Beshalach: From Emunah to Shiras HaYam—Accepting Hashem’s Kingship with Love

Transcript

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Today, be'ezras Hashem yisbarach, we're going to learn what is shira. Parshas Beshalach, this week's parsha, we have Shiras Hayam, shira that Klal Yisrael said on the Yam Suf. Every day, every Yid, davening Shacharis says Az Yashir. He also says the Shiras Hayam. What is Shiras Hayam, and what is shira bichlal? Let's begin with an interesting medrash. It's a Mechilta as well. Before Az Yashir, the pasuk says, Vaya'aminu baShem uv'Moshe avdo. Klal Yisrael has emunah, emunah baShem uv'Moshe avdo. Az, Az, Yashir Moshe. So Chazal in the Medrash say, Vaya'aminu is connected to Az. Az then. I think what the Chazal are trying to say, that the word Az connects the previous pasuk and scenario to the shira. Az, then. Rashi learns the Az meaning k'shera'as haNes. אז כשראו את הנס, עלה בליבם שיאמרו שירה. So the oz means when, because the word oz means then. Then, when they saw the miracle, when they saw the nes. But the Medrash and the Mechilta seem to be saying oz when they reached emunah. ויאמינו בה' ובמשה עבדו. אז ישיר משה ובני ישראל. When they reached emunah, then they started to sing shira. Like I say, Rashi. Rashi learns oz then, then when they saw the nes. But the Medrash is saying oz connected to ויאמינו בה'. Then when they saw and they recognized Hashem, they said, אז ישיר משה. Says the lashon of the Medrash: בזכות האמונה, בזכות האמונה שהאמינו, זכו לאמר שירה, ושרה עליהם שכינה. The Shechinah rested on them. Shekein ksiv acharav, אז ישיר משה. לקח צריך אדם לסמוך גאולה לתפילה, כשם שהם הסמיכו שירה אחר האמונה והקריעה. So just like they were someich shira after emunah, so we too do the tefillah after we discuss the geulah. וכשם שהם טיהרו ליבם ואמרו שירה, ... אז ישיר משה. V'kach chazyosh, ketzas adam l'tayer libo kaim shyispalel. Shira, obviously, is a result of emunah. The shteit in the Medrash, that's what the Chazal are telling us. In the Torah of Brisk, they talk a lot about this, that you see emunah results in shira. Before you say shira, you need emunah. It starts with emunah, and the teitzah, the teitzah is shira. Why? What is the connection, emunah and shira? According to Rashi, it's very simple. They saw the nes, so they were overwhelmed. Gratitude, shira, they were happy, so they sang shira. According to the Medrash, according to the Chazal, emunah, emunah brings shira. Why does emunah bring shira? So the truth is, the lashon of the Chazal is, v'sharsa aleihem Shechinah. It doesn't only say, zachu lomer shira.

B'shars aleihem Shechinah. You have to understand that the shirah needed Shechinah. They said a lot of things which were nevuah. It's interesting, everyone said shirah. I mean, how do you have everyone say the same thing? You can hardly get two people to agree on anything. How did it possible that everyone agreed on saying the same words of shirah? Ganz Klal Yisroel should agree on something? And they should all be at the same moment to say the same words. Chazal even tell us the baby said shirah, and the mother's stomachs, the embryo said shirah. It's got to be Shechinah that what, hashra'as haShechinah, nevuah. No. So emunah, emunah brought about this hashra'as haShechinah. Yeah, good? Habeisai, nu, you hear? What is oz? Oz yashir Moshe. What does it mean, Oz yashir Moshe? Ah, so he likes the word oz, the osid. Yes, that's one pshat in the Chazal. But in pshatav of the pasuk, Rashi says oz when they saw the nes. The Medrash and the Mechilta are saying oz when they reached Vayaaminu baShem. Why do you need Vayaaminu baShem to say shirah? Like I tell you. It's mashma that you need to have emunah; emunah results in shirah. Why? So we could say because you needed hashra'as haShechinah. You needed a level of hashra'as haShechinah to say the shirah. It was nevuah. It was kulam, they all together, joined together in nevuah, and it needed emunah. And the emunah brought about the hashra'as haShechinah. But the truth is, we could say a little bit deeper. And we could say that actually shirah itself is connected to emunah. Shirah is connected to emunah. What is shirah? What is it? And what is emunah? What's the level of emunah that they reached? So the truth is, we could say that the shirah over here was thanking the Ribono Shel