This Shabbat,
Shabbat Shira (the Shabbat of Song) we find songs in the Torah reading (Shirat
HaYam, the Song of the Sea, Shmot 15:1-21) and in the Haftara reading (Shirat
Devora, Devora’s Song, Shoftim 5:1-31).

In the Torah
reading, after Moshe sings the song of victory with the men, Miriam appears
(Shmot 15:20-21):

Then Miriam the
prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went
out after her in dance with timbrels. And Miriam chanted for them:
Sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously; Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea.

Rav Yisachar Yaakovson
points out that in the Torah reading, Miriam has a secondary role. She is
completing Moshe’s song, getting the women involved in praising God and playing
instruments. Devora, on the other hand, in our Haftara, is at the center of the
story and she leads the song. Devora was the only woman who united the roles of
both prophetess and judge (Shoftim 4:4-5):

Devora, wife of Lapidot,
was a prophetess; she led Israel at that time.
She used to sit under the Palm of Devora, between Ramah and
Beit-El, in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites would come to her
for decisions.

We see Devora’s
prophecy in Shoftim 4:8-9:

Barak said to her, “If
you will go with me, I will go; if not, I will not go.” “Very well, I will go
with you,” she answered. “However, there will be no glory for you in the course
you are taking, for then the LORD will deliver Sisera into the hands of a
woman.” So Devora went with Barak to Kedesh.

Devora’s prophecy came
true. The hero of the war was Yael, who killed the enemy Sisera. The war was
won by a woman.

While Miriam and Devora
are described as prophetesses, Miriam’s prophecy is not spelled out in the
Biblical text while Devora’s is very clear. Miriam may have been overshadowed
by her brother Moshe, the greatest of all of the prophets. During the time that
Devora served as a judge and prophetess she had no competition, none of the men
at the time were capable leaders.

You may remember the animated movie “The Prince of
Egypt” which was released in 1999 and became a classic for those who love the
story of the Exodus from Egypt. If you have never seen it or if it has been a
while since you saw it last, I highly recommend it.

The movie does a pretty good job of illustrating the
Book of Shmot. However, the film does differ from the Biblical text. For
example, in the movie, Pharaoh’s wife, rather than his daughter, found Moshe in
the basket. Tziporah, Moshe’s wife, rather than Aharon went with Moshe to meet
with Pharaoh. Moshe was even Pharaoh’s best friend, until the day that Moshe requested
“Let my people go.”

Aside from these discrepancies, there was a very
important message in the movie presented in a song sung by Miriam, Tziopora,
the Hebrew Children and the Hebrews: “When You Believe”:

Who knows what miracles you can achieve when you
believe, somehow you will, you will when you believe.

The focal point of the song that really makes the
movie is when the Hebrew Children sing part of Az Yashir (The Song of the Sea)
in Hebrew as they are crossing the Sea of Reeds:

Ashira la-HaShem ki ga-oh ga-ah

I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed
gloriously

Mi Chamocha ba’Eilim HaShem?

Who is like You, O Lord among the celestial?

Mi Kamocha ne-edar baKodesh?

Who is like You, majestic in holiness?

Nachita v’Chasdecha am zu ga-alta

In your love, you lead the people you redeemed

A-shira, a-shira,
a-shira           

I will sing, I will sing, I will sing…

Az Yashir is a prayer that is recited every morning.
It is read from the Torah on Parshat Beshalach and on the seventh day of Pesach.
Because we are so familiar with it, we may forget the magnitude of the fact
that it was sung by the Jewish people after they crossed the sea and were
saved.

The movie does a great job of calling attention to
this important song. The fact that it is sung in Hebrew makes an even greater
impact.

Although the movie isn’t perfect, “When You Believe”
can give us extra kavana (intent) when we recite Az Yashir. It also gives us a
moment to reflect on two amazing artists who sang on the soundtrack and are no
longer with us, Whitney Houston and Ofra Haza who are both listed as Rolling
Stone’s top 200 singers of all time.

