Shalom Chaverim!
It is interesting to note that our tradition is to sing the entire Torah, one weekly portion at a time throughout the entire year. In other words, the Torah is a song as much as it is a text, perhaps more of a song than a text. Although there are several ‘melodies’ for chanting the Torah, each with threads that can be traced back by musicologists to ancient times, we do not precisely know the original melody with which God is said to have sung the Torah to Moses, or Moses is said to have sung it to our ancestors.
Although all of Torah can be considered as a song, two passages famously stand out as important and recognizably distinct songs within the overall song of Torah. These are Moses’ song at the end of Torah, in Ha’azinu, which was a summary of the whole Torah meant to be memorized and sung by every Israelite throughout the generations; the other is what we encounter in this week’s Torah portion, Beshallach: Shirat haYam, the song at the sea.
In fact, it is the Shirat haYam, which we traditionally recite from the Torah not only when reading Beshallach one week each year, but also on the seventh day of Passover. We also read it, traditionally, each morning in the lead up to the schacharit morning service.
It is no wonder why this song more than any other is – one could say – the anthem of the Jewish People: This song is sung by the people as they grasp the magnitude of the mind-blowing miracle they just experienced, having crossed the dried out bottom of the sea to safety, seeing the Egyptians dead on the shore, and realizing that they are now, finally and totally, slaves no more but are instead a free people forever. The song tries to capture the awe and gratitude we felt at that moment, and to entrench it through this song into our hearts as well. The song transcends and connects the generations on each and every day.
You can watch this video version of the Shirat haYam, which uses some classic cinema renditions of the splitting of the sea. The melody and instrumentation do a plausible job of imagining what the sound of the song was like when it was sung, and helpfully tries to bring the experience of the song to life. You can see it here, a translation is in the video itself.
Does this song – which contains within it so much melody and emotion and history; drama and tradition and connection – impact you differently than other songs you hear, say, on the radio? As you listen, try to connect to this song in a special way to match its all its accolades and unique status as among the most ancient songs known to humanity. Or perhaps instead: let the song connect to you…
SHABBAT SHALOM
Rabbi Michael Schwartz