Olam, song praise. The Alter from Kelm, in Chochmah U'Mussar, chelek aleph, fifth page, explains that the shirah here was simply recognizing and understanding the chesed, the greatness of Hashem, and they praised Hashem, thanking Him. So the shirah here was thanking. He explains an interesting pshat in the Chazal. Chazal say, Az yashir Moshe. The word oz is very specific. The oz has a very deep meaning. Why? Because the Medrash says, Shemos Rabbah, chav gimmel gimmel, that Moshe Rabbeinu sinned, for lack of a better term, Chazal use the word sinned. Moshe said about himself that he sinned with the word oz. Why? Years before, when he came to complain that Klal Yisrael has a bad situation in Mitzrayim, and when he went to speak on their behalf to Paro, he comes back to the Eibishter and he says it got worse. And he used the word oz. When he complained, he used the word oz. U'me'az ba'asi el Paro. From when oz that I came to Paro made it much worse. So therefore, now that I am seeing the chesed of the Eibishter, I use the word oz. Oz yashir Moshe. I quote the lashon of the Medrash: U'me'az ba'asi el Paro, v'harei hitbati es ha'yam, l'kach ani meshabeachcha b'oz. Ha'da hu d'chsiv, Oz yashir Moshe, boi v'rei derech hatzaddikim.

In what they fall and they make a mistake, heim mesaklim, they fix. So the oz was bad language that Moshe used. Now he's correcting it by saying, Oz yashir Moshe. Alter Rebbe explains that it's a lot deeper than just the word oz. It's not just, Oh, I used the word oz when I said something not proper, so I'm fixing with the word oz. It's deeper than that. I now understand that actually it was not heira l'omazeh. The opposite, it was all for the good. Now I turn around and I see that the me'oz basi El Paro is Oz yashir. The result is fakert. The last chapter was not written yet, so I didn't understand this whole theme of the book, so to speak. I didn't understand the whole theme of the book. I didn't understand the whole theme of the book, me'oz. So what's the pshat? This was, he finally understood that actually it was all לטובה, it was all chesed of the Eibishter. So he says shirah. This is the inyan of the shirah, the shirah, the shirah, the shirah, is thanking the Ribono Shel Olam. So where does emunah? Emunah is when a person starts to understand. That the Ribono Shel Olam runs the world, and everything has a reason. So then it becomes what? It becomes an inyan of shirah. It becomes an inyan of shirah. I saw a pshat from Reb Yerucham. Reb Yerucham explains the shirah is an inauguration of the Ribono Shel Olam. Pashut, you learn the shirah. The shirah is a song, a song of praise, of thanking, hodaah. Reb Yerucham explains that the shirah is not a song of praising, of hodaah, but it's the inauguration. It's the song of the inauguration. I read you the words, very interesting. Reb Yerucham says in Daas Tevunos, b'malchusa d'ara. In the kingdoms of today, of all the governments, of inaugurations of governments, you got to pick a king. How do you pick the king, the president? There's a lot of things that you do, introductions. What do you do? First you look into his past. You look into the candidate, darshim heitev al mishpachto v'yichuso, his background. Then when you finally come and realize that this is a good candidate to become the melech or the president, then you accept him, you vote him in, and then— After the voting, what happens, like we find today, right? There's the elections, and then there's the inauguration. He calls that, Hinei, see, ha'meluchah magia az barichum lifnei hamnoin. Hamnoin is the inauguration of the king. Kol meluchah, meluchah yesh lamnoin. Every kingdom has its own inauguration, every type, right? America, when they elect a president, it's that certain type of inauguration. Hamlachas Hashem, you know the inauguration of the Ribono Shel Olam? It was on Kriyas Yam Suf. It's beautiful. And he says that's the pshat in the pasuk, U'malchusei b'ratzon kiblu aleihem. We say this, Malchusei b'ratzon kiblu aleihem, Moshe v'nei Yisrael... Where? By Kriyas Yam Suf. U'malchusei b'ratzon kiblu aleihem, Moshe v'nei Yisrael. He says in Mitzrayim already they recognized that the Eibishter is the melech. In Mitzrayim already, Hikiru ki ani Hashem b'kerev aretz, l'maan teida ki ein k'Hashem Elokeinu. So the election, so to speak, the decision...

