English translation — בשלח א

Sicha 1<pg>69</pg>

A.

Our Rabbis taught<sup>1</sup>..

Rabbi Akiva expounded: At the time when Israel ascended from the sea, they set their eyes to say song,

And how did they say song? Like an adult who reads the Hallel<sup>2</sup>

(To fulfill their obligation for them.

Rashi)

And they answer after him chapter headings

(Halleluyah<sup>3</sup>),

Moshe said "I will sing to Hashem"<sup>4</sup>

And they say "I will sing to Hashem"; Moshe said "For He is highly exalted"<sup>4</sup>

And they say "I will sing to Hashem".

Rabbi Elazar the son of Rabbi Yosi the Galilean says: Like a minor who reads the Hallel<sup>2</sup>

And they answer after him everything that he says,

Moshe said "I will sing to Hashem" and they say "I will sing to Hashem",

Moshe said "For He is highly exalted" and they say "For He is highly exalted".

Rabbi Nechemiah says: Like a scribe who recites the Shema in the synagogue, who opens first and they answer after him

("And they all read together<sup>5</sup>,

And thus the Holy Spirit rested upon all of them<sup>6</sup>

And they all together directed the song as it is written".

Rashi).

That is,

that all agree that Moshe began the saying of the song before Bnei Yisrael,

as understood from the language of the verse "Then Moshe and Bnei Yisrael sang",

that they preceded Moshe by himself<sup>7</sup>

— and the dispute is regarding the manner of the continuation of the song by Bnei Yisrael,

that according to the opinion of R. Akiva, the saying of

(the entire)

song was by Moshe alone,

and Bnei Yisrael only answered "I will sing to Hashem"; according to R. Eliezer, Bnei Yisrael also said the entire song,

but after

(and in the manner of "response" to)

the saying of Moshe; whereas according to the opinion of R. Nechemya, Moshe Rabbeinu only began the saying of the song,

but afterwards they said "all together" the entire song in its entirety.

And they dispute the interpretation of the word "leimor" that is in the verse

("Then<sup>4</sup>

sang etc. leimor"),

as explained in the Gemara there "In what do they dispute? — R. Akiva holds: leimor refers to the first matter, and R. Eliezer the son of R. Yose HaGelili holds: leimor refers to each and every matter, and R. Nechemya holds: vayomru — that they all said it together,

leimor — that Moshe began first."

And it is necessary to understand,

what is the reasoning of their dispute in the interpretation of this verse?

And furthermore,

that from this very thing that the verse informs us

(in the word "leimor")

the manner of the saying of the song

(what Moshe said and what Yisrael said)

implies that there is a practical difference in the saying of the song and its content — and it is necessary to understand,

what is the practical difference in the content of the saying of the song,

how

(and in which manner of the three aforementioned manners)

did they say the song?

Thus it requires explanation in the opinion of Rabbi Nechemya that Moses only opened for Bnei Yisrael,

but afterwards they said the song "all of them together" — what is the meaning of this "opening" by Moshe Rabbeinu?

According to the opinion of Rabbi Akiva or according to the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer,

it can be said simply,

that Bnei Yisrael did not know by themselves the text<pg>70</pg>

The song,

and therefore they needed to answer after Moses⁸

(If only "I will sing to the Lord",

or they answered after him all the words of the song)

;

But according to Rabbi Natan who said "the holy spirit rested on all of them and they together directed the song as its wording",

then there was seemingly no need for the "opening" of Moses so that they would know the words of the song⁹

[And seemingly one must indeed say according to the homilies

(Which were brought later in the Gemara there¹⁰)

That even the infants and sucklings said song,

And furthermore,

"That even fetuses in their mother's womb said song",

Regarding whom it is not applicable to say that they knew to direct the song by having heard it from Moses,

Rather that this is by means of the holy spirit that rested upon them

(And as explained in the Gemara there¹¹,

That their saying of the song was a result of seeing the Divine Presence,

For "they saw the Divine Presence..

And said etc. a womb was made for them like a transparent glass and they saw")]

— And what is the content and purpose of the opening by means of Moses¹²?

2.

On the verse "Then sang [Moshe and the children of Israel this song to the Lord, and they spoke, saying: I will sing to the Lord...]" the Ohr HaChayim explains "and they spoke, saying: I will sing — meaning that they said to one another, saying,

meaning that they would sing together without any aspect of change and separation until they were like one man even though they were many, and they intended together and did so and said 'I will sing' in the singular<sup>13</sup>

as if they were one man, for otherwise they would have said 'we will sing'.

This means,

that the recitation of the song was in a uniquely special manner,

that all of Israel recited it in equality,

as literally one man,

"without..

change and separation".

