This week’s parasha , Beshalach, presents the conclusion of the Jewish people’s miraculous exodus from Egypt with their crossing the dry sea bed of the Red Sea and the destruction of Pharoh and his army. The Torah records the Jewish people’s reaction to the splitting of the Red Sea - they feared G-d and they believed in G-d and in Moshe His servant. The Torah continues with the passage of az yashir , “Then Moshe and b’nei yisrael sung this song to Hashem and they said the following…”, and the presentation of shirat hayam – the song of the sea – a song of praise of G-d describing His saving the Jewish people from Egypt. The shirat hayam is tightly written verse. The language is dense and subtle. The meter is consistent. It is a beautiful piece of poetry. Our chachamim debate a very curious issue regarding the shira. How exactly was it recited? The Gemara and the Mekhilta record four different opinions answering this very question. The first opinion holds that for each verse of the sh...
Rabbi Benjy Owen, Dean, Margolin Hebrew Academy-Feinstone Yeshiva of the South, Memphis, TN