That Eibishter, the Melech, was already in the past. That was already in Mitzrayim. They came to that recognition that he's, in America they call it president-elect, for lack of a better term. But the inauguration, that was on Kriyas Yam Suf. And how did they inaugurate the Rabbeinu Shlelem? With the Az Yashir. Az Yashir. And what was the final part of the Az Yashir? Hashem yimloch, announcing that he's the Melech. Beautiful, huh? Piskas hamlachos, Hashem yisborach higia ma'arachas hamoin, lechon u'shira b'simcha rabba. What's lechon u'shira b'simcha rabba? What's the simcha? This inauguration party. B'simcha rabba, inauguration. That's the simcha, the ball, the excitement, the inauguration, simcha rabba. U'mah hi hasimcha rabba? Hashlamas kabbalas malchus Shamayim d'hamnoi, through the inauguration. So he says, now let's analyze what was the song of inauguration. And he says, meheicha, he says like this: Zeh Keli v'anvehu, Elokei avi va'aromemenhu. What is anvehu? Esnaeh lefanav b'mitzvos. Rashi, Rashi explains, anvehu lashon noi, asaeh b'noi yushvachu l'boi olam. Asi over his praises, l'bai olam, to all those that come to the world. What's the pshat? When you have a king and he's your king, what do you do? You walk around saying, Wow, my king. The minute it becomes your king, then it has to be that you walk around saying nice things about him and praising him, because that means it's yours. You ever see where a father walks around praising his kid? His kid not always is the best, but what? It's his kid. When it's yours and you're connected to it, you praise. He says a very interesting example of someone's a grandchild of Rabbi Akiva Eiger. He says, you know how many times you'll hear in his conversations praises about Rabbi Akiva Eiger and that he's related to Rabbi Akiva Eiger? He throws it in every conversation. It's almost proud of his grandfather, for example. Every speech and every time he talks, Me included, I'm not any different, proud about my grandparents, my great-grandfather. I mention him all the time. People ask me, Why do you have to mention your grandfather all the time? The answer is because that's the teva adam, that's nature of a person, that if he's connected to somebody and it's his, and he's proud of that person, and he respects that person, he'll mention him all the time. Says the Daas Teirah, Rabbi Ruchim, Zeh keili. M'meila is Hashem yimloch l'olam va'ed. How do I announce that He is my King? Zeh Keili v'anveihu, that I walk around praising Him. So this was an inauguration. So shira, shira, has a whole different taich now. Pashut, you learn the shira. What does the shira, Rabosai, say? Shira is thanking the Ribono Shel Olam for the nes that happened. Shira, I thank the Eibishter for the nes that happened. But it needs emunah. Why does it need emunah? So we could say one of two things: either because it needs emunah, because the shira is to understand the nes. When a person sees a miracle, a person sees a miracle, miracle is in front of him, so he's happy about what happened. But if he has emunah, and he understands that the Eibishter was behind it and how the Eibishter orchestrated it, then it takes on a much deeper appreciation. Emunah, shira. Emunah, shira. I want to tell you a chiddush, Rabosai.

