Song is both the product of inspiration and a means by which one inspires others. We glorify songs because of how they make us feel, because they are built of language and sound that moves our soul. This duality of being both the product and the cause of inspiration is a fascinating aspect of the shira we refer to as As Yashir that is recorded in Chapter 15 of Shemos.
Az Yashir is the song that Moshe and Bnei Yisrael sang after their salvation at the Yam Suf (the Sea of Reeds). One can only imagine the adrenaline that fueled the emotions of the Israelites as they turned back and saw not only that behind them was a large body of water even though they themselves were totally dry, but that on the far side from where they had come Pharaoh lay wasted among his destroyed cavalries. The night had truly been one of miracles; and yet, it is interesting to note, the shiraseems to begin with the seemingly least miraculous aspect of the night – horse and rider thrown into the sea.
In celebrating the miraculousness of their survival, one might expect the Israelites to have immediately lauded the sea splitting beneath their feet or even its crashing back down upon their pursuers, but horse and rider thrown into the sea seems the most mundane part of the miraculous night. Of course, it was the last step in the destruction of the Egyptian kingdom, once the most powerful nation in the world, but the water of the sea creating walls with paths of dry land still seems to overshadow it.
Perhaps, however, the seemingly supernatural miracle was just too much for Bnei Yisrael to process. Also, of all the happenings of the night, seeing the destruction of the cavalry was the final act, and so remained that which was foremost in their minds.
Az Yashir, is also a song for the future. Based on the unique grammar of the words “Az yashir Moshe u’vnei Yisrael…Ashira la’Hashem – Then Moshe and the Children of Israel will sing…I shall sing.” It is understood that the shira is also a song that will be sung in the future. If that is the case, what might we be able to learn from this verse praising Hashem for hurling horse and rider into the sea? This question might even be strengthened by the fact that we no longer live in an era of cavalry, so even imaging a cataclysmic was – God forbid – we don’t imagine horses and riders. Therefore, we must find in this a different understanding.
Moshe’s shira started with the most immediate miracle, even if it was the most mundane, because the gratitude and the amazement would be universal, it was so fresh and so powerful in their memories. The actual splitting of the Sea was awesome – and thus perhaps too overwhelming for some people to process. By starting with the miracle that followed the dictates of nature (horses and armed riders in the middle of a sea have little chance of survival – disregarding how they got into that sea), Moshe was leading the greatest whole of the people with him to be inspired. Thus he declared and they repeated: I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously; Horse and rider He has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and might; He is become my deliverance. This is my God and I will enshrine Him; The God of my father, and I will exalt Him.”
Past or future, supernatural or mundane, God is in everything and it is our job, as individuals and as a nation, to see the miracles in the mundane and to praise their true source.
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