Last night, residents of Jerusalem
looked towards the sky in anticipation of the snow that was predicted by the
forecasters. Young and old alike waited patiently to see what would come down.
In the end, there was rain, hail, sleet and a little bit of snow in Jerusalem,
just enough for a snowball fight. By the morning, it was all gone. Children of
all ages were disappointed but what can we do? As Mark Twain once said
“Everyone talks about the weather but nobody can do anything about it.” Certain
things are in God’s hands.

Another thing that fell from the sky
and melted was the manna in the desert.

When did B’nei Yisrael begin to
receive the manna?

In Parshat Beshalach, B’nai Yisrael
arrive at Eilim (Shmot 16:27) “Then they came to Eilim, where there were twelve
springs of water and seventy date palms and they camped there near the water”.
Rabbi Menachem Leibtag describes Eilim as Palm Springs, were you could find
both palm trees and springs of water. Eilim was like a vacation in paradise.
After Eilim, they arrive in Midbar Tzin, the real desert, located between Eilim
and Sinai, a month after leaving Egypt and they begin to complain that they
were brought to the desert to starve.

In Shmot 16:4, God said to Moshe, “Behold,
I will make bread rain from heaven for you and the people shall go out and
gather enough for each day, that I may test them to see if they will walk in
the way of my teaching or not.”

Rashi describes the test as twofold:
to see if they would leave any manna overnight (if they did it would become
wormy and putrid) and to make sure that they had enough faith in God not to go
out to collect on Shabbat.

The test according to Ramban was
that B’nai Yisrael needed to rely solely on God for all of their food as there
was no access to any other food in the desert aside from the manna and slav
(quail) that God sent them.

According to Nechama Leibowitz, “The
trial consists of living in continual expectation, in outright dependence on
God, the same dependence that characterizes all men in eking their bread from
the ground. But in his blindness man does not sense this, regarding himself as
the producer of bread from the ground. On the other hand, the one who partakes
of the ‘bread of heaven’ feels his dependence on the One who rains it down,
much more intensely, and in spite of himself.”

Nechama Leibowitz continues, “The
Israelites failed to withstand this test and rebelled against the continuous
state of dependence when they said (Bamidbar 11:6) ‘But now our soul is dried
away; there is nothing at all; we have nothing except the manna to look forward
to.’”

In the Land of Israel, we rely on
the rain to make sure that our crops will grow. Even when it does rain, there
is no instant gratification as we still need to wait for the food. At the end
of the day, it is the same story as with the manna, any way you slice it, all
of our food comes from God.

In Israel, everything is different.
Snow and rain are a big deal here. Every time they fall is a cause for
celebration. Even the movie “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” has a different
name, “Geshem shel Felafel”, “Raining Felafel.” Both movie titles could fit in
well with the midrash in Shmot Raba 5:9 where Rabbi Yose ben Hanina states that
the manna descended with a taste varying according to the needs of the
individual Israelites.

After Moshe and B’nai Yisrael sing
“Az Yashir”, the Song of the Sea, we read about Miriam and the women (Shmot
15:20-21): “Miriam the prophetess, sister of Aharon, took the tof (drum) in her
hand; and all of the women followed her with tupim uvimacholot (two types of
drums). Miriam led them in the response: ‘Shiru (sing) to God for He is most
high; horse and its rider He hurled into the sea.’”

According to Chizkuni, the women
continued to sing the entire “Az Yashir” with Miriam, not just the first line.

Rabbi Saadya Gaon describes the two
types of drums that the women used:

He translates tupim as difduf (drums
that you hit by hand) and macholot as tavul (a bigger drum that you hit with
wooden drumsticks).

We see the combination of tof  and machol listed with the other instruments
used to praise God in Tehilim, Psalms 149:3 and 150:4
which we recite each morning: “Let them praise his name with machol, let them
sing praises to him with tof and kinor (lyre)”, “Praise Him with tof and
machol…”

In the tragic story of Yiftach’s
daughter in Shoftim (Judges), after Yiftach defeats Amon, he makes a vow to
sacrifice whatever emerges first from the doors of his house. In Shoftim 11:34
we read: “Yiftach arrived at Mitzpe, to his home and behold, his daughter was
coming out to him bitupim uvimacholot…” Just like Miriam and the women,
Yiftach’s daughter was celebrating the war victory by playing instruments.