There's one pshat in the Mechilta that actually they said the shirah before the Kriyas Yam Suf. The Mechilta has a mahalach that they actually said the shirah before Kriyas Yam Suf, before the nes even actually happened, which would fit beautifully with the pshat in the lashon of the Medrash that they were zocheh. Bischus ha'emunah shehe'aminu zachu leimar shirah. It's the emunah that already brought them to say shirah, the faith that they had in the Ribono Shel Olam. Because why? It didn't even happen yet. The actual miracle didn't even happen yet. Tell me, if someone asks you, when did they say Az Yashir, what would you answer? You would say after Kriyas Yam Suf. It's not true. According to one shitah in the Medrash and the Chazal, it happened before Kriyas Yam Suf. There was nevuah. They were saying, In what zechus zachu? Emunah. But according to the pshat that it happened after Kriyas Yam Suf, so what's the ma'alah of emunah? So we could say one of two things, very simply, that the emunah was the zechus that gave them to have this tremendous ma'amad. They were able to have this ma'amad that they saw with their fingers, that Keili v'anveihu, with their finger they pointed, is because they were zocheh to this because of emunah. Or maybe the emunah gave him to understand what was behind the story, because shira is to understand the whole picture, and that needs emunah. When a person has emunah in the Ribono Shel Olam, he sees every story and every situation much different and much deeper. Facts in front of him are not the facts in front of him. He knows that there's a deeper. He knows that there's someone orchestrating it from above, and that mechayev a shira, because he knows that it's bigger and deeper than him. Habeisah, you hear? Not so much, not so, not so. Okay, so repeat it one more time. It should be clear. One more time. Yeah, good? Nu. Every day you say Az Yashir, yeah? Every day. You say every day Az Yashir? Every day. So he's thinking again, Az Mashiach. Yes, there's one pshat in the Medrash: Az Yashir is Mashiach, okay. But there's another pshat in Az Yashir, and that is either az when they saw the nes, or az, like the Mechilta says, when they reached Vayaaminu baShem, az yashir Moshe. So if you say that it means when they saw the nes, it's very simple. You see a nes, right? You say shira. Ma'od pashut, very simple. A nes, shira. But according to the Mechilta, it's a lot deeper than that. That is, that when there's emunah, when there's emunah, zachu because of that to say shira. So there's a connection between the shira and the emunah. What's the connection between the shira and the emunah? So we could say that this shira needed hashraas haShechinah, need to be connected to the Eibishter for that. Tamai, are you able to have nevuah without strong emunah? Of course not. Emunah is this understanding the Ribono Shel Olam, seeing Him, connecting to Him. So once you have that, then you can have hashraas haShechinah. Yeah? No? Not maskim? Very good, yeah? But that's maybe pshat in the last words here: Zachu loimar v'sharas aleihem Shechinah, that the emunah was for the Shechinah, for the hashraas haShechinah. Or maybe the emunah was directly connected to the saying of the shira. Why? According to one pshat, they said this Az Yashir even before—

Kriyas Yam Suf. The Chilta says that this was said before Kriyas Yam Suf. So if it was said before Kriyas Yam Suf, how did they know? Huh? How before? How did you know what was going to happen? And the teretz is, it was a nevuah. Emunah. They had emunah. How do they get that? How do you get emunah is a discussion for itself. You want to go now into whatever it is, they saw the greatness of Hashem from before even. And could be they connected to the Eibishter in this moment, and the truth is you're pushing me into a direction of having to discuss emunah. I'm not ready to do that. All I'm telling you is that shirah connected to emunah. Shirah connected to emunah. That's what it says here. You have to know why. So either we have to explain that you need hashraas hashchinah in order to have emunah. You need hashraas hashchinah. Without hashraas hashchinah, you can't have shirah. So you need emunah for that. Or maybe you needed emunah because this was a nevuah before it even happened, before it even took place, the whole story. They had to come and say all that was going to happen on Kriyas Yam Suf. Or maybe we could say another pshat here, that the reason why you needed emunah was not so much because it didn't happen. But emunah and shirah is because with emunah, you start to understand more behind the miracle that's in front of you. You start to realize that it's a calculated thing, that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is running it from above, and it's so complex, and that's what shirah is, which is really what we would tell you, the Alter from Kelm. The Alter from Kelm says that the oz, Yashir Moshe, is connected to what? To me'az basi el Paro. And the Alter from Kelm explains, because he started to realize that the heryoisa was actually the beginning, the beginning which resulted in what? Resulted in the az yashir. They saw the greatness of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. You know, sometimes a person could be wowed by the scenario in front of him, and sometimes you could be wowed by how it came about. Not just, you see a tremendous, wow, look, look how this miracle took place, the car, it almost hit this, and then you start thinking what was behind that and who orchestrated all that. Behind it, how it came about. That's a different point of emunah, and that's shirah, and that's shirah. But I see from Rabbi Yerucham that Rabbi Yerucham explains that the shirah was the inauguration song of the Rabbeinu Shalom. We sang a song of Hashem yimloch l'olam va'ed. And he explains very interesting. We already elected the Eibishter in Mitzrayim, but at Kriyas Yam Suf, we had the inauguration, which resulted in a special song of making the Ribono Shel Olam the Melech, Hashem yimloch l'olam va'ed, and that's Zeh Keili v'anveihu. Zeh Keili v'anveihu, right? There's a Rasag. The Rasag says that a chelek of emunah, the mitzvah of emunah, is kabbalas malchuso. Emunah is not just to believe in Hashem, but to believe in Hashem and accept His kingdom, His kingship, that He's the Melech. That's the pshat, Reb Yerucham's fataych. It's not only Hashem yimloch emunah, because emunah actually needs more. It means to make Hashem the King. Hashem yimloch. Hashem is the King. I want to tell you something more, rabosai. I saw an unbelievable Reikeach. Reikeach says that on Kriyas Yam Suf, not only did they say Az Yashir, but they said Shir HaShirim.

