In this week’s פרשה we learn that משה led בני ישראל in a song of praise to Hashem, the שִׁירַת הַיָם.
How was this done? The גמרא brings three opinions:
- איבָ קִׁ י עַ בִׁ רַ says that only רבינומשה said the entire שירה. After each phrase that he said, all the Yidden __________ by saying only the words אָשִׁירָה לַד' (“I will sing to Hashem”).
- רז יע לִׁ רבי א the son of יילִׁ לִׁ ג י הַ סִׁ רבי יוֹ says that all the Yidden said the entire שירה, ___________ phrase by phrase after משה רבינו.
- 'יָ מ ח רבי נ says that while משה רבינו started the שירה, all the Yidden then joined, and said the entire שירה __________ (with רוּחַ הַקוֹד ש).
Question
According to רבי נחמי', since all the Yidden had רוּחַ הַקוֹד ש, and were all saying the entire שירה together, why was it necessary for משה to _______ the שירה?
Answer
When the Yidden sang שירת הים, they sang it in a state of unity, as _____.
They all said לַד' אָשִׁירָה - I will sing to Hashem, in the singular, rather than נָשִׁירָה, we will sing.
All Yidden are truly one, because our נשמה comes ד' אחד, and the one who can awaken and reveal the נשמה of every Yid is _____ leader of the generation, the נָשִׁיא הַדוֹר.
This is why the שירת הים which was sung by all the Yidden as one had to be started by משה רבינו, the leader of his generation.
Further discussion
What are the different levels of אחדות expressed by the three opinions in the גמרא mentioned above? (See אות ג in the שיחה)
