Beshalach - Singing Redemption's Song

you're listening to the weekly paral podcast recorded with hm's never ending assistance in rap Israel 5775 2015 this week's par is par bashak the Jewish people are released from their bondage in Egypt but not just from their physical bondage also from their spiritual bondage they're brought to face the yamu to face the Sea of reeds in front of them is the see behind them are the Egyptians advancing to try to bring them back to become slaves once again the Jewish people turn to God and God makes the greatest Miracle of all time which will only be challenged by The Miracles that come in the time in the future with Messiah with the Messiah and that great miracle was the splitting of the sea the Jewish people walk through the sea and they are saved even as the Egyptians drown in the sea beside the Jews and as a result of this the Jewish people look they they see what has happened they see this amazing experience the Torah tells us as a result of this incredible miracle that occurred to them this incredible salvation the the climax of The Salvation requires of the Jewish people that they sing a song Moses and the Jewish people then sing a song this song I will sing to God for the great things that he has done he has done great things for me and he has caused my enemies the horses of my enemies and the Riders to to be drowned in the sea now reading this passage reading this part of the Torah reading this this story so one has to look at and try to understand what is the concept of song what is the concept of Shir why is it that the Jewish people specifically sing at this point in history and we find it says o Yash then the words literally mean then they will sing and as our sages tell us that there was a song that was sung then of course there actually 10 songs that are sung within the Torah but there's going to be a future song us then they will sing there will be a song in the future when the Messiah arrives the Jewish people will once again sing a song and the question is what is the concept of song what is the concept clearly the song that we're speaking about here is a song that's related to a Salvation why do we sing when there's a Salvation why do we sing a song in general what is the concept of song how does it relate to the Salvation of the Jewish people how does it relate to us so to get some answers let's turn to the med this is inim 23 uh it's in the medish letter he number five there the quotes aim in the song of songs it says this is in chapter 4:8 it says you have been with me from the leban on my bride you will come with me from Lebanon says the verse you will walk straight from the top of these Hills from the from the hill of am the top of the sneer Mountain these verses are speaking about the relationship between Hashem between God and the Jewish people the Jewish people are referred to as a Kala as a bride to God as it were and this bride which is the Jewish people got says to the Jewish people you are with me I am with you and as is going to say the references to the fact that although the Jewish people seem sometimes have been forsaken by God they've gone into Exile nevertheless the Jewish people are always with God God is always with the Jewish people let's read this inside it says like this another explanation then the Jewish people sang led by Moses this is what it says in a verse you are with me from the Lebanon my dear bride the way of the world is when it comes to a bride so the first thing they do is they make her look beautiful they put on makeup they spray her with wonderful fragrances and then they bring her to the to get married but God did not do that with his Kal the Jewish people he said to the people of Israel you are with me in the state ofon which means literally Lebanon but thees ising you are in a state of depravity you were in a state where you were slaves making leim is is the same root as the word leanon the word l means bricks and mortar I took you from that place of bricks and mortar I didn't make you beautiful I took you straight out from there and I made you into my bride so the first point of the medish and we're going to see how this relates to music and song and how it relates to the Jewish people as they're being saved but the first point of the medish is that Hashem took the Jewish people where they were he took them out from Egypt he didn't beautify them he didn't do anything he just said as you are I with you as you are I will be married to you so to speak I will have a relationship with you that's the first point of the Mish in the verse it says you are with me from the Lebanon it says it twice why God says to the Jewish people you went into Exile with me from the temple the temple is called Lebanon you have a verse in Isaiah 37:4 it refers to the temple to The Bash as Lebanon so we see that says you left the place of the Lebanon the place of the temple you went into Exile with me and how do we know the divine presence went with the people of Israel into Exile sh as the verse says also in Isaiah 43:14 for your sake I was sent out into the Gus into the into the Exile the verse says in Ezekiel ch 1:3 the verse refers to the fact that Ezekiel experienced the Revelation even though he was outside of Israel even though he had gone into Exile Hashem God himself as it were went with the Jewish people into Exile we find that Moses himself says in ltic 26:44 even when they're in the the land of their enemies they've gone into Exile I can't let go of them I am their God says the because of the Holiness of my name I did it meaning I stayed with you because of the Holiness of my name and with me you will return says the mes that's the says you shall return to me there's a double language