And according to the aforementioned teaching of our Sages that even infants and sucklings,

and even fetuses in their mothers' wombs recited the song,

it follows,

that in the recitation of the song there was a state of complete unity,

without any "change and separation",

between the greatest of the great and the smallest of the small,

down to the fetuses in their mothers' wombs.

And with this one can explain that which according to everyone the saying of the song of Bnei Yisrael was with the opening preface of Moshe — because an absolute unity such as this,

that all Yisrael would be as one man,

from the great ones to the small ones,

including the fetuses in their mothers' wombs,

can come only through Moshe Rabbeinu.

And the explanation of this:

Since Moshe Rabbeinu is the head of the generation<pg>71</pg>

and the prince of the generation,

therefore he includes the entire generation as one,

and in the language of Rashi<sup>14</sup>

"Moshe is Yisrael and Yisrael are Moshe..

that the prince of the generation is like the entire generation because the prince is the all".

And this unity of Yisrael

(as they are included in Moshe)

is in a manner that is above division,

for the prince

(as his name)

is elevated and separated from the people,

"from his shoulder and upward he was higher than all the people"<sup>15</sup>,

therefore,

the unity of Yisrael as they are included in him is in a manner that is above division,

men, women, and children equally,

in the manner of "He equalizes<sup>16</sup>

and equalizes small and great".

And therefore,

by means of that Moshe Rabbeinu opened the song of Bnei Yisrael,

that their saying of the song came through him and in his power,

this caused that the saying of the song by "the entire generation" would be in complete equality

(as they are included in Moshe¹⁷),

as one man,

"without..

change and separation".

And it may be said,

that this is the intention of the Mechilta on the verse "Then Moshe and Bnei Yisrael sang" — "Moshe is equivalent to all of Yisrael and Yisrael are equivalent to Moshe at the time they said the song": in order to explain the superfluous language in the verse

("Moshe and Bnei Yisrael",

even though Moshe is included among Bnei Yisrael)

it would seemingly have been sufficient to explain that "Moshe is equivalent to all of Yisrael"¹⁸,

and from that which the Mechilta states

(not only that "Moshe is equivalent to all of Yisrael",

but)

also that "Yisrael are equivalent to Moshe at the time they said the song",

it implies,

that the intention of the Mechilta is to explain that Moshe and Bnei Yisrael were equal in the saying of the song¹⁹.

And it may be said that this equality came from the aspect that Bnei Yisrael felt that "Moshe is Yisrael and Yisrael are Moshe",

that all are included in the reality of Moshe

(and this is what unites them in complete unity and makes them into one reality).

And this is the intent of the conclusion of the words of the Mechilta "And Israel are equivalent to Moses at the time they said the song",

that the saying of the song by

(opening)

Moses

("Moses is Israel")

caused Israel to be "equivalent to Moses",

meaning that they are similar and unified in the saying of the song with Moses

(since "Israel is Moses").

3.

And according to this introduction, it is necessary to explain the three opinions mentioned above regarding the manner of saying the song:

Since the recitation of the song had to be in a special manner,

that they all recite it in complete unity,

therefore according to everyone

(a)

the opening of the song was by Moses

(the agent of unity and equality of all Israel)²⁰,

(b)

the recitation of the song itself by Israel was in a manner that they united with

(the song of)

Moses,

for they felt that their entire existence is Moses,

"Israel is Moses"

(the ultimate unity of Israel)

; and the dispute is regarding the measure and manner of the connection of Israel's recitation of the song to Moses our teacher:<pg>72</pg>

According to Rabbi Akiva, the entire recitation of the song was by Moses our teacher and Israel only answered "I will sing to the Lord",

meaning that all of Israel "fulfilled" their obligation of reciting the song through Moses' recitation¹⁹,

and according to Rabbi Yehuda this is the perfection of unity,

when it is in a manner of complete nullification until they "fulfilled" through Moses' song

(they only "respond after him"²¹),

in which it is emphasized that the entire existence of Israel is nothing but the existence of Moses.

According to Rabbi Eliezer, they would "answer after him everything that he says,"

because he holds that the perfection of unification is when Bnei Yisrael feel this unification also as they are in their level.

For in the above manner that they would answer after him

(only)

"I will sing to Hashem" emphasizes that Yisrael as they are in their level

(and from the aspect of their existence)

are not in a state of absolute unity,

and the unity depends on this that they are only "answering" after Moshe with complete nullification&lt;sup&gt;22&lt;/sup&gt;

; therefore he holds that they said the entire song like Moshe,

except that this itself is in a manner of "response" to Moshe's saying,

which depends on Moshe's song.

And Rabbi Nasan holds that even the song of Bnei Yisrael together in a manner of response to Moshe does not yet have the ultimate unification until it is felt in them that "Yisrael are Moshe,"

since they are only answering after him.

