Shabbos Beshalach, Shabbos Shirah - The matter of song according to the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov

00:02 Speaker 1 In 5771, in the month of Shvat, I was in America, and the Rebbe of Toldos Aharon, z"l, came for a visit. At that time, in Shvat 5771, he had a yechidus with the Rebbe. It was a very deep, warm, and wide-ranging yechidus. They spoke about many things. Among them, the Rebbe of Toldos Aharon told the Rebbe that they study prayer—how to daven—and said that they follow what is written in Tanya. There, the Alter Rebbe writes that one should spend about an hour and a half davening Shacharis. What does it mean to spend an hour and a half davening Shacharis? The Rebbe then asked how they davened, what their approach to prayer was. A very rich discussion developed about the proper way to approach prayer: Is it enough to understand the meaning of the words, or should one understand them with explanation, fervor, and dveikus, and delve into their meaning? After all, one learns Chassidus and knows that the words one says have a Chassidic meaning, and one builds on that meaning. This is what the Rebbe spoke about then: when one learns Chassidus before davening and knows the Chassidic meaning of what one says, it adds vitality to the prayers, to the fervor and dveikus, and to the words one davens. There was a real discussion about this. The Rebbe gave several examples of how to do it. What does that mean? What is the—

02:02 Speaker 1 point? Among the things they discussed were examples. One example the Rebbe gave came from the words we say in the Song at the Sea, in Az Yashir. In general, we are told to say Az Yashir with great joy. The Zohar is quoted as saying that this is something like the splitting of the sea. In Az Yashir we say: “This is my G-d and I will glorify Him; my father’s G-d and I will exalt Him.” The Rebbe said that even the words themselves are warm words: This is my G-d, “and I will glorify Him”; “my father’s G-d and I will exalt Him”—I praise Him. But when one knows the Chassidic meaning, the inner meaning of the words, it adds tremendous fervor. The Rebbe said that the holy Shelah also offers an interpretation of this verse. What does the holy Shelah write? He explains: At first glance, there is a repetition here. We say, “This is my G-d and I will glorify Him,” and then, “my father’s G-d and I will exalt Him.” That is more or less the same thing. Many commentators say that it repeats the same idea in different words, as is the way of poetry and song. Indeed, many commentators who explain the plain meaning of the Song say that this is [unclear]: in a song, the same idea is often repeated in different words, because that is the nature of song. Even though it is the same idea, it is repeated for the sake of

03:43 Speaker 1 song and poetic expression. But the holy Shelah explains that it is not the same idea. There are two distinct things here. He says that knowing Hakadosh Boruch Hu and serving Hashem can take two forms. There is serving Hashem through faith: a Jew received that faith from his father, from his parents, through his upbringing. He believes in the Creator because that is what his parents taught him; that is how he was raised. Then there is a Jew who does not settle for what he received from his parents, but works to understand and internalize it. As the Rambam says in Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah: “When a person contemplates His wondrous and great works and creations, and sees in them His wisdom, which has no measure or end.” Then [unclear] the Creator of the world, and then he praises Hashem’s greatness, until it becomes something he himself grasps and understands deep within. Regarding this, the verse says, as the holy Shelah explains, “This is my G-d and I will glorify Him.” He says that ve’anveihu, “and I will glorify Him,” can be read as ani vaHu—“I and He.” Two words, “I” and “He”: I, the person, and He, the Master of the World, in one word. In other words, the “I” and the “He” become one. That is why we say, “This is my G-d.” If He is my G-d—meaning, someone I myself have come to know through understanding and inwardly absorbing it—then ve’anveihu: we become

05:17 Speaker 1 one. But if He is only “my father’s G-d”—meaning, my father is a good person, my father believes in Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and so I, too, believe in Hakadosh Boruch Hu—then one says, “and I will exalt Him.” In other words, He remains exalted, remains above; He remains something lofty and distant. In the words of the holy Shelah, “distant from me in the hidden recesses of my heart.” It remains so distant in the hidden recesses of the heart. It is not something that shines and lives within a person. This is what the Rebbe said: When a person knows and learns the meaning, is familiar with the Chassidic meaning of the words, and reflects on it, then, when he reaches the words “This is my G-d and I will glorify Him; my father’s G-d and I will exalt Him” in the Song at the Sea and knows their inner meaning, his prayer will certainly be filled with tremendous fervor, dveikus, love, and even greater joy. He understands the meaning of “This is my G-d and I will glorify Him”—I and He are united as one. It is not merely [unclear]; rather, the Master of the World becomes one with me. There were several other examples along these lines. The [unclear] says, “Sing to Hashem a new song,” and [unclear]. Ah, the Rebbe gives this example: When I say in prayer, “Sing to Hashem a new song,” he asks: Why does it say “a new song” here in the masculine form? Usually, the word for song is shirah, in the feminine