it says it twice it says I'm with you you are with me and it says you will return from Lebanon it's a reference when it says Lebanon in this version of the medish and this understanding of the med that's what it says Lebanon it's a reference to the Exiles we find that which is the land of Assyria which is a reference to gullis to to the Exile is referred to as AR Bal a cedar in Lebanon God says I'm with you in Lebanon I'm with you in Exile and and from Exile you shall return we shall return together and the verse says in 2:3 God is in front God is leading us out of GIS out of Exile so here we have the second point of the Mish which is that God Is With Us in Exile and God leads us out of Exile now we come to the third point of the medish brings us back to the PK the second half of the PK in Shir in Song of Songs the verse says walk straight from the tops of those mountains T which means to walk straight can also mean t t means to sing which is why we're using this verse in the context of in the concept of the singing of the Jewish people says the said there's a mountain and that mountain is called Am Mountain that mountain is demarcation of the edge of the land of Israel this is the end of the border of the land of Israel Haram this this mountain called Am Mountain that is where you know that you have left Israel if you're heading out or that you're about to enter into Israel if you're heading in now here's where it gets even more interesting says when the Exiles reach that mountain they're about to step into the land of Israel or they have stepped into the land of is Isel that's when they will be able to sing song they will say they will sing the songs that's why it says T you will sing when you get to the top of that mountain so this is the third point of the medish when we return with God by our side when we return to the land of Israel we will sing an incredible song just like the Jewish people sang a song of Salvation when they were saved at CH yamu at the splitting of the sea the Jewish people when they return to the land of Israel there will there will be a song as they enter over the Border they pass that border they climb that mountain into the land of Israel they will be singing a song now there's one last point which I want to read from this Mish which caps off the entire concept and really gives us the depth of what's going on what's the concept of song another explanation what does it mean which literally means you will walk straight from the top of this mountain in the future the people of Israel are going to sing speaking about when the messah arrives as the verse says in Psalms 98 ver1 sing for God a brand new song for he has done wonders says the in who and whose Merit are the Jewish people going to be singing this song in the in the Merit of Abraham who trusted God who believed in God sh in the Brisbane of when God made a covenant with Abraham and God told Abraham that the Jewish people are going to be you know they're going to have to endure many Exiles and they're going to be saved they're going to come back they're going to be brought to the land of Israel Abraham believed in God he trusted God and as a result of that trust as a result of the amuna which is hinted to in in a verse when it says you're going to sing because of the head of this mountain which it's called am am we're saying here the men ding understand understands it to mean that's a reference to amuna which is faith in God trus in God as a result of the amuna the faith of a of Abraham that's why the Jewish people in the future will sing the song of gula the song of redemption now I think there's an amazing depth that we see in this Mish and if we if we get it and we look at each of the points of the medish we'll see that there's something really beautiful and something that we can all relate to that's contained in the concept of song and I think that a great representation of the concept of song is the chauffeur the chauffeur which we blow on Rashana the Ram's Horn which we blow and we make those 100 sounds the gumar tells us in Rashana that that we have different parts of the service on rashash we have malus we speak about God's kingship we have zus we speak about the fact that God remembers all the things that have occurred throughout time and we also have chaus we have a mention of the chauffeur of the trumpet so to speak of of God's Dominion of the fact that we're proclaiming God as our king and the gar tells us that each of these things serve a different purpose but what is the purpose of the chaus what is the purpose of the reference to the chauffeur in our prayer and the chauffeur itself the chauffeur serves to bring our prayers up from where we are right here down in this earth and to bring those prayers all the way up right in front of the keiss covered right in front of the Throne of God's glory now in a parallel way all music has the power as as I've heard and as I'm sure you may have heard that the the gates of Music are right beneath the gates of repentance person can hear a beautiful niggan a beautiful tune you can hear a song with the right words the moving words that can bring him that can move move him from the place where he is to a deeper place to the place where he really is or where he really wishes he would be person can hear music person can hear a niggan a song person can hear the words of of the Liturgy the words of the Tyra the words of of the Psalms of King David clothed within the proper and the the proper tune and it can be transported from where he is to a completely different place to a holy place to a deep place to to the K he can feel himself standing right in front of the Throne of God's glory he can feel connected to God now the Jewish people we