Therefore according to Rabbi Nasan they said it "all together" without any division at all,

which emphasizes that "Moshe is Yisrael and Yisrael are Moshe"&lt;sup&gt;22&lt;/sup&gt;

[except that this itself was revealed through that Moshe Rabbeinu "opened" with the saying of the song,

as above].

4.

The unity of Bnei Yisrael that is effected specifically by Moshe Rabbeinu,

will be understood more deeply with a prior additional explanation of the concept of "unity of Yisrael" — and as has been explained several times that there are two matters: a)

The commandment is the love of Yisrael

("And you shall love your fellow as yourself"²³),

in which there are still two separate personalities,

a lover and a beloved

(except that the love is "as yourself")

; b)

The reason that it is possible to have love "for your fellow as yourself" is because of the matter of "unity of Yisrael",

which means,

that all Yisrael are one entity,

like literally one person.

And in this itself there are several manners

(and levels)

:

In the Tanya²⁴

our master the Alter Rebbe explains,

that the unity of Israel comes from this that all the souls²⁵

"are all compatible and one father to all of them,

and therefore all Israel are called brothers²⁶

literally²⁷

from the aspect of the root of their soul in the One God,

only that the bodies²⁵

are divided."

And behold, in the Jerusalem Talmud²⁸

it is explained that "all Israel are one body"²⁹

(as brought there a parable for this<pg>73</pg>

from two hands of one body),

which superficially is a more elevated manner of the unity of Israel.

For that "all Israel are truly brothers" because "one Father to all of them" indicates only that the "Father"

(root and source)

of them is one,

but Israel themselves

(as they are in their place)

are divided from one another

("one Father to all of them" — plural),

except that they are "like actual brothers"

[for although brotherly love is not like love for a stranger,

rather it is a self-love,

in the language of the verse³⁰

"my bone and my flesh are you" — nevertheless they are separate and divided individuals]

; but not so this that all Israel are one body,

because all Israel are "one complete structure"³¹,

there is not in them

(also as they are in their place)

even the division of brothers,

rather they are one existence,

"one body".

And accordingly it requires explanation: why did our master the Alter Rebbe not bring in Tanya this that all Israel are "one complete structure",

"one body",

and wrote only that "one Father to all of them and therefore all Israel are called

(only)

brothers"?

5.

And one must say the explanation in this:

This that "all Israel are called actual brothers" was not brought in Tanya there in order to define the essence and level of the love

(that love of Israel must be like love of brothers),

but only as a proof to this that "one Father to all of them"

(to all the souls).

And therefore he did not bring there the that "all Israel are one body",

because the love that is discussed in Tanya there

(coming from this that "one Father to all of them")

is higher even than this that "all Israel are one body".

Explanation of the matter: That which is brought in Tanya there on the topic of the unity of the souls of Israel in their root and source

("One father to all of them")

is in order to explain that the love of Israel in their place can be as a result of the feeling of "compatibility" and unity

(of all the souls of Israel)

as it is from the aspect of "the root of their soul in the One God"&lt;sup&gt;32&lt;/sup&gt;,

and precisely the language of the Alter Rebbe,

that "love and true brotherhood" comes about by the person

(not only subdues his soul to the body,

but)

elevates and raises the soul "upwards, upwards to the root and source etc."&lt;sup&gt;33&lt;/sup&gt;,

for by this he feels the root of his soul

(the "One father").

And it is simple,

that the unity from this aspect that "One father to all of them" is higher than the unity of "all Israel are one body".

For even the level of unity of literally one body

(not only brothers),

is not absolute unity,

for even in one body there is the division of the limbs of the body,

to the point of a distinction from one extreme to the other — head and foot; but not so according to how the souls of Israel are included in their root in "One father" they are above division&lt;sup&gt;34&lt;/sup&gt;

; and all the more so from the aspect of the true root of the soul in "the One God"&lt;sup&gt;35&lt;/sup&gt;

(for the soul of every man&lt;pg&gt;74&lt;/pg&gt;

Israel is "literally a part of G-d above"³⁶),

so just as "Hashem is One" is simple in the utmost simplicity³⁷,

above all division,

so it is regarding the souls of Israel

(that are "a part of G-d above literally"),

that the matter of unity "from the aspect of the root of their soul in Hashem the One" is in a manner of a single point that is above the category of division entirely.

6.

And behold, the power for such an elevated service,

to elevate and raise the soul so that it feels its root in Hashem the One is through attachment to Torah scholars,

and as the Alter Rebbe explained³⁸

what our Rabbis of blessed memory said "on the verse³⁹

and to cleave to Him, that one who cleaves to a Torah scholar, Scripture considers it as if he cleaves to the Shechinah itself",

for "through attachment to Torah scholars"

(who are "the righteous and the wise, the heads of the children of Israel in their generation"⁴⁰)

the souls of the masses become attached "to their primary essence and their root" above

(as explained at length in Tanya).