06:46 Speaker 1 form. Even in Shir Hashirim, where the word is shir rather than shirah, the song appears in the feminine form. But the verse in Tehillim says, “Sing to Hashem a new song.” There is an extensive discussion of this in the Gemara in Pesachim: All the songs that were sung—the ten songs—were expressed in the feminine form, whereas the song of the future, when Moshiach comes, will be the tenth song, and it will be “a new song,” in the masculine form. What does this mean? Why were all the songs expressed in the feminine form, while the song of the future is in the masculine form? There are explanations for this; it already appears in Pesachim. There are explanations of why it is said this way. But the Chassidic explanation is that the feminine is inherently associated with giving birth, which involves change. [unclear] With the feminine, there are changes and times. The masculine, by contrast, indicates the opposite: something fixed, something that is... And this is the point in serving Hashem: all the redemptions of the past were expressed in the feminine form, because trouble followed them. They were indeed redemptions, but afterward exile returned; they were not complete redemptions. In the future, by contrast, there will be a complete Geulah. That is why we say “a new song,” in the masculine form—something lasting, something eternal.

08:15 Speaker 1 And this applies to serving Hashem. Every day, when a Jew davens, he leaves exile. There is a personal Geulah. When a Jew davens to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and connects with Him, he leaves his personal exile. But a Jew can leave his personal exile and then fall back into exile. That is the idea of a song in the feminine form. Today he is in a state of Geulah; he davens and has [unclear], he has left exile, and his G-dly soul shines within him. But afterward he falls back into exile. “A new song” means that there will be a true Geulah, like the Geulah of the future, with strength and permanence, so that he remains connected to Hakadosh Boruch Hu consistently. When one reflects on this during prayer, one can bring about a song that is “a new song,” in the masculine form. Through the work of prayer, one can reach this state: a Jew davens and reflects on these things, and then he can place himself in [unclear], in that state, with that outlook. In other words, there is greater dveikus and greater joy in serving Hashem. This Shabbos is Shabbos Shirah. Shabbos Beshalach is called Shabbos Shirah, and Shabbos Shirah is a great Shabbos. This is the song the Jewish people sang when they left Egypt. We know, after all, that this song is the song of all songs. The verse says “Az yashir”—“Then he will sing”—in the future tense.

09:45 Speaker 1 Why is it said here in the future tense, “Then Moshe will sing”? Rashi says: “From here we learn the resurrection of the dead from the Torah.” And it is clear from the Midrash that the Song at the Sea, which the Jewish people sang when they left Egypt, was not only a song of praise and thanks for the miracles they saw at the sea, during the Exodus and the splitting of the sea. The Song at the Sea was actually a preparation for, and the beginning of, the song that will be sung in the future—all ten songs, culminating in the final song, the “new song” of the future. This is the meaning of the verse: “Then Moshe and the Jewish people will sing this song.” “Will sing” is written in the future tense, and the verse says “then.” In other words, “this song” includes the song of the future, the song about which it is said, “From here we learn the resurrection of the dead from the Torah.” Then Moshe Rabbeinu will sing the song in its fullness, and all the songs will come together as one single song. What is the deeper meaning of song in general, and of the Song at the Sea in particular? Why do we speak about it so much, as something so great? In particular, it is even brought in the Zohar, as the Ohr Hachayim Hakadosh cites in today’s parsha, that the words “and they said, saying” allude to “Then Moshe and the Jewish people will sing” happening every day. He says this is something present and future, something constant. “Will sing,” something [unclear], continues always.