Mitzudat Zion defines both tupim and
macholot as instruments and he references Shmot 15:20. Radak, Ibn Ezra and Ibn
Janah also define machol as an instrument.

As well, we see in Shmuel I, 18:6-7:
“It happened that when the troops came back- when David returned from slaying
the Philistine (Goliath)- the women from the towns of Israel came out to sing
vhamacholot to greet King Shaul with tupim, with gladness and with cymbals. The
rejoicing women called out, and said, Shaul has slain his thousands and David
his tens of thousands.”

According to the Netziv, the song
had many more stanzas that are not listed here and this one verse was just the
refrain.

We see from here that the women were
singers and drummers when they sang the victory songs after the difficult
battles were fought.

Did the women also dance?

Another definition of machol is
dance (machol is the word for dance used in Modern Hebrew today). Machol is the
most used (thirteen times) out of the nine words that mean to dance in the
Tanach.

Aside from the two verses from
Tehilim, where machol is clearly referring to an instrument, the other verses
above could refer to the women dancing or playing an instrument.

In addition, we see in Shir HaShitim
(Song of Songs) 7:1 and at the end of the book of Shoftim that machol was a
type of dance that the women used in the vineyards to attract a mate. In
Shoftim (21:21) the children of Binyamin were commanded: “Go and lie in wait in
the vineyards; and see, and behold, if the daughters come out ‘lachul
bamcholot’, to dance in the dances…” References to this dance are also made in
the Mishna, Taanit 4:1-2.

The Biblical women were a talented
group who sang, danced and played the drums after successful military
victories.

May Israel be blessed with a strong
successful army and may the talented citizens come out to cheer them on with
song, dance and music.

Guest Parsha Points by Joshua Halickman

Parshat BeShalach features the roots of Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club when B’nai Yisrael sing praise to God after the splitting of the Red Sea and celebrate the salvation of the Jewish People.

In Parshat Be’Shalach, B’nai Yisrael leave Egypt and arrive at the Red Sea as Pharaoh and his entire army have a change of heart and chase them down, seemingly cornering them against the water. However, God assures the people and Moshe splits the sea allowing B’nai Yisrael to walk through on dry land. Once on the other side, the water crashes down on the Egyptians saving B’nai Yisrael.

Moshe and Bnei Yisrael then sing “Az YaShir”, a song of praise recognizing the salvation afforded to them. One of the most famous phrases in the song is “Mi KaMocha Be’Elim, Hashem” (מי כמוך באלים ה׳) whose acronym spells out the Hebrew word Maccabi (מכבי). The loose translation of the phrase is “Who is like You among the heavenly powers?” Is there any power stronger than God? The answer of course is no. No one can be compared to God; a sign of power and strength.

In 1895 in the city of Constantinople, Jews were not allowed to participate in regular sports clubs and were forced to form one of their own. Using the acronym of Maccabi, the first Jewish Sports Club was formed eventually becoming Maccabi Jaffa in 1906 and then Maccabi Tel Aviv later on in that decade.

Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and supporters worldwide should reflect with pride on being part of this important and auspicious moment in the history of the Jewish People and know that with desire, power and strength we can all succeed both on and off of the field of play.

Sponsored by Esther Dukovny

in honor of her Hebrew and English Birthdays

which coincide on Yud-Alef Shvat, January 21

One of the most popular songs
at the Passover Seder is Dayenu (it would have been enough for us). Many of the
concepts in Dayenu come from Parshat Beshalach:

If God had only given us
their treasures and had not divided the sea- Dayenu

If God had only divided the
sea and had not led us across on dry land- Dayenu

If God had only led us across
on dry land and had not drowned the Egyptians- Dayenu

If God had only drowned the
Egyptians and had not taken care of us in the desert for forty years- Dayenu

If God had only taken care of
us in the desert for forty years and had not fed us the manna- Dayenu

If God had only fed us the
manna and had not given u s the Shabbat-Dayenu

There is a custom among
Persian Jews to hit each other with green onions when they sing “Dayenu” after
the words: “If God had only taken care of us in the desert for forty years and had
not fed us the manna.”

