This Shabbos is given a special name Shabbos Shirah, “the Sabbath of song,” because it includes the songs that the Jewish people sang after the miracle of the splitting of the sea. These songs of praise are very important. For when G-d works a miracle on our behalf, we should acknowledge His goodness. Indeed, our Sages relate that after the miraculous defeat of Sannecherib, G-d desired to make Chizkiyahu, the Jewish king at that time, Mashiach. Nevertheless, He decided against doing so, because Chizkiyahu failed to sing a song of thanksgiving and praise.
More particularly, this week's Torah reading includes two songs: the song in which Moses led the men and the song in which Miriam led the women. Of the two, Miriam's song was more spirited. Besides singing, she led the women in dance, and they were inspired to accompany the song with tambourine music.
Our Sages ask: Where did they get the tambourines in the desert? And reply that the Jewish women were confident that G-d would work miracles for them in the desert and so they brought tambourines with them from Egypt in the expectation of celebrating. Even while in Egypt, Jewish women had faith in redemption and miracles. In that vein, our Sages said: “In the merit of righteous women, the Jews were redeemed from Egypt.”
To understand the role of Jewish women in preparing for redemption, we have to begin with a fundamental concept. Men and women are not the same. In our bodies, both the heart and brain are fundamentally necessary for our health, but each organ performs a different function. Similarly, men and women each contribute different elements to the relationship and the home environment they combine to forge. The ultimate fulfillment comes from harmonizing their potentials and building on each other's strengths.
A woman's contribution comes in controlling the emotional environment of the home. Women have a greater sensitivity to spiritual truth. A woman arrives at knowledge by establishing a personal bond with the idea she wants to discover. She makes it part of herself instead of treating it as merely an abstract concept.
Because her knowledge is internalized and personally relevant, she can share it with others more easily and in this way, upgrade the moods of her husband, children and the others around her. She looks beyond the immediacies of her present situation and sees a higher and deeper purpose. In this way, she can motivate the people around her to greater growth and development.
That is why the women played — and play — such an important role as catalysts of redemption. When the women in Egypt contemplated their situation; they did not focus on the slavery and hardship. They understood that exile was merely temporary. They had heard Moses' promise of redemption and did not regard it merely as a promise of the future; it was a real factor in their lives. And because it was real for them, it was real to their husbands and children and ultimately, it became a top to bottom reality within the world.
Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson
