Parshat Beshalach-an angelic insight

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January 25 2018
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Parshat Beshallach 5778-an ‘angelic’ insight


(based on a shiur given by Rabbi Isaac Bernstein zal in London in 1993)


When Miriam leads the women in song after crossing the Red Sea, the verse says:


כא  וַתַּעַן לָהֶם, מִרְיָם:  שִׁירוּ לַיהוָה כִּי-גָאֹה גָּאָה, סוּס וְרֹכְבוֹ רָמָה בַיָּם.  {ס}


21 And Miriam sang unto them: Sing ye to the LORD, for He is highly exalted: the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea


 


The Rivoh (one of the Baa’lai Tosphot) (and many other mefarshim) immediately point out the obvious grammatical problem.


 מבעי ליה    להן    ותען להם מרים


…….If Miriam is singing with the women, it should say-‘lahen’(fem.) and not ‘lahem’(masc.).Also the order to sing for the women should have been:’sharna’ and not ‘shiru’ which again is the masculine form……


He answers as follows; when Moshe and the men started to sing the shira, the women wanted to join in. The angels started to interrupt and say to the women: Don’t sing ! It is bad enough that the men have sung before us, so now the women will sing before us as well? So Miriam said to them i.e. the angels (masc.), ‘you sing first and then we will sing’…..


This answer also demands an explanation. Why did the angels not sing first? Why did the angels wait for the men to sing before they began to sing?


There is a statement in Shmot Raba which says the following: When the Jews emerged from the Red Sea, the angels came before God to sing shira and God said that the Bnei Yisrael must sing first. A similar scenario is found in the Yalkut Shimoni on these pesukim, where God demands that Israel must sing before the angels. Why is this so important? One can suggest that the Bnei Yisrael are the ones who were saved, so they should sing first, but there seems to be a deeper insight here that requires our attention. The Ramban(15:19) says a similar idea, that Miriam waited for the cue from the men, to which she responded, (lahem-masc.) that she will sing after the men have sung. However why is there an insistence on the men singing first?


Rabbi Chaim Soloveichik zal (Lithuania;d.1918) explains the whole episode with an amazing comment and analysis. He starts by explaining the phrase in Kedusha:


                                                                                         לְעֻמָתָם בָּרוּךְ יאמֵרוּ:


‘ Across from them, they say, "Blessed":’


Who is facing ‘whom’ here? One suggestion is that the angels face each other. R’Chaim suggests that the angels are facing us, the people. Why do they need to face us?


As we know there are certain tefillot which can only be said with a quorum of 10 men. There is a question as to how can angels say the Kedusha if they do not constitute a minyan for prayer? R’ Chaim answers all of the above questions, basing himself on a statement from the Talmud Bavli (Chullin 91b), referring to the shira sung by the angels every day.


"ש...... אומרים שירה למעלה עד שיאמרו ישראל למטה 


“The angels do not say shira in heaven above until the Jews say it in this world’. We have the minyan and they join in and say Kedusha on the basis of the human minyan (which is only male and not female). This is the meaning of the phrase:


  לְעֻמָתָם בָּרוּךְ יאמֵרוּ      


They face us and then say the Kedusha prayer. 


In Nusach Sefard, the Kedusha prayer in Musaf spells out these ideas clearly. We are described as ‘kevutzei matah’ meaning a ‘grouping’ in this world, which constitutes the minyan required to say the holy prayer.  In the Nusach Sefard, it states that we must say this prayer ‘yachad’, which means ‘together’ just as we have just explained, the angels singing together with the Jews.  


R’Chaim answered his question on Kedusha of malachim, by quoting   the Gemara in Chullin, (above), which refers to the shira of the Jewish people. By connecting  shira with Kedusha, this implies that shira is also a praise which must be said in a quorum, as with the kedusha prayer. This is why the angels had to wait for Moshe and Bnei Yisrael to sing the shira before them, for what is now an obvious reason, so as to ensure a minyan. This only applies to men and not women, who do not constitute a minyan. Therefore, the women also waited for the men, so as to have a minyan, for their song as well. This is why it says ‘lahem’ in that Miriam had to wait for the men and the angels to sing and then she could encourage the women to do likewise. The minyan was needed before any song could be sung.


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This ‘chiddush’ of R’ Chaim is very fitting as a tribute to a friend of mine who passed away recently (16th Tevet) in London, Mr. Johnny Wiesenberg  zal. We had known each other for nearly 50 years and we sang and studied together in many summer and winter camps in the UK, when we were in high school. Furthermore his life represented a song of praise to God, in terms of his observance and his joy at performing the rituals of our faith and learning Torah. His great enthusiasm will always be remembered and he will be sorely missed.


May his memory be for a blessing.


 


 


Rabbi Ian Shaffer        Cherry Hill NJ/SCW

Venue: Stern College Stern College

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Dedicated in memory of Johnny Wiesenberg zal of London UK who passed away on 16th Tevet 5778.A real mensch and a gentleman. May his memory be for a blessing.

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