The Haggada called A
Different Night suggests that this custom may be based on the fact that
B’nai Yisrael complained about the manna and said (Bamidbar 11:5-6) “We
remember the fish that we used to eat in Egypt freely, the cucumbers, the watermelons,
the leeks, the onions and the garlic. Now our bodies are withered. There is
nothing at all, nothing but this manna to look at.”

By hitting each other with onions,
the participants at the Seder are showing how ashamed they are that B’nai
Yisrael were so ungrateful and unappreciative when they were in the wilderness.
Instead of being happy that they had something to eat, they were yearning for
the food in Egypt,
forgetting about the fact that when they were slaves they were hardly given any
time to eat.

Dayenu is the part of the Seder
when we should think about how grateful we should be for what we do have and
not dwell on what we don’t. 

This Shabbat is Shabbat Shira, the
Shabbat of Song (where we read Az Yashir, the Song of the Sea and the Haftara
is Shirat Devora, Devora’s song). This Shabbat we also celebrate Tu B’Shvat,
the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Shvat, the birthday of the trees.

What is the connection between the
story of Devora and the holiday of Tu B’Svat?

In the book of Shoftim (Judges) 4:4-5
we read: “Devora was a prophetess, a fiery woman; she judged Israel at that
time. She would sit under the date palm of Devora, between Rama and Beit-El on
Mt. Ephraim and B’nai Yisrael would go up to her for judgment.”

Why was the tree called Tomer
Devora, the Date Palm of Devora?

According to Rashi, Devora was a wealthy
woman who owned date palms in Jericho, vineyards in Rama, olive groves in Beit
El as well as a sown grain field in Mt. Ephraim.

What is the significance of the date
palm?

We learn in Bamidbar Raba 3:1: “No
part of the palm tree is wasted: every part may be used: Its dates are for
eating, its lulav branches are for waving in praise on Sukkot, its dried up
branches are thatch for roofing (including schach for the sukka), its fibers are
for ropes, its leaves for sieves and its planed trunks for house beams.

In 2008, a 2000 year old date pit
was found in Israel and planted in Kibbutz Ketura. Today the tree is over ten
feet tall and can make dates. We see from here that even the pits can be
recycled 2000 years later.

Tu B’Shvat is our opportunity to appreciate
the trees in Israel including the date palm, olive tree and grapevines which
Devora the prophetess owned.

Those who are not in Israel can buy
dates, olive oil and wine from Israel, all exported in large quantities
throughout the world.

In Parshat Beshalach, Shmot 15:20 after the men sang “Az
Yashir”, The Song of the Sea we read: “Miriam the prophetess, sister of Aharon,
took the drum in her hand; and all the women followed her with drums and
dancing.”

Rashi quotes the Mechilta to explain where the drums came
from: “The righteous women of that generation were sure that God would perform
miracles for them so they took drums out of Egypt.”

When the Jews were finally able to leave Russia, many
were not able to carry their large instruments with them. However, their skills
and love of music remained with them.

Many Israelis who made aliya from Russia
are now music teachers in Israel’s
elementary schools and have greatly enhanced the level of culture in Israel.

In 1989, the Spektors, a family of talented musicians
arrived from Russia and
joined my grandmother’s shul in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, NY. My grandmother, Reva Margolin, played the
violin and appreciated music so she was very excited to meet this family along
with many other Russian Jews who joined the community. 

When I was in a teen theater group in Riverdale, we had the
honor of having Bella, the mother, accompany us on the piano during one of our
performances.

Although Bella could not bring over her Petrof piano from Russia, Bella brought her talent with her as did
her nine year old daughter, Regina.

When the Spektor’s arrived in New York,
the Riverdale Jewish Community Council’s Russian Resettlement Program provided
them with whatever they needed including furniture and enrollment in the Jewish
day school, SAR Academy. The only thing that they were
missing was a piano.

Adinah Kranzler who ran a summer art camp donated a piano
that was no longer needed to the Spektors. A Long Island City moving company volunteered to deliver the piano carrying it up more than three
flights of stairs.