They said Shirah Shirim. And he says that the word Shir HaShirim means shir hashirim, shir shel yam, shirim, shir of the yam. They said it on Shir. Many have a minhag, the Litvish and the Lithuanian Jews have a minhag that the night of Pesach they say Shir HaShirim. It comes from here. That's where it comes from. Because on the night of Pesach, not only did they say shirah by Kriyas Yam Suf, but they also, when they left Mitzrayim, they said Shirah Shirim. Shir hashirim, the Yam Suf. The Rakeach actually says that there was more. They also said, Hodu LaShem Ki Tov, Ki LeOlam Chasdo. That's what the Rakeach says, which is called Hallel HaGadol. So we have an interesting pshat: Shir HaShirim is the song of what? Of love. First we said that it was shirah thanking Hashem for the miracle. That's pashut, az yashir Moshe. Then we have a second pshat, that it was hamlachas HaKadosh Baruch Hu, that Hashem is the King. And then there's a third thing that has to do maybe with what? Shir HaShirim, the love of the Eibishter. I saw an interesting vort from the Alter of Slabodka. The Alter of Slabodka says, if you notice, we don't say Zehu Elokim, zeh keli. Zeh Keili v'anveihu. Mine. Special. Specialized. To me, it's zeh Keili. It's personal. It's mine. Tell me, when a person inaugurates a king, he says, He's our king, our king, yeah? Our king! He says, My king? Yes, a person, when he walks around talking, he'll say, It's my king. But in the inauguration, you don't say mine; you say it's ours. Yet here they said what? Zeh Keili. It was very personal. And he explains, because every Yid felt special, unique connection, and that everything that happened in the hashgacha pratis was for him, him, him and him alone. Zeh Keili. It's mine. You know, lehavdil אלף הבדלות, I'm sorry that I'm bringing this example. A lot of people who didn't vote for the president, you know what they'll say? He's not my president. He's your president. I didn't vote for him. Everyone's laughing. I see you all following the politics of the day. Not my president. Yeah, but I'm sorry to tell you, if you're an American, he is your president. Nothing personal. He's our president. What are you gonna do? He's the president of the United States of America. Yet in the inauguration itself of the Eibishter, it's zeh Keili. It was personal. Mine, mine. Chazal tell us that, you know why they said Zeh Keili? How did they know? How did they know? How does someone know Zeh Keili? How do they, huh? So the Medrash says that they saw the same figure that took care of them in Mitzrayim when they were buried under the ground. The Mitzrim would come to take away the babies, so they had to hide the babies. So they hid them under the apple tree, so to speak. And who fed them? HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Tachas haTapuach orarticha. It's a pasuk in Shir HaShirim. That was the love. And that's what they saw, Zeh Keili. The Eibishter is not just my king, but he's an interesting type of a king. He does even house calls to feed me with a bottle. Zeh Keili v'anveihu. What type of a king, you hear? It's a king. It's a king where it's love. It's not just a king that he's the emperor, but rather Zeh Keili. I saw a beautiful lashon of the Medrash. The Medrash says, Keili.