And one could say,

that in this very thing there is a distinction between Torah scholars in general

("heads of the children of Israel in their generation")

and the prince of the generation

(like Moses our teacher).

And this will be understood by prefacing that we find in several places that the "king" is compared to the "heart"⁴¹

(and as hinted in the language of the Rambam⁴²

"His heart

(of the king)

is the heart of the entire congregation of Israel"),

that the reason, simply, is,

that just as the vitality of the entire body depends on the heart, so too the vitality of "the entire congregation of Israel" depends on the king.

But one must understand: Is it not that the vitality of the body depends primarily on the brain in the head

(from which vitality is drawn to all limbs of the body,

also to the heart⁴³),

and if so, why is a king compared to the heart and not to the brain?

And one can say the explanation of this⁴⁴

:

The advantage in the influence of the heart to the limbs of the body relative to the influence of the brain to them is — that the same vitality that is drawn from the heart into this limb is drawn also into another limb and into all the limbs,

for from the heart blood is drawn to all the limbs

(in which is clothed the vitality of the soul,

"for the blood is the soul"⁴⁵),

and indeed in all the limbs is found that same blood,

without division⁴⁶

; but not so

(the main)

vitality that is influenced

(openly)

to the limbs of the body from the brain in the head,

it is in a manner that each limb receives "vitality and power" belonging to it "according to its temperament and nature,

the eye to see and the ear to hear and the mouth to speak and the legs to walk"⁴³.

<pg>75</pg>

And this is the reason that the king is likened to a "heart",

for in addition to this that the king influences to the inhabitants of the state all their needs

(to each and every one according to his matter),

indeed the main aspect of kingship is,

that the very existence of the entire state depends on the king⁴⁷,

like the heart that influences the very vitality to all the limbs of the body.

And it is to say,

that accordingly is the difference in spirituality between the heads of the thousands of Israel in each and every generation and the prince of the generation: the spiritual vitality that is influenced to all the people of the generation by means of the disciples of the wise in general,

heads of the thousands of Israel in each and every generation

(who are like "head and brain regarding the souls of the masses"⁴⁸),

is in the aspect of "spiritual food" for each and every one according to his worth; but the main innovation of Moshe Rabbeinu

("prince of the generation")

is,

that from him is drawn the essence of vitality

(the spiritual)

to all the people of the generation,

like the blood that is influenced from the heart⁴⁹

to all the limbs,

for he reveals among Israel the point of their Judaism,

which is absolutely equal among all Israel.

And from this is understood also regarding the matter of the connection of the souls of the masses to their root and source: that which by means of the heads of the thousands of Israel in general the souls of the masses are connected to their root above,

namely to the aspect of "one father to all of them",

that the title "father"⁵⁰

indicates the connection

(root,

source)

to the children,

and it is that he is a root for division below⁵¹

; whereas Moshe Rabbeinu

(prince of the generation)

connects the souls of Israel to their root in the One God who is above⁵¹

completely beyond division⁵²

(which pertains to the point of their Judaism,

which is absolutely equal among all Israel⁵³).

7.

According to all the above, it is also understood in our matter — the saying of song by Moshe and the Children of Israel:

This that Moshe Rabbeinu "opened" in saying song caused in all of Israel the saying of song from the aspect of their Jewish point which is exactly equal among all of Israel⁵⁴.

And therefore even the sucklings and infants said song,

And furthermore — also the fetuses in their mother's womb,

For this saying of song came from the aspect of the very existence of Israel,

Which includes also a fetus in its mother's womb; and furthermore — since their very existence is exactly equal with the greatest of the great,

Therefore the saying of the song was in a manner of complete equality,

"Without..

change and separation"^*54.

<pg>76</pg>

And one could say,

that the novelty in the Song of the Sea was that this unity

(which from the perspective of the essential existence of Israel)

was in a completely revealed manner.

And therefore the unity was expressed in the matter of song,

which indicates joy — because "joy breaks through boundaries"&lt;sup&gt;55&lt;/sup&gt;,

and so in our case,

it breaks through the limitations and definitions of man and reaches the essence and core of his soul,

and likewise joy indicates "the aspect of revelation"&lt;sup&gt;56&lt;/sup&gt;,

that through the joy in saying song this unity was drawn forth in a revealed manner

(just as the revelation of the Divine Presence then was in a manner that they actually saw,

as our Sages said&lt;sup&gt;57&lt;/sup&gt;

"This is my G‑d etc.",

that "they were pointing at Him with a finger").

And so may it be for us,

that we may merit soon the "tenth song"&lt;sup&gt;58&lt;/sup&gt;,

when "a great&lt;sup&gt;59&lt;/sup&gt;

multitude will return here",

in the true and complete redemption through our righteous Mashiach,

speedily in our days, literally.

(From the talk of Shabbos Parshas Beshalach 5748)