11:13 Speaker 1 “Then Moshe will sing”—Moshe always sings to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And every day, when a person davens and recites the Song at the Sea, the Zohar says he should say it with great joy, as though he had just left Egypt and had just crossed the sea. We need to understand a little: What is the significance of song in general, and of the Song at the Sea in particular? And why is it something that calls for such great joy? What is this song about? On the subject of song in general, there is a teaching of the Maggid of Mezritch. The Maggid of Mezritch asks: What does the word “shir” mean? A shir is a melody, something one sings. But there are other words for song: sometimes it is called “zimrah,” sometimes “shirah,” and sometimes [unclear]. There are ten terms, each expressing song, praise or prayer, in different words. But why does the Song at the Sea specifically say “Then Moshe will sing”—what is the particular meaning of the word “shir”? A teaching on this is brought in the name of the Maggid of Mezritch. He says that the word “shir” appears in the Gemara in Tractate Shabbos. The Gemara in Tractate Shabbos discusses the laws of carrying: what may be worn or carried on Shabbos and what may not, what counts as an ornament and what does not. It discusses “what a woman may go out wearing” and “what an animal may go out wearing.” It tells us...

12:43 Speaker 1 When the Gemara discusses the laws concerning animals—what may be placed on an animal on Shabbos, what counts as carrying and what does not, and what it may go out wearing—it quotes the Mishnah in Tractate Shabbos: “All animals that wear a shir may go out wearing a shir and may be led by the shir.” The plain meaning of the Mishnah is that “shir” here means a ring, a circular object placed around the animal’s neck, to which a rope is tied so the animal can be led. These are called “animals that wear a shir.” The Mishnah says: “All animals that wear a shir”—all the animals led by this ring, this circle, this chain, the shir—“may go out wearing a shir and may be led by the shir.” One may lead them with it and take them out into the street that way; it does not fall under the prohibition of carrying, because it is part of the animal’s gear. These are laws of Shabbos. And the Maggid of Mezritch gave a wonderful teaching about this: In a spiritual sense, the “animals that wear a shir” are the angels. Among the heavenly creatures are the face of an ox, the face of an eagle and the face of a lion; all these angels are called creatures and animals. “All animals that wear a shir” refers to the angels. And not only to the angels, he says, but also to souls. Souls, too, sing to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Souls praise Hakadosh Boruch Hu all the time, and he cites several verses about this, including “Seek Hashem and His strength” [unclear].

14:20 Speaker 1 There is the song of the angels and there is the song of the souls. And “the holy ones praise You every day, forever”—souls sing to Hakadosh Boruch Hu all the time. The Gemara in Chullin says there is a song that the ministering angels sing to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and a song that the collective soul of the Jewish people sings to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Who sings first and who sings afterward—there is an entire discussion of this in the Gemara, a whole sugya. So there is the song of souls and the song of angels. Why is it called a “shir”? He says: If the Gemara says that a shir is a ring, something circular, then song, too, is a circle. Why? Because a circle has no beginning and no end. A circle has no beginning or end; it is one continuous round shape, without beginning or end. Accordingly, when one sings a melody, the melody, too, has within it [unclear]. The power of a melody is that when a person enters its mood, its joyful rhythm, and sings, he can sing the same melody, the same musical phrase, many times. He can sing it once, and again and again, dozens of times, hundreds of times. He can keep singing without growing tired of it. That is the power of music, the power of song. Song is boundless; it illuminates the soul. The Alter Rebbe said that a melody is “the pen of the soul.” It is well known that the holy Baal Shem Tov renewed the world.

15:42 Speaker 1 He brought music back and reawakened it. It is related in chassidic stories that the Baal Shem Tov reawakened music, as is explained. Music existed before the Baal Shem Tov. Later, during the exile, there was a period when “their melodies and songs of delight ceased”; there was an interruption. And afterward music returned. The holy Baal Shem Tov made song and melody central to serving Hashem. And the Alter Rebbe said that a melody is “the pen of the soul.” It is the pen of the heart. The purity in the heart is inscribed in the soul. In other words, writing is generally connected with the intellect; it comes from the intellect. [unclear] is a matter of intellect. A melody is boundless. It is the dawning of light in the soul, and it is not confined by limits. And the feeling in a melody, the delight—“shir” is related to a circle, a ring. Why? Because it is something boundless in the soul. It is joy without limits, as people say. The same is true of melodies of yearning, which contain boundless yearning. After all, the soul thirsts—“My soul thirsts for You”—for holiness. And so, too, with joyful melodies: there is boundless joy, boundless delight. The soul activates [unclear]. And when we say, as is quoted in the name of the Maggid of Mezritch, “All animals that wear a shir may go out wearing a shir and may be led by the shir,” this is—