Midas harachamim. Medrash says, keli. Keli is a loshon here. Imi noag b'midas rachamim. Part of the inauguration song and the dedication and the praise of the king in his inauguration was that with me he was noheg b'midas rachamim. Im avosai, with my parents, midas hadin. U'menayin she'ein keli ela midas rachamim? Shenemar, Keli, Keli, lama azavtani. Midas harachamim. Hashem doesn't leave you alone. Also it says, Kel nora alila, v'omer, Kel Hashem vaya'er lanu. So it's midas harachamim, midas harachamim. So the pshat in zeh Keli, here, midas harachamim. It's not just He's the Melech; He's the rachamim, love, mercy. Zeh Keli v'anvehu. You know, where do we know the mitzvah of hiddur mitzvah? Where does it come from? The inyan of being mehader, making a mitzvah nice, it comes from here: Zeh Keli v'anvehu. V'anvehu, hisnaeh lefanav b'mitzvos. I'll make it nice in mitzvos. The question is, what does it have to do with Kriyas Yam Suf? How did it come into Kriyas Yam Suf? Hidu mitzvah, right? To make a mitzvah nice. How did it come into Krias Yam Suf? So the truth is, I would have said an interesting pshat. According to the way Rabbi Yerucham explains to me that the shira was the inauguration of the melech, right, like the Rassag explains, emunah means kabbalas the malchus. Az yashir means Hashem yimloch l'olam va'ed, I accept the malchus. Malchus means tzivuyim, commandments, right? What's a malchus? A malchus is commanded. So, you know, a person does the command because he has no choice. He has to. Whether or not you like it, you got to listen to the mitzvah. But then when somebody loves the king, you know how he does the mitzvahs? He now doesn't do it because he has to; he does it because he wants to. How do you know the difference between someone doing something because he has to and somebody does something because he wants to? Depends on how. If he just does it to be yotzei chov, so that's because he had to. If he does it with hiddur, so then it means because he wants to, right? That's what I always understood. But the way we're learning, there's a deeper pshat, rabosai. Krias Yam Suf was all about love. There was a lot of love in Krias Yam Suf. I once told you that the Medrash tells us that Krias Yam Suf was done in a way which was convenient, and it was almost that the Eibishter was there to make it the best situation possible for Klal Yisrael. Now, when somebody has to run away... And he needs to... so whatever it is, he's happy as long as he survived, right? The Medrash says that the walls, there were walls, right? Because the water stood up as like walls. They were like crystals, like diamonds. It was beautiful. It was very comfortable. And I always explained to you many times, why did it have to be that there were crystals? Well, what's the point of the crystals? So either the pshat is that when Klal Yisrael passed by, don't forget it was twelve. They didn't know what was going on with the other part of Klal Yisrael. What do they know? It was twelve. So they needed it should be see-through like a wall of glass, so they should be able to see that it's not only they're getting saved, but the other shevet, the other tribes are also, because then they wouldn't appreciate and be happy. It's very hard for someone to survive knowing, not knowing if the other part of his, so to speak, family, the other part of Klal Yisrael is not surviving. So the Eibishter made like a glass wall. It's a Medrash, and I'm interpreting the Medrash. The Medrash says there was like a wall, and they were able to see each other through. So I explained because the Eibishter wanted that they should...

Not just escape in panic and in fear. They should escape in beauty and happiness. And also the Medrash says, this is another Medrash, another Medrash, that it was like crystals. It's beautiful. It was a beautiful situation. So in return we say, Zeh Keili v'anveihu, Rabbeinu Shalom, I'll pay you back by making the mitzvahs beautiful. But according to the way we're explaining, it actually goes a little bit deeper than that. And that is, Shiras Hayam is the acceptance of the Melech with love, that there's a love connection with the Rabbeinu Shalom too. And that love connection comes through, comes through with Zeh Keili v'anveihu. Rabbeinu Shalom, I will do in return all the mitzvahs with love, beauty, caring, love, feelings. Zeh Keili v'anveihu. Which leads me, rabosai, to a big yesod. You ready? People talk about hashgacha pratis. People talk about hashgacha pratis. You know what was interesting about Kriyas Yam Suf? We spoke about it many times. Yetzias Mitzrayim was emunah. Kriyas Yam Suf is bitachon. You have to—I mean, l'choira it's one thing, right? So why did we have Yetzias Mitzrayim and Kriyas Yam Suf at the same time? It should be together. The answer is it's two different things. One was emunah. It says Betrayim was emunah, and then seven days later, we needed to have such emunah that it resulted in bitachon. And what was the bitachon? We had to jump into the water. Nachshon ben