Music To My Ears – Beshalach
אָז יָשִׁיר מֹשֶׁה וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת לַה' וַיֹּאמְרוּ לֵאמֹר אָשִׁירָה לַה' כִּי גָאֹה גָּאָה סוּס וְרֹכְבוֹ רָמָה בַיָּם. (שמות טו, א)
The Midrash (Shmot Raba 23, 4) on this passuk says "From the time HKB"H created the world until Am Yisrael sang שִׁירָה after they saw the Egyptians drowning in the sea, nobody had ever sung שִׁירָה to HKB"H. HKB"H created Adam and he never sang שִׁירָה. When HKB"H saved Avraham from the furnace and from the war with the kings, Avraham never sang שִׁירָה. When HKB"H saved Yitzchak from the Akeida, Yitzchak never sang שִׁירָה. When HKB"H saved Yaakov from the angel and from Eisav, Yaakov never sang שִׁירָה".
The words of the Midrash are very difficult to understand, because we have explicit sources that the list of people above did in fact sing שִׁירָה.
The Yalkut Shimoni (Tehilim 93) says that when HKB"H created Adam, he was such a magnificent creature that all the angels and the other creatures thought he was G-d and came to bow down to him. Adam said to them why are you bowing down to me, let us all bow down to the real G-d who created us all. Adam proceeded to sing ה' מָלָךְ גֵּאוּת לָבֵשׁ, the שִׁיר שֶׁל יוֹם that we "sing" every Friday.
Breishit Raba (48a) says that the passuk in Tehilim (18, 36) וַתִּתֶּן לִי מָגֵן יִשְׁעֶךָ וִימִינְךָ תִסְעָדֵנִי וְעַנְוַתְךָ תַרְבֵּנִי, is referring to Avraham Avinu praising HKB"H for saving him from the furnace, the famine and the kings.
The Kedushat Levi (בראשית, חיי שרה, כה) says on the passuk וַיֵּצֵא יִצְחָק לָשׂוּחַ בַּשָּׂדֶה, that Yitzchak Avinu's name יִצְחָק reflects שִׂמְחָה. The word שׂוּחַ on the other hand, is referring to a form of הַכְנָעָה which normally leads to עַצְבוּת. However, in the context of Avodat Hashem, when a person has הַכְנָעָה it davka connects them to the root of שִׂמְחָה. The Gemara (ערכין יא, ע"א) explains that שִׂמְחָה means שִׁירָה. So, when Yitzchak went to daven Mincha, he sang שִׁירָה.
We know that Yaakov Avinu sang praises to HKB"H, from the passuk קָטֹנְתִּי מִכֹּל הַחֲסָדִים וּמִכָּל הָאֱמֶת אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתָ אֶת עַבְדֶּךָ וכו' (בראשית לב, יא). It has recently become a contemporary pop tune.
Also, we know that the angels sing to HKB"H every day, as it says in the Midrash בְּכָל יוֹם וָיוֹם הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בּוֹרֵא כַּת שֶׁל מַלְאָכִים חֲדָשִׁים וְהֵן אוֹמְרִים שִׁירָה לְפָנָיו (בראשית רבה, ע"ח).
Even the animals have been singing to HKB"H every day, since Creation. Every time you hear a bird chirping, a rooster crowing, a donkey braying, etc, they are singing שִׁירָה to HKB"H. If you want to know what they are singing, refer to the sefer Perek Shira.
So, what does the Midrash above mean that Am Yisrael at קְרִיעַת יַם סוּף were the first to ever sing שִׁירָה to HKB"H?
This shiur will explore how "music" features in the Torah and what role it plays. Such a topic cannot be covered in a brief shiur like this, it would require a library, as it says in Shir Hashirim Raba (א, ג, א) "If all the seas were ink, all the rivers quills, Heaven and earth canvases and all human beings scribes – there would still not be enough space to encompass this subject". We will, however, try to derive the "essence", the heart of the matter.