17:12 Speaker 1 “May go out wearing a shir,” and “may be led by the shir.” He says this about ratzo and shov—going forth and returning. When you sing a melody, it has two movements, two states. Every melody has a part that moves upward. And part of the melody rises higher and higher, stronger and stronger. This is called “going out”: leaving yourself, going beyond your own limits, “going out with a shir.” And afterward, “being led by the shir”—coming back. These are the movements of a person’s entire life. There are movements of ratzo and shov. They encompass a person’s entire life. A person is always moving in two directions: On the one hand, he wants to go beyond his own confines and limitations, to break out of his boundaries, to leave his own narrow straits. When he wants to break free and rises upward, that is the movement of ratzo. That is “going out with a shir.” And then comes the thought: I am here, and this is the Divine intent. After all, it is Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s will that we make a dwelling for Him in the lower realms. A person must draw G-dliness into the world. And that brings him to shov, to return and come back down. This is “going out with a shir and being led by the shir.” That is the significance of song in general, and it is a foundation of serving Hashem. From here we come to the subject of Perek Shirah. There is an entire Midrash, Perek Shirah. It contains [unclear] and various subjects. But the particular point of Perek Shirah, as the Tzemach Tzedek explains, is that every created thing, every creature, every living animal and every domesticated animal, has—

18:47 Speaker 1 —song, and sings a verse. This is explained, [unclear]. Yes, the Tzemach Tzedek explains, “And the living beings ran and returned.” The verse says this, but it does not refer only to the living beings, the angels. “And the living beings ran and returned” is said in Yechezkel about the living beings of the Divine Chariot, but it does not refer only to angels. What are “running and returning”? The word for “living beings” also means life force. So when it says, “And the living beings ran and returned,” it means the G-dly life force, the G-dliness within everything. Every created being has life, a G-dly life force. The Baal Shem Tov explains that at every moment, every second, every instant—as the Rebbe explains in Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah—a G-dly life force enters every created being. That is its soul, its life force: “And You give life to them all.” That is why there is a Perek Shirah. It is the song of every living creature, of its life force, of its soul. And “living beings”—that is what it means. There is running and returning: “And the living beings ran and returned.” Every living creature has these two movements. Yes, what it knows [unclear]. And then there is the way this reaches even down here: the two movements, running and returning. This is the source of the angel, the source of every created being. “There is no blade of grass below that does not have a mazal above striking it and telling it, ‘Grow.’” That is the source of every blade of grass, of every living creature: the G-dly life force within it. And when they sing, when they make music, that is their running and returning. And here, too, [unclear] running and returning. And also [unclear]. And if this applies to human beings, then when [unclear].

20:25 Speaker 1 [unclear]. And that itself is the novelty. The whole of creation revolves around this; broadly speaking, this is the song of the entire world. But there is a world in which, on the surface, we do not see a revelation of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That was the exile in Egypt. Exile is a state of concealment, a state of darkness. You do not see that the world belongs to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. You do not see a revelation of G-dliness. On the contrary, you see a lowly world, a world of materiality and physicality. Look around with your physical eyes: a flesh-and-blood world, a world of human beings, a material world. When the Jewish people left Egypt, they elevated the sparks of holiness, especially at the Splitting of the Sea. There they elevated the greatest sparks that had been in Egypt. After all, it says, “Not one of them remained”; “They emptied Egypt,” “They emptied the sea” [unclear]. They elevated the sparks of holiness. [unclear] all 210 years of backbreaking labor in Egypt, until they reached the Sea of Reeds. And the preparation came when they reached the Sea of Reeds, when they elevated the sparks of holiness from all aspects of the world. [unclear]. Then the Sea split. And what does the Splitting of the Sea actually mean? The maamarim about the Splitting of the Sea say that it means tearing something open. The sea, the concealment, had to be torn open. The concealment and obscurity had to be

