Today’s bitachon lesson is dedicated in memory of Jeanette Feldman by her family.
I'd like to share an unbelievable thought from the Kedushat Levi. He's bothered by the wording Az Yashir/ Then they will sing- it’s in the future tense.
It doesn’t say they sang. Rashi says, “It came into their heart to say Shira –
He says that this song was sung before the salvation happened. As it says, “They believed in Hashem and Moshe His servant and then, before the salvation happened, they believed that for sure Hashem would make miracles of wonders for them.”
He says the Torah is telling us a tremendous hiddush- that even before the salvation, they believed and had tremendous bitachon.
And what is Az/ then? We know that Nachshon jumped into the water before the water split and it came up to his neck. At that point, before the miracle happened, when the water was coming up to his neck, they believed, and the sea split because of their bitachon.
This is a well-known concept, that the sea split because of their bitachon. That’s how the Nefesh HaChaim explains that Hashem told Moshe, “Why are you crying out to Me, speak the Jewish people and let them travel”- in other words, It’s up to them. If they have strong Emunah and Bitachon and they will travel into the sea without fear, then, due to the great bitachon they had, for sure it will split. Their bitachon will cause it to split.
It is well known that it was their Emunah and Bitachon that made it split. The added hiddush here is that not only did they have Bitachon and travel into the sea, but they actually sang the song of the Shira before it actually happened. That's a tremendous hiddush.
I must pour out that there's actually machloket about whether one can actually sing a song for a miracle before it happens.
The Brisker Rav brings it down, in the name of his father, in his commentary onTehilim 13,6
וַאֲנִ֤י ׀ בְּחַסְדְּךָ֣ בָטַחְתִּי֮ יָ֤גֵ֥ל לִבִּ֗י בִּֽישׁוּעָ֫תֶ֥ךָ אָשִׁ֥ירָה לַֽיהֹוָ֑ה כִּ֖י גָמַ֣ל עָלָֽי׃
I relied on Your kindness, my heart will rejoiced in the salvation. I'll sing to Hashem for He did a kindness to me.
Rav Chaim says, When do you sing a song for a miracle? Is it only after it happened or even before it happens? He brings a proof from here that the pasuk says, “I rely on Hashem I'm so reliant on your kindness,
יָ