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 91b) says that the concept of תְּחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים in the Torah is derived from the passuk אָז יָשִׁיר מֹשֶׁה. The passuk speaks in the future tense, "Moshe will sing", meaning that in the time of the Geulah, Moshe will be resurrected and will sing this song (a second time).
The Zohar Hakadosh (ח"ב, קיד, ב) says that Moshe is called רָעֲיָא מְהֵימָנָא, the faithful shepherd, because like a shepherd who plays the flute for his sheep, Moshe Rabbeinu, in his tefilot, knew how to "play", לְנַגֵּן, using the 600,000 different נִגּוּנִים of all the neshamot of Am Yisrael.
The Zohar likens Am Yisrael to an "orchestra" of different "instruments", each with their own special and unique sound and Moshe is the conductor of this orchestra. This is why of the Ten Sfirot, Moshe is the sfira of נֶצַח, because he knows how לְנַצֵּחַ, to "conduct" this "orchestra".
Taking this analogy of an "orchestra" to the next level.
There are three types of music. שִׁירָה – vocal, making sounds with the mouth. נִגּוּן – instrumental, making sounds with an instrument. זִמְרָה – vocal and instrumental combined. These correspond to the three concepts of נְשָׁמָה, גּוּף וְצֶלֶם.
Our neshama is purely spiritual, while our body is purely physical. HKB"H created humans בְּצֶלֶם אֱ-לֹקִים, the צֶלֶם is the midpoint between the neshama and the body and connects the two (in other sources this concept is referred to as נר"ן, "ruach" instead of צֶלֶם and "nefesh" instead of גּוּף).
In the Beit Hamikdash, the Leviim had a number of roles. Some were bakers (like Beit Garmu who baked the Lechem Hapanim), some were in charge of certain raw materials (oil, wine, levonah, solet, etc.) some were the gatekeepers (in charge of opening and closing the gates) and some were musicians (singers and players of instruments) (דברי הימים א, ט).
Moshe Rabbeinu was a Levi and he was a "singer". In fact, Moshe is called רֹאשׁ הַמְּשׁוֹרְרִים, the "chief singer". Moshe immortalized two "songs", Shirat HaYam and Haazinu.
The "chief instrumentalist" was אֱלִישָׁע הַנָּבִיא. The passuk says וְעַתָּה קְחוּ לִי מְנַגֵּן וְהָיָה כְּנַגֵּן הַמְנַגֵּן וַתְּהִי עָלָיו יַד ה' (מלכים ב, ג, טו), that Elisha evoked the power of prophecy through נִגּוּן (כתבי האריז"ל).
The "chief מְזַמֵּר" was David Hamelech, who is also called נְעִים זְמִירוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל. Sometimes David would sing, sometimes he would play on an instrument, and sometimes both together. In Tehilim, David mentions many different instruments כִּנּוֹר, עוּגָב, צֶלְצֶלִים, גִּתִּית, נֵבֶל, נְחִילוֹת, עֲלָמוֹת, שְּׁמִינִית, תֹף, וכו'. It is unclear how many of these David could actually play himself.
The passuk says אָז יָשִׁיר מֹשֶׁה. The gematria of אָז is 8, the number of whole notes in a "full" octave. The word "octave" is derived from the Latin root meaning eight.
