The Power of Zemiros

אָז יָשִׂיר יִשְׂרָאֱל אֶת הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת עֲלִי בְאֱר עֲנוּ לָה (כא, יז)

Then Yisroel sang this song: "'Let the well ascend. We sing to it!” (21:17)

Sefer Imrei Noam says that the word “anu” is used twice in the torah to mean “sing.” The two times are in this verse and in Tehillim (147:7): “Anu laHashem b’todah. Sing to Hashem with thanks.”

He explains this with the pasuk (Yeshaya 65:24): “And it shall be before they called that I will respond (‘e’eneh’); when they are still speaking, that I will listen.”

This pasuk seems to contradict itself. It first says that Hashem will respond before one says anything but then says that He will not listen until they start talking.

The Imrei Noam answers that “calling” to Hashem refers to davening to Him for one’s own needs. “Speaking” to him, however, refers to singing praises and thanks to Him. Thus, the pasuk is saying that even before one davens for himself, if he sings praises to Hashem, Hashem will hear him and understand what he needs. For example, if someone praises Hashem as “the healer of all those who are sick”, Hashem will heal him even before he prays for himself to be cured.

Thus, from the way a person praises Hashem, He understands the person’s needs and takes care of them even before he starts praying for himself.

This is a benefit that the Jewish people have over all other nations. Non-Jews can also pray and Hashem listens to their prayers. However, Yidden can speak to Him even without engaging in prayer. We can connect to Him through song and by praising and glorifying Him. This is a tremendous benefit because the prosecuting angels can complain about our prayers and claim they weren’t said properly and don’t deserve to be accepted; however, they cannot have complaints against our songs of praise. These will always be heard.

Accordingly, songs of praise to Hashem reach his middah of Divine mercy, which is symbolized by His Name of “Havaya”. This is symbolized by the fact that the pasuk in Yeshaya begins with the word “vehaya”, and it will be, which has the same letters as His Name of mercy and compassion. Tefillah, however, contains some aspect of Hashem’s middah of strict judgment. This is seen from the fact that Chazal (Taanis 2a) say that tefillah is “avodah shebilev”, the service of the heart, and “avodah” has the same numerical value (with the “kollel’) as “Elokim”, the Name used to represent Hashem’s attribute of judgment.

On Shabbos, it is forbidden to ask Hashem for our needs. All we are permitted to do is to sing to Him and praise Him. For this reason, it says that Shabbos is for us “to know that I am Hashem who makes you holy (Shemos 31:13).” This pasuk uses the Name of “Havaya” – again indicating that songs of praise to Him elicit the Divine attribute of mercy. Furthermore, the words of the pasuk in Yeshaya: “hem midabrim v’ani eshma” have the same numerical value as “Shabbos ki ani Havaya.”

This is all hinted to in this pasuk. It speaks about the people singing to Hashem by the well and is meant to show us the greatness of the prayers of the Jewish people. If one were to ask that non-Jews can also pray, the verse answers this question by saying that we “sing to Hashem with thanks.” Only Yidden can be answered and have their needs fulfilled by singing songs of thanks to Hashem.