22:09 Speaker 1 torn open—nature itself. And the revelation of G-dliness within the entire world was revealed. That is why there was the song, “Then Moshe and the Jewish people sang”: they discovered Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the revelation of G-dliness in the world. That is the foundation of the Song at the Sea. So says the Kedushas Levi. But I want to tell you the meaning of “Then Moshe will sing.” On the simple level, it is hard to understand. Here is a straightforward question: Why does it say “will sing” rather than “sang”? It was a song about what had already happened, about the miracles of the Exodus from Egypt. Rashi explicitly explains: “It arose in his heart that he should sing a song.” We need to understand that. What does “It arose in his heart that he should sing a song” mean? What arose in his heart? What does “Then Moshe will sing” mean? We see in the Gemara, in Sotah and Pesachim, that when the Jewish people left Egypt and reached the sea, they did not know what to do. They came to their Rebbe, Moshe Rabbeinu, and said: [unclear]. And the sea was before them. Nachshon ben Aminadav entered the sea, and that brought about the Splitting of the Sea. That is, indeed, the plain meaning of the story. But why specifically Nachshon ben Aminadav? It says: “When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Yaakov from a people of foreign speech, Yehudah became His sanctuary.” Yehudah—Nachshon ben Aminadav, from the tribe of Yehudah—entered the sea. And this will explain the whole matter. The Kedushas Levi gives a fundamental teaching about

24:09 Speaker 1 song: When a person sees a miracle after it has happened, when he sees miracles, he begins to sing—Hakadosh Boruch Hu openly shows him a miracle, so he begins to sing. But a Jew who has genuine faith in Hakadosh Boruch Hu and genuine trust in Him does not wait for the miracle to happen before he starts singing. He starts singing even before he sees the miracle. And that joy itself brings about the miracle, so that afterward he sees the miracles and can sing the song in actuality. The Kedushas Levi asks: What happened there, at the Splitting of the Sea? The Jewish people were in a very difficult situation. The Egyptians were pursuing them from behind; the sea was before them; and the desert was on either side. Where could they go? Where could they stand? Do you know what they had to do? Nachshon ben Aminadav arrived. And Nachshon ben Aminadav said: [unclear]. He knew with certainty; he had complete trust in Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Even though he could not yet see the miracle—on the contrary, he was surrounded on all sides. They could not see, could not see the light. But he did not wait for a miracle to happen first. He kept walking, because he had complete trust that Hakadosh Boruch Hu would perform a miracle. The Kedushas Levi says that here we can offer two further interpretations.

25:45 Speaker 1 What happened here? One way to understand it is this: Hakadosh Boruch Hu tells him to go, so he has to go. And he goes. But he enters the sea, and it seems that one more small step and he will drown. So he will drown? Hakadosh Boruch Hu commands him to go, and he goes with mesirus nefesh. But there is another side: No, Hakadosh Boruch Hu commands him to go, and he is certain there will be a miracle. The Berditchever says that this was Nachshon ben Aminadav’s level. This is “Yehudah became His sanctuary.” He was so certain that Hakadosh Boruch Hu would help him that he could keep walking; if Hakadosh Boruch Hu commands you to go, you go and you succeed. And that joy and trust themselves brought about the miracle of the Splitting of the Sea. This is what Rashi means: “It arose in his heart that he should sing a song.” It arose in his heart—he was already ready; he knew he would sing. “It arose in his heart that he should sing a song.” He was already standing there, ready to sing with joy. That is the point: there must be trust. Here the Berditchever brings a teaching from the Baal Shem Tov. He says that the Baal Shem Tov used to say something wonderful about the verse “Hashem is your shadow.” What does “Hashem is your shadow” mean? The Baal Shem Tov says: “Your shadow” means a shadow—that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is, so to speak, a person’s shadow. Just as the shadow, the—