In his introduction to sefer פאת השולחן, R' Yisrael of Shklov quotes the Vilna Gaon and lists a number of disciplines that without them, one cannot fully understand the Torah. One of them is music. This is what he says –
רֹב טַעֲמֵי תּוֹרָה וְסוֹדוֹת שִׁירֵי הַלְּוִיִּים, וְסוֹדוֹת תִּקּוּנֵי הַזֹּהַר, אִי אֶפְשָׁר לְיֶדַע בִּלְעֲדָה (בְּלִי חָכְמַת הַמּוּזִיקָה אִי אֶפְשָׁר לִלְמֹד סוֹדוֹת הַתּוֹרָה) וְעַל יָדָהּ יְכוֹלִים בֶּן אָדָם לָמוּת, בְּכָלוֹת נַפְשָׁם בִּנְעִימוֹתֶיהָ, וִיכוֹלִים לְהַחֲיוֹת מֵתִים בְּסוֹדוֹתֶיהָ הַגְּנוּזִים בַּתּוֹרָה. הוּא אָמַר כַּמָּה נִגּוּנִים וְכַמָּה מִדּוֹת הֵבִיא מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ ע"ה מֵהַר סִינַי (הַמָּקוֹר שֶׁל הַנִּגּוּנִים הוּא גַּם כֵּן מֵהַר סִינַי) וְהַשְּׁאָר מֻרְכָּבִים.
According to the Vilna Gaon, the origin of "music" was at Har Sinai. As part of the Torah, Moshe Rabbeinu brought these נִגּוּנִים down with him and all subsequent נִגּוּנִים, throughout time, are composites of these original נִגּוּנִים.
What about the שִׁירָה at קְרִיעַת יַם סוּף, which preceded Matan Torah? Was that not "music"?
Before we get to the crux of the matter a few more conundrums.
At שִׁירַת הַיָּם the males simply sang, vocally. However, immediately following, the Torah tells how Miriam led all the women in song, accompanied by tambourines and dancing! Why did the men also not dance and play musical instruments, only the women?
The final question in the series before we begin tying up loose ends. The Gemara (ערכין יג, ע"ב) discusses the ensemble of Leviim who sang and played instruments in the Mikdash. The Kesef Mishneh on the Rambam (הל' כלי מקדש, ג, ז) says that a Levi was only allowed to hold a fixed position singing שִׁירָה from 30 years of age since חָכְמַת הַשִּׁיר הִיא חָכְמָה גְּדוֹלָה וּצְרִיכָה לִמּוּד רַב, it required five years of intensive study. A Levi was technically allowed to begin singing from age bar mitzvah, but until age 30 they could not hold a permanent position and they could not stand on the דּוּכַן.
In the time of Shlomo Hamelech, there were 38,000 Leviim eligible for service in the Mikdash (דברי הימים א, כג). Of these, only 4000 were musicians. Obviously the musical Leviim in the Mikdash were hand-picked based on their talent – they didn't choose anyone who was tone deaf. Training would begin at age 8 so that by bar mitzvah the Levi would be fully trained. Leviim under age 30 were allowed to sing on an ad-hoc basis, but not regularly, until they were over 30 years old.
If someone has natural born talent, why does it take so long to teach them to do שִׁירָה? Why was maturity a prerequisite for tenure?
Now we can begin the shiur.
Sefer Meir Panim (chap. 13) explores a subject called Gvurot Geshamim. It discusses the concept of the two sfirot Gvura and Chessed and how they interact (see shiur on Eikev 2022). Without repeating the shiur, I will just recap the basic required, necessary information. The sfira of Gvura is associated with the male and the realms of תּוֹרָה and חָכְמָה. The sfira of Chessed is associated with the female and the realm of גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים.
The Zohar Hakadosh says that שִׁירָה emanates from קַו שְׂמֹאל, meaning the sfira of Gvura, however Gvura on its own is incomplete. To achieve perfection the Gvura has to intermingle with Chessed. Perfection in שִׁירָה is a mixture of Gvura and Chessed.
We asked at the beginning of the shiur why the Midrash says that the first שִׁירָה was only at קְרִיעַת יַם סוּף, and brought numerous proofs to show that there was שִׁירָה before that, lots of it!
The answer is that in fact there was שִׁירָה prior to שִׁירַת הַיָּם but it was incomplete שִׁירָה.
Adam Harishon sang שִׁירָה - ה' מָלָךְ גֵּאוּת לָבֵשׁ, but that was not complete שִׁירָה. Adam sang it before Chava was created. Adam is Gvura and Chava is Chessed, so Adam's שִׁירָה was only Gvura and not a combination of Gvura and Chessed.