Regina Spektor is now a famous singer-songwriter and record
producer yet she still never got rid of the old piano.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal on November 8,
2013, Regina
commented: “I always feel like the instruments we have played are our
friends…you don’t abandon old people or old pets, so why would you abandon an
old friend you made music with?” 

In Beshalach, Shmot 13:18 we read: “God led the people
round-about by the way of the Reed Sea Desert and
B’nai Yisrael went up “chamushim” from the land of Egypt.

According to Rashi, the word chamushim means armed. Because
God took them on the round-about route in the desert, He caused them to go up
armed. For had He taken them by the way of settled areas they would not have
armed themselves with all of their needs, but rather as one traveling from
place to place, whose intention it was to obtain what he needs there. But when
one sets out into the wilderness, one must prepare for all his needs. This
pasuk was necessary so that later during the wars of Amalek, Sichon, Og and Midian
nobody would wonder where B’nai Yisrael obtained the weapons that enabled them
to defeat their enemies by the sword.

In Yehoshua 1:14 the word chamushim is also used” “…You
shall pass before your brothers armed (chamushim), all the mighty men of valor
and help them.”

According to Eben Ezra, chumashim refers to the belted
swords that they were wearing. This shows that they did not leave Egypt as fleeing slaves, but rather as soldiers with weapons.

We learn from here that even though God didn’t want B’nai
Yisrael to encounter the battle field right away and therefore He didn’t take
them straight through the land of the Philistines (where the Gaza strip is today) there would inevitably
be battles that would need to be fought. We already see at the end of Parsha
Beshalach that the nation of Amalek attacked them.

B’nai Yisrael miraculously won the war with Amalek which was
fought spiritually by God and Moshe as well as physically “by the edge of the
sword”.

In Israel,
we constantly see soldiers and civilians who are “chamushim” with a gun in
their pocket or slung over their soldier. We know that on the one hand God is
watching over us, but on the other hand we must be prepared to protect
ourselves if necessary.

May God watch over and protect our soldiers who watch over
and protect the residents of Israel.

When Pharaoh sent away B’nai Yisrael, it was under the
premise that they would pray in the desert for three days and then return to Egypt.

In Shmot, 14:5 we read: “The king of Egypt was told
that the people had fled. Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart
regarding the people, and they said, ‘What have we done? How did we release Israel from serving us?’”

Siftei Chachamim asks: If Pharaoh was the one who sent them
away then why did he need to be told?

According to Rashi, Pharaoh sent officials with them. Once
they reached the point of three days journey which had been fixed for them to
go and to return and the officials saw that they were not returning to Egypt, they
came on the fourth day and told Pharaoh. On the fifth and sixth days they
pursued them, and on the night of the seventh they went down into the sea. In
the morning they sang shira, “Az Yahir”, the song of praise at the crossing of
the Reed Sea. That day was the seventh day of
Pesach. For this reason we read the shira on the seventh day of Pesach.

In the next pasuk we read: “He (Pharaoh) harnessed his
chariot and he took his people with him.”

Rashi quoting the Mechilta says that Pharaoh harnessed his chariot
by himself.

Breisheet Raba asks: Didn’t he have enough servants to
harness his chariot?

The Mechilta explains: He did it with his own hand. Kings
usually stand by, while others prepare their chariot and harness it. Pharaoh
the wicked on the other hand prepared and harnessed his own chariot. As soon as
the courtiers saw what he was doing they followed suit.

We can see from here that Pharaoh never intended to free the
Jewish people from slavery and was going to try to do everything in his power
to bring them back. Even though he saw all of the miracles that God preformed,
he still thought of himself as a God and actively went to bring them back.
Pharaoh abused his power.

The Mechilta points out that Avraham saddled his donkey on
his own and Yosef made ready his own chariot. They too had servants who could
have taken care of it for them but Avraham wanted to prepare for the Akeda
(Binding of Isaac) on his own and Yosef wanted to put the extra effort into
honoring his father. Avraham and Yosef rushed to do good while Pharaoh and
Bilaam (another enemy of Israel)
rushed to do evil.