Aminadav had to jump in, and not only did it split right away. It didn't split right away. What happened? Bo mayim ad nafesh, which means the waters didn't split right away. Till his mamish, and then it split. There's a Mechilta that says that it didn't just split, but as they walked, every step it split. Why? Bitachon is a test every moment, every moment. Emunah, you come to the realization Hashem is the Melech. Yes. Bitachon, every moment is a test. Do you trust? Do you not trust? Do you trust? Do you not trust? And it had to be step by step that we get tested on it. What is bitachon? So we could say bitachon is that the Eibishter runs the world. What is hashgacha pratis we spoke last week is bitachon, that the Eibishter mamish is mashgiach prati. What does it mean prati? That He runs the world and everything has its reason? Or is it also that we have to have emunah and bitachon in the tov and the kindness of HaKadosh Baruch Hu? What is hashgacha pratis? What is it? What is hashgacha pratis? There's a beautiful story with the Alter of Slabodka that he was walking, Ketzenberg. It's a place in Europe. He was walking to shul, and there was a bunch of Cossacks, pogromniks. They were passing by, and he got scared because when a Yid in Europe saw a Cossack, he got frightened. There was a Yid standing next to him that was being masimpled, and the Jew tells him, Rebbe, times have changed. I think there was some kind of a change in the agreements of nations. I don't know exactly the historic context. The Cossack, he'll be scared to touch. He won't bother you. Don't be so nervous about it. And then the person didn't just stop with that. He said, And that's all because the Eibishter is so kind, and the Ribono Shel Olam is so kind in general to us. And a person should always realize that Hashem is so kind, so probably nothing will anyway happen. And he went along this line of—

Parnassah is good, and the Eibishter does chesed. It's all the kindness of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the times that we live in, the out of Slabodka, when he came to the door and said, I want you to go before me. You reached a level of emunah, the real emunah, and you opened up my eyes. Emunah is not just that Hashem runs the world, but to see it in the light of Hashem runs the world in kindness. Atah tafasta emunah. You understood what emunah is. I think that's the pshat in this medrash, רבי. You go home Shabbos, teach this to your children. Emunah brings shirah. Shirah of what? Of love. Shirah is, it's a different type of shirah. It's not just I thanking Hashem for things that happened. It's understanding that everything is with love and kindness. Even the harei'osa, the lama az, me'az basi el Para, is actually az yashir for good. That's shirah, and that's a result of the ultimate understanding of emunah. We can have emunah that Hashem created the world. We can have emunah that Hashem is the King of the world. We can have emunah that Hashem guides and runs the world to a detail. But at Kriyas Yam Suf, Klal Yisrael saw something more. What did they see? That the Eibishter runs the world, and that Klal Yisroel has a special love from the Ribono Shel Olam. There's a kindness and a special love in everything the Eibishter does for Klal Yisroel. And that is goyrim shira. That causes shira. Shira, Hodu laShem ki tov, ki l'olam chasdo. But then there's shira, shir ha-shirim, that there's a special unique bond and connection that a Yid has with the Ribono Shel Olam. That's what it means emunah. Because of the emunah zachu, they were zoche to say shira. Rashi says something interesting. What is Oz yashir Moshe? Oz, עלה בליבו לומר שירה. Why is shira from the heart? What does that mean? I always understood shira is understanding. Tell me, if someone does you a favor, yeah, so if you understand it, then you thank him, right? It's something which the mind—it's a mind thing, right? Grasping, and therefore thanking. How did the libo come in here? Oz עלה בליבו לומר שירה. And the answer is, it wasn't an understanding that brought about the shira, but it was the heart. It was a feeling of connection to the Eibishter, a love that they felt. That's az ala b'libai lo imashirach. You know what the word ala means? What does the word ala mean? Ala means it comes from itself. In a sense, it's not something that you can pre-arrange. It's not something that you can come and say, What? I'll make a seder, I'm going to do this. It can't be pre-calculated. You have to be moved to it. You have to be moved to say shirah, moved. Az ala b'libai lo imashirah. You have to be moved to say shirah, moved. What moves, yeah? What moves someone to say shirah? What? And the answer is, he's responding to the love that the Eibishter... I think we can say a meirdike pshat: umalchuso b'ratzon kiblu aleihem. Right? We're saying about Kriyas Yam Suf, malchuso b'ratzon. What does the word ratzon mean? You want? Ah, you see, Mr. Kaikov, you say gevaldik. Beautiful. You know what the simple translation of ratzon means?