Avraham Avinu sang שִׁירָה, but this was before the Akeida. Avraham was the mida of Chessed, so his שִׁירָה was entirely Chessed, not a mixture of Gvura/Chessed. Only after the Akeida did Avraham acquire this mixture, his Chessed was intermingled with Yitzchak's Gvura.
Yitzchak sang שִׁירָה, but this was before he married Rivka. Yitzchak is Gvura, Rivka is Chessed, so when the passuk says that Yitzchak "sang" וַיֵּצֵא יִצְחָק לָשׂוּחַ בַּשָּׂדֶה, that was before marrying Rivka and the שִׁירָה was purely Gvura.
Yaakov only acquired the mida of Tiferet (a mixture of Gvura and Chessed) after he battled with the angel and was renamed Yisrael. When Yaakov sang שִׁירָה - קָטֹנְתִּי מִכֹּל הַחֲסָדִים וּמִכָּל הָאֱמֶת, this was before this battle and therefore the שִׁירָה was purely Gvura.
Angels also sing שִׁירָה, but angels cannot have a combination of Gvura/Chessed, they are either/or. For example, Gavriel is Gvura, Michael is Chessed (according to one opinion the angel Yaakov battled with was Michael, from where he acquired the element of Chessed to become the sfira of Tiferet).
Animals also sing, but like angels, animals are either/or. Some animals are only Gvura, others are only Chessed.
The first time שִׁירָה achieved this perfect mixture was at יַם סוּף, but it was only for a brief moment. The males in Am Yisrael sang שִׁירָה, which was purely Gvura. Miriam then led all the women out of the camp dancing and playing tambourines - to add the Chessed component to the שִׁירָה.
Vocal singing, שִׁירָה, is associated with the neshama, the spirituality of the Torah and the sfira of Gvura. Instrumentals, נִגּוּן is associated with the physical body and the sfira of Chessed. The balance between them is זִמְרָה, vocals and instrumentals together, a mixture of Gvura/Chessed. David Hamelech was the model of this combination and he laid the foundation for שִׁירָה in the Beit Hamikdash, a mixture of Leviim singing vocally and playing musical instruments.
To translate perfection in שִׁירָה as "music", is lacking in the translation. Anyone can make "music", but very few can achieve perfect שִׁירָה. Perfect שִׁירָה is not only dependent on performance proficiency in vocals and instrumentals, it is only achieved through a thorough understanding of neshamot. The Gemara (ערכין יא, ע"א) says that the Leviim who sang and played instruments were from the family of Kehat, who were entrusted with carrying the כֵּלִים of the Mishkan –
וְתַנָּא מַיְתֵי לַהּ מֵהָכָא "וְלִבְנֵי קְהָת לֹא נָתָן כִּי עֲבֹדַת הַקֹּדֶשׁ עֲלֵיהֶם בַּכָּתֵף יִשָּׂאוּ" (בַּמִּדְבָּר ז, ט) מִמַּשְׁמָע שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר בַּכָּתֵף אֵינִי יוֹדֵעַ שֶׁיִּשְׂאוּ מָה ת"ל יִשָּׂאוּ אֵין יִשָּׂאוּ אֶלָּא לְשׁוֹן שִׁירָה וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמֵר "שְׂאוּ זִמְרָה וּתְנוּ תֹף" וְאוֹמֵר "יִשְּׂאוּ קוֹלָם יָרֹנּוּ" (תְּהִלִּים פא, ג).
It was specifically those Leviim who were entrusted with the holiest כֵּלִים of the Mishkan who were also given the task of performing perfect שִׁירָה, as only they were of the spiritual level that they could grasp the intricacies of the perfect balance between Gvura and Chessed (This is also why the family of Kehat were the bakers of the Lechem Hapanim, because it too embodies this perfect balance).
