ploy to enable Bnei Yisroel to escape the clutches of Egypt. Only now did Moshe understand that the initial request was to plant the idea of pursuit in the mind of Pharaoh so that Hashem could exact judgment upon him and drown his entire army in the sea. This "Aha moment" elicited the song.
But why was Moshe wrong? After all, the situation did get worse. And why did Bnei Yisroel not accept the news that they were being redeemed? In Birkat Mordechai, Rabbi Ezrachi explains that both reactions arose from related misunderstandings. Bnei Yisroel was aware that at the Covenant between the Halves Hashem told Avraham Avinu that the servitude would last 400 years, yet now only 210 years had elapsed. What Moshe and Bnei Yisroel did not understand was that while we live in a set dimension of time, Hashem exists in a dimension above time. Hashem is the One/א above the ז/physical time, the two letters that comprise the word אז. Hashem exists in an eternity where past, present, and future coalesce. He can telescope time so that, because of external pressures, time itself is compressed. The suffering and servitude of 400 years was thus complete in 210 years. [Since we are meant to emulate Hashem, we can perhaps understand this idea by contrasting a highly efficient workplace with a lax workplace. In the former, a job will take only a month, while in the latter, the same job will need three or four months to complete. CKS] It was with this new realization that Moshe could rectify his earlier use of the word מאז/from that time... with the present אז/at this time. This further understanding prompted the spontaneous song. Moshe now understood that the first oz/then contained the cure that would enable the current oz.
We encounter that same challenge regularly. We have difficulty disconnecting from our daily routines and lives to envision the bigger picture. Sometimes we are privileged to see it in retrospect.
In a sense, the situations evoking the two "oz/then" exclamations were similar. In both, the condition of Bnei Yisroel seemed to have worsened. In the first, their workload was increased, and in the second, they seemed to be facing either certain death in the sea or further servitude if the Egyptians would return them to Egypt. As the ArtScroll Insights into the Midrash explains, and is echoed by Rabbi Zvi Kushelevsky, this new insight that any wound Hashem inflicts is intended to bring a cure generated the impulse to break out in song. Citing the Maharal, Rabbi Kushelevsky explains that oz expresses the fluidity of time, that the present immediately becomes the past, and the future is immediately present and then, too, past. Moshe had misunderstood that Hashem can transcend these classifications, that these times are simultaneous within His grasp, Moshe had initially erred. The word oz can be translated as either "then" or "when," itself transcending the limitations of time. So Moshe, with his new understanding, can rectify his earlier complaint beginning with oz.
The Torah emphasizes that this was a lesson not only for Moshe an d for that generation, but for all time. "Oz/Then Moshe and Bnei Yisroel sang... laimor/saying..." Letitcha Elyon reminds us that whenever the Torah adds the word "saying," the message is meant to be transmitted further. Since all of Bnei Yisroel were singing with Moshe, the message of maintaining our trust in Hashem even when situations seems to be getting bleaker must be transmitted from generation to generation.
But Moshe Rabbenu is doing more than rectifying the past by praising Hashem for this salvation. He is praising Hashem for the previous hardship as well, adds the Beis Halevi. They were rejoicing with the realization that their bondage became the very instrument of Hashem's glorification, and they were now grateful for the bondage as well as for the salvation, incorporating both within their song. It was with this word oz that Hashem was praised for the first time for His benevolence within adversity, teaches Rabbi Gedaliah Schorr.
In our world, we do not see the good in everything. We accept the negative by proclaiming, "Boruch Dayan Haemet/Blessed is the True Judge," because we cannot understand His ways. But in the future, all will be clear, and we will understand the love even within the affliction. We will joyously declare, "HaTov vehaMeitiv/He Who is good and does continuous good [in every situation]." When it was dark for the Egyptians, writes Rabbi Goldwicht, there was light for Bnei Yisroel. That light penetrated Bnei Yisroel on the shores of the Red Sea, a vision that let them see the light within the darkness of their bondage. That telescoping of the two events into the light within the darkness erupted in song.
This Shabbat is called Shabbat Shirah for the Song of the Sea we read. But song and music never consist of notes only on the upper bars of the music's notation. Like life itself, there are ups and downs in music and in song. It is only with the upper and lower notes, with black keys and white keys that a full song can appear, writes Rabbi Weinberger.
The revelation of Hashem at the Sea was inherently different from other revelations, writes Rabbi Eisenberger in Mesillot Bilvovom. It began with the plagues and culminated here, with Hashem's revelation to every member of Bnei Yisroel irrespective of their worthiness or deeds. As our Chazal tell us, a simple maidservant at the Sea experienced greater revelation than the Prophet Ezekiel who had a vision of the Heavenly Throne itself. Hashem granted this revelation from pure and simple love of Bnei Yisroel, a love not predicated on reason, just as a preference for one food or one color over another is not subject to logic or reason. It was this pure love that Bnei Yisroel responded to with pure love and song of their own. It was a reflection of the deep love and connection Bnei Yisroel felt for Hashem at that moment. A connection we should continue to yearn for.
Just as Bnei Yisroel understood that they were not entitled to that manifestation of Hashem's love at the Sea, so must we accept our challenges as well as our blessings with love for Hakodosh Boruch Hu. We too must understand that we are not entitled to anything, that everything Hashem gives us, both good and what we may perceive as bad in the present, is a manifestation of His love, adds Rebbetzin Smiles.
A Talmid Chacham must always weigh his actions against the will of Hakodosh Boruch Hu rather than against his own desires and emotions, writes Rabbi Bloch in Shiurei Daas. Everyone is moved to compassion when witnessing the suffering of other human beings. Certainly, Moshe, who went out to suffer the burdens of Bnei Yisroel with them, who had compassion even on a thirsty sheep, would feel compassion for the drowning Egyptians. But Moshe understood that the suffering of the Egyptians here was the will of Hakodosh Boruch Hu, and that Hashem wanted him to sing joyously at this moment, even in contradiction to to his nature. In his earlier use of the word oz, Moshe had let his emotions override Hashem's will, giving rise to his complaint against Hashem. At the Sea, when Moshe sang praises to Hashem at the suffering of the Egyptians in spite of his natural bent toward compassion, he rectified his earlier error that was colored by personal emotion.
Life has joyous moments as well as challenges. A full life experiences highs and lows, just as does music. May we yearn for connection to Hashem even when we do not see the light, knowing that even then, or especially then, Hashem is with us, loving us, and doing everything for our ultimate benefit.