27:14 Speaker 1 shadow of a person walking down the street follows him; wherever he goes, his shadow goes with him. So too, says the holy Baal Shem Tov, when a Jew does something, Hakadosh Boruch Hu is, so to speak, his shadow. When a Jew is in a state of joy and delight, this creates, so to speak, a state of joy and delight above. Hakadosh Boruch Hu, so to speak, follows the person’s lead. That is why he says, “It arose in his heart”: When did “it arise in his heart that he should sing”? That stirred the shadow above, joy arose, and from this came the Splitting of the Sea. There is a wonderful story told in this connection. Let me tell you what happened with the Alter Rebbe at the end of his life. The Alter Rebbe was not well when he fled at the end of his life, during the Napoleonic War. The Alter Rebbe had to flee his home and spent several months on the road. He became ill, and then, rachmana litzlan, the Alter Rebbe passed away. The Tzemach Tzedek writes in a letter that the Alter Rebbe was already at the very end of his life. The doctors said that, according to the natural order, they could not save him. His grandson, the Tzemach Tzedek, was there at the time and was deeply broken. It was on Motzaei Shabbos, the night of 24 Teves.

28:44 Speaker 1 The Tzemach Tzedek stood up to daven Maariv and davened with sorrowful melodies. That is how he writes it in his letter: melodies of bitterness, melodies of sorrow. He was deeply broken. When he finished davening, the Alter Rebbe called him. The Alter Rebbe was already lying in bed; his condition was very serious, and he was suffering greatly. The Alter Rebbe called him and said, “I want to tell you a teaching I heard from my Rebbe, the Maggid of Mezritch, a teaching of the Baal Shem Tov on a verse.” And he recited the verse: “And above the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man upon it, from above.” This is a verse in Yechezkel, in Yechezkel’s prophecy. “And above the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man”—on the Throne of Glory there is a likeness with the appearance of a man. The Maggid of Mezritch explains, as the Alter Rebbe repeated in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, the words “And above the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man”: The man on the throne, the Supernal Man, means, so to speak, Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and He is “a likeness with the appearance of a man.” He is, so to speak, a reflection, like a mirror that reflects a person’s appearance. Whatever a person does below is, so to speak, done above. What a person does down here is reflected above. Therefore, if you stand here below in a state of joy and delight, it arouses joy above. And when there is joy above, harsh judgments are nullified, mercy is drawn down, and we see miracles beyond nature. [unclear]

30:22 Speaker 1 When a person is in a state of constriction, of severity, worry, and sadness, Heaven forfend, it arouses judgments Above. It arouses judgments Above, and that is not good. This is one of the foundations of the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings. And here, in the Song at the Sea, [unclear] explains “Then he will sing” in the future tense. Even though the miracle has not yet happened, and you still cannot see how you will get out of this, “then he will sing” is in the future tense. This is what Rashi says: “It arose in his heart that he would sing.” He brings light into his heart even before the miracle has happened—“that he would sing.” He brings this to explain the verse in Tehillim, chapter 18: “I will call upon Hashem with praise, and I will be saved from my enemies.” What does “with praise” mean? Even before the salvation, he sings praise to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That itself awakens joy within him; that itself awakens his... that itself brings him into a state of joy. And this is one of the things the weekly parsha teaches us. So what is the point? Why did the Splitting of the Sea have to happen? What is the meaning of the Splitting of the Sea? In Torah Or, [unclear], it says the following: Regarding the Splitting of the Sea, the Alter Rebbe explains nature, teva, in light of the words “they sank in the Sea of Reeds.” The sea represents nature. Why is it called teva? Because when something is submerged in the sea, when it goes into it, when something

31:50 Speaker 1 falls into the sea, it is submerged. What does “submerged” mean? The thing is there, fully intact, but it is covered. What can you see? You cannot see what is inside. And so it is with everything: there is G-dliness in everything. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is present in each and every thing, but He is concealed—that is nature. That is the meaning of the word teva. As is well known, the Zohar says that Elokim has the same numerical value as hateva, “nature.”