The Leviim who performed perfect שִׁירָה were not merely musicians, they were psychologists and possessed an elevated level of Ruach Hakodesh. When someone came to bring a Korban, the Leviim had to adapt their שִׁירָה to that specific person, they had to sing שִׁירָה to complement what was missing in that neshama to help it achieve perfection.
If the person bringing a Korban was a בַּעַל גַּאֲוָה, they would sing שִׁירָה to lower his גַּאֲוָה and help him achieve tshuva with the Korban. If the person bringing the Korban was someone with a נֶפֶשׁ שְׁפָלָה, they would sing שִׁירָה to raise his spirits and give him the כֹּחַ to achieve tshuva.
It did not matter if you had a natural talent for singing or strumming on a lute, to acquire this level of insight and Ruach Hakodesh required both maturity and intense training and devotion. This is why Leviim only received tenure after age 30 and after 5 years of training.
Perfect שִׁירָה is all about balance – perfect balance. It is about filling the gaps and making something whole. I once heard an interview with a jazz musician name Chick Corea who defined what "music" was. He said that a good musician looks for "gaps" and then "fills" them. I personally did not appreciate his music that much, but I loved that definition, because that is exactly what perfect שִׁירָה is. It is not merely filling empty spaces in the "music", but filling empty spaces in the neshama.
For a brief moment at the shores of the Red Sea, Am Yisrael achieved that perfect balance and it elevated them to the highest levels of נְבוּאָה. The Midrash (מכילתא דשירה ג, ד"ה זה א-לי) says that a maidservant during קְרִיעַת יַם סוּף achieved greater levels of prophecy than the prophet Yechezkel ben Buzi, who saw מַעֲשֵׂה מֶרְכָּבָה. Am Yisrael achieved אַסְפַּקְלַרְיָא הַמְּאִירָה, an unfiltered view of HKB"H. They could point directly and say זֶה אֵ-לִי וְאַנְוֵהוּ, as they literally saw HKB"H face to face.
Shortly after however, Am Yisrael sinned at Refidim and they were attacked by Amalek. Only at Har Sinai did they reacquire אַסְפַּקְלַרְיָא הַמְּאִירָה. Moshe received the Torah and became רֹאשׁ הַמְּשׁוֹרְרִים, the "conductor" over the "orchestra", the 600,000 neshamot that is Am Yisrael, each with their own unique sound, pitch, intonation and timbre.
This is why אָז יָשִׁיר is in the future tense, because at יַם סוּף, although it was the closest anyone had ever come to the authentic, complete שִׁירָה, it was still incomplete. The completion was only achieved at Har Sinai.
Similarly, after Matan Torah, Am Yisrael sinned with the egel. Since then, the remedy to acquiring the perfect balance was entrusted to the Leviim who sing perfect שִׁירָה to fill the "gaps" and complement what is missing and effect the tikun.
Since the Beit Hamikdash was destroyed, our שִׁירָה is once again deficient. We have replaced our Avodat Hashem with וּנְשַׁלְּמָה פָרִים שְׂפָתֵינוּ, vocal שִׁירָה only, which is only unbalanced Gvura. We do not play musical instruments as part of our Avodah (some opinions say we should not play or listen to musical instruments at all, to mourn the destruction).
It is unbalanced שִׁירָה. This is why Tefila alone is insufficient, we need to complement it with Chessed. Based on this, many have the custom, before beginning the Tefilla, to give tzedaka.
In our lives we have to strive for that perfect balance between Gvura and Chessed, each with our own "voice". We are all neshamot of those original 600,000 members of the "orchestra" and we each have our own song to sing and our unique role and purpose in reacquiring balance of the collective that is Am Yisrael. This is the tikun.
One day, very soon b"H, we will achieve it and then the prophecy on the Red Sea will come to pass. אָז יָשִׁיר מֹשֶׁה וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת לַה'.
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
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