Not willingly. Redundant, because the word malchusai means b'ratzon. The Gra explains that there is two things: malchus and memshalah. By Klal Yisrael, what does it say? No? U'memshaltecha — what's loshon? Ki laShem hameluchah, u'moshel bagoyim. Says the Gra, moshel means he's forcing, a moshel, bagoyim. Goyim, Hashem is the King, but He's moshel because not they accept Him so much. But malchus, which is different than memshalah, there's a dictatorship, and then there's a democratic elected. The Ribbono Shel Olam was democratically elected. Huh? You maskim? Ki laShem hameluchah, u'moshel bagoyim. So what's u'malchusai b'ratzon? Either it means that the malchus b'ratzon, but that's really what it means. Malchus is b'ratzon. So I think the word ratzon, you said gevaldik. Ratzon doesn't mean one accepting with willing. It's accepting with ratzon. It's a different type of a malchus. Klal Yisrael was moved to accept the malchus of the Ribbono Shel Olam. They were moved to it. There's ratzon, willing, and there's ratzon, that the heart moves the person, ratzon, to accept the malchus of the Ribbono Shel Olam. Klal Yisroel has a special maila, and that is—are you with me still? Are you understand what we're saying? It's a ma'aleh dike vort here. I want to tell you over a beautiful Gra. The Gra says, the Gra says, we say by the Haggadah, we say by the Haggadah, Matzah zu... Why do we eat the matzah? No, why do we eat matzah? Shelo hispik b'tzechem l'hachmitz ad sheniglah aleihem HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Remember the lashon? Ad sheniglah—who wants to finish the lashon? HaKadosh Baruch Hu. V'go'alam. Till HaKadosh Baruch Hu. It has nothing—Hashem redeemed them. Hashem redeemed them, and there was no time. What does it mean, ad sheniglah, till the Eibishter revealed Himself? This revealing has nothing to do with this story. Hashem redeemed them, and it was quick, and they could—says the Gra, ad sheniglah, they weren't planning on leaving. But when they saw HaKadosh Baruch Hu, they were driven, driven. This is what we want, this. Lechteich acharai bamidbar. We were drawn into the midbar. Ad sheniglah aleihem HaKadosh Baruch Hu, Elokei avosam, v'go'alam. That's what redeemed them. It's a beautiful pshat. We weren't told to go. We weren't given the green light to go. All the Eibishter dangled in front of us was what? This is who I am. This is me. Here I am, at Sinai, and Klal Yisroel ran, and they dropped everything. They didn't even have time to prepare food. That's the pshat, u'malchuso b'ratzon. What made them accept? It was something inner by them. It was something that they wanted. The wanting made them accept the malchus. Malchusoi doesn't mean willingly. It's not willing, la'afukei kfiyah. It's willing, b'his'orerus, with meshichah. They wanted. There was a ratzon. The inner, every Yid inside him has so much ratzon, so much wanting to connect to the Eibishter, to be loved by the Ribono Shel Olam and to love the Eibishter. U'malchuso b'ratzon kiblu aleihem, b'simchah rabbah, v'amru kulam, Mi chamocha ba'eilim Hashem.

This is the inyan of ola b'liboi. Well, there was something in the heart that was stirring them to accept, to say shirah, to inaugurate the Rabbeinu Shlolem. What was it? It wasn't something in the mind. It was something in the heart. It was something from the heart. And what was that? That was the love, the inner love, the shirah shirim that every Yid has for the Rabbeinu Shlolem. It was driven by love, by passion. That's pshat. Ratzon doesn't mean want; it means ratzon, passion. Malchuso b'ratzon, with passion. Kiblu aleihem, they were mekabel. This is emunah, because what is emunah? Emunah doesn't only mean emunah that Hashem exists. Emunah is that I have emunah in the Rabbeinu Shlolem's hatovah, special, unique to me. And that's the emunah that was goyrim the shirah, the Oz Yashir. So this is the Oz Yashir. What happened? Okay. You've just experienced another Torah class, brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.