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Drash
for Shabbat B'Shalach/Shira B'shalach, the parsha for Shabbat Shirah, unfolds with the newly released Israelites and Moses being led by God in a round about way into the Wilderness. The exact route, unknown, includes the Reed Sea. Armed and defiant, the Israelites are inspired by their new freedom. But Divine intervention influences Pharaoh----stiffening his heart and changing his mind about the released slaves. Regretting his earlier decision to "let go" the Israelites, Pharaoh and his army now pursue the former slaves. Wavering at the sight of Pharaoh and his powerful forces, the demoralized Israelites cry out "it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." To ensure that the Israelites' journey continues, God commands Moses to not pray, but act: "Tell the Israelites to go forward...lift up your rod ...over the sea and split it." So, as with Abraham's call to Go Forth, Moses' command to continue the journey is amplified as an entire people is directed to Go Forward. Gradually, during the night, the waters separate allowing the Israelites to go forward over dry ground. And so the journey continues to the place Moses sings of in the Song At the Sea: "You lead the people
You redeemed... But where is this holy abode? Is there a map---a path for this journey? Does the song reveal the location? I know the Song captures that transcendent moment of exultation for the Israelites--- who stand now on the other side of the Sea of Reeds. The momentum from their collective experience finds expression in song, drumbeat and dance. I can try to reproduce that moment in my imagination---try to hear that ancient Song at the Sea---Shirat ha-Yam. The Torah service, too, attempts to capture the significance of that moment when the Exodus ends and a free people begin to emerge. Congregations rise for the chanting of this song. Special status is given to the song by its unique layout in the Torah scroll. Different trope is used for certain verses. In some congregations, verses 4 and 5 describing the destruction of Pharaoh's army are whispered rather than chanted loudly. Everything is remarkable about this song that praises "the Eternal who has triumphed gloriously." But does the song inform us of the whereabouts of God's holy abode? Where does this journey out of the wilderness lead? I would like to suggest that one possible interpretation might be found in the song's second verse. The language of this verse entwines the references to God with those to the singer. The Eternal is my strength
and might; If I interpret the word "enshrine" at its simplest level of meaning---to enclose, then God's holy abode is within Moses and within all who will enshrine God. Extend this thought to include all of us on an internal journey. On this metaphorical journey, we wander through personal wilderness. Let us not choose to die in the wilderness, but rather go forward and uncover within God's holy abode. Two weeks ago, Rabbi Neil Gillman spoke of placing God in what we do. To illustrate his point, he recreated his experience upon listening to a beautifully sustained note on the cello by Yo-Yo Ma in the finale of Dvorak's Concerto for Cello. On this Shabbat Shirah, I will leave you with a bit of that transcendent moment*---and the hope that your journey leads you to God's holy abode. * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMMZIa4dynk Shabbat Shalom.
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