36:15 Speaker 2 We look at the Song at the Sea, [unclear], right? [unclear] the Exodus from Egypt. But a question arises that the commentators ask. [unclear] the Song at the Sea, and when we say “Then he will sing”—Moshe and the Jewish people “came back from the sea”—we are talking about the Splitting of the Sea. But then the song moves on to other things: “You will bring them and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance”—the Land of Israel; then, “the Sanctuary of Hashem that Your hands established”—the building of the Beis Hamikdash; and then, “Hashem will reign forever and ever.” What does all this have to do with the Splitting of the Sea? What does it have to do with the Song at the Sea? On a simple level, the Song at the Sea is praise and thanks to Hakadosh Boruch Hu for the miracles that had taken place, the Exodus from Egypt and the Splitting of the Sea. But the entire second half of the Song at the Sea speaks about other matters: the Land of Israel, the building of the Beis Hamikdash, “Hashem will reign forever and ever.” In particular, Rashi and the Midrashim say that these words also refer to the time to come: “the Sanctuary of Hashem that Your hands established”—the Third Beis Hamikdash, built with both hands, which Hakadosh Boruch Hu will build. [unclear] the Beis Hamikdash in the time to come. “Hashem will reign forever and ever”—Rashi says this refers to the time to come, to His kingship in the days of Moshiach. How does that fit into the Splitting of the Sea and the Song at the Sea? Well, that is the depth of the whole matter. The Song at the Sea is not only praise and thanks to Hakadosh Boruch Hu for past miracles. The Song at the Sea is the source of all songs. “Then he will sing”—the beginning of the process and its ultimate purpose. [unclear] immediately says that the Song at the Sea, “Then he will sing,” is the first of all the songs, and from it all the songs flow, until the new song that will be sung in the time to come, in ultimate perfection. What is the foundation of all the songs? It is that one point. The—

38:00 Speaker 2 point of the Song at the Sea, and of all the songs, is the kingship of Hakadosh Boruch Hu being revealed in the world. “Hashem will reign forever and ever.” One day, the kingship of Hakadosh Boruch Hu will be revealed in the world. That is the essence of song. That is the purpose of all song. True song, when one can sing and dance and break free of every limitation—joy breaks through barriers—is when the kingship of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is revealed in the world. And this is [unclear], “Then he will sing.” It began with “Then he will sing,” with the Exodus from Egypt and the Splitting of the Sea. Then, at the Splitting of the Sea, they saw a revelation like the one that will come in the future: they saw the kingship of Hakadosh Boruch Hu revealed throughout the world. That laid the foundation, because that is the ultimate purpose. And every day we recite the account of the Splitting of the Sea; every day we say [unclear], and that is the true reality. We need to remind ourselves, [unclear], that means good, [unclear], so that the truth becomes engraved within us. And even if we still do not see the miracles and wonders, still, “it arose in his heart.” We should have complete trust and complete joy that this [unclear]. The joy—and then, “Hashem will reign forever and ever”—means that we are moving toward the complete Geulah, toward “He will reign forever and ever,” the complete Geulah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu. I remember that at a farbrengen [unclear] his uncle was there, [unclear], right? At a farbrengen—I think it was on Simchas Torah, at one of the farbrengens. And the Rebbe spoke then about song and joy, [unclear]. And the Rebbe said: Let’s sing niggunim, let’s...

39:41 Speaker 2 sing the niggunim of each Rebbe. They sang the Rebbe’s niggun, right? [unclear]. And at the end, after they had sung all the niggunim, the Rebbe said: Yes, very soon, when Moshiach comes, there will be the tenth song. That is written in the Midrash. What is the tenth song? We do not yet know. But one thing we know for certain: the theme of the tenth song will be “You have been shown to know that Hashem is Elokim; there is nothing besides Him.” That will be its theme. So when we sing the niggun connected with “You have been shown”—and the Rebbe said there is a Lubavitch niggun whose theme is “There is nothing besides Him,” a familiar niggun in Russian: “Nyet, nyet nikavo krome adnavo,” which in Yiddish means “There is nothing besides Him”—the Rebbe began to sing the niggun. And I remember how the Rebbe stood up—yes, the Rebbe stood up—and began to dance with tremendous, immense joy. Yes, you could truly feel “Hashem will reign forever and ever,” “There is nothing besides Him.” There was real excitement; you could feel it plainly. The Rebbe’s hakafos—here, certainly, there may be [unclear]. But we draw strength from this Shabbos, a wonderful Shabbos, Shabbos Shirah. Yes, and the Baal Shem Tov taught us that serving Hashem should always be accompanied by song and melody. And through this, all those who sing [unclear], and here the song and joy of the complete Geulah can [unclear].

41:11 Speaker 2 On the mountain of Your inheritance, the Sanctuary of Hashem that Your hands established. And “Hashem will reign forever and ever”; “Hashem will be King over all the earth; on that day Hashem will be one and His name one”—the true and complete Geulah.