look at them where were they as they were being redeemed what was their spiritual State what was their physical state they were slaves they were they were serving idolatry just like the the their host nation and yet Hashem says I take you out from where you are aala a beautiful woman about to be married to her husband what do they do they they make her up they give her beautiful fragrances to wear so that when she comes into the she's about to get married the will be attracted to her he'll enjoy her presence he'll want to be with her Hashem says I don't need that I don't need you to do that where you are I want you where you are as you are I will transport you out of MIT out of Egypt out of the depths of Darkness I will take you as you are I will marry you I will have a relationship with you the Jewish people sing a song cuz the song says no matter where I am no matter how far I am I'm always I'm always it's always possible for me to have that relationship with Hashem I can be transported from where I am the darkest depths right up into the K right in front Hashem says you think that you've left my Throne you think that you've left the bdes the temple the seat of my existence my my manifestation in the world you think that I am not with you anymore no I am still with you says Hashem second point of the Mish I am still with you no matter where you are no matter how far you seem to have strayed music that song you can still sing OA as we mentioned where is that place which is the the Pinnacle the Apex of Exile ashure we say in the verse we say refer to those who were lost in the land of ashure of Assyria it's ashure it's that place which seems to be completely removed from God but it's called ashur which means to sing it's a place of song you can still connect to God even no matter how far you are away from God Hashem says I will return you from that Exile you will still come back and what are you going to do when you get to that mountain the mountain of am you're going to sing a song because you're going to see that there's a there there's all along you were connected to me and that song connects you to me even when you're far and even when you're near you know as I was reading this medish I noticed that the word Ro the top of this mountain the head of the mountain the the word Ro has the same exact letters the r and the shin ASU as being straight As singing as song Because wherever you are however far you are the song brings you straight up to the roach to the top to to the place of God's glory to his throne and how does that work it works in the fourth point of the medish when when because of the r because of the amuna the faith of Abraham he gets this promise from God God says they're going to go into gullis they're going to go into Exile they're going to be there for 400 years and there's going to be consecutive Exiles after that there's going to be hundreds of years of Exiles thousands of years of Exile but God promises aru he promises Abraham that despite the depth of those Exiles the Jewish people will return to the land of Israel they will return and they will sing they will sing from the depths whether they're out in the Exiles whether they're in the concentration camp singing an IM I believe in the future redemption or whether they have returned and here they are 6 million strong in the land of Israel they're going to sing it's in the of the amuna amuna what is Faith it's I know the truth but it's dark and I can't see it it's dark the amuna comes at night the faith is at night I can't see it it's the dep it's the deepest depths of darkness and Hashem is still there my connection to God seems like it's gone but no it's still there and when I sing when I sing that song when I sing that song I get transported there I am in the middle of the sea the water is surrounding me and it's falling down upon my enemies and here I am I'm surviving because of that very same water I'm connected to God asash Yash the word o itself even signifies this idea o is two letters it's an Alf and a Zion Alf is one Zion is seven as we' spoken about in the past the concept of seven is nature and then the eighth which is the alive which is the Transcendent aspect is that which represents the fact that no matter where we are within the seven us even even within the seven we we exist beyond the seven even within nature We Exist Beyond nature even within this world we can transcend we can experience that Transcendence right here a Yash and how is that done it's done through song it's done through the sh the song which connects to the RO which connects up to the highest place the K covered to the throne of God God's glory I want to bless you and please bless me back hasem should bless us all that we should be we should Merit to hear the music to hear the music of hashem's song have the faith see through the darkness Hashem is always with us Hashem is with us in Exile and hasem is going to bring us back from that Exile should give us the ability to see that we are beloved to him that we are his kala we are his bride even though we're dark even though we're dirty even though we don't have that makeup we don't have that beautiful fragrance should help us to see that we are still loved and that Hashem wants us to come close to him all we need to do is listen for that tune should help us to be to Merit to see that day when all of us will return to the land of Israel stand on that ra stand on that mountain of demarcation as we walk in singing the songs of gula of redemption thank you so much for listening have a wonderful shabas this podcast was made possible through the gracious donations of listeners like you for more podcasts like this please visit www.wag.com or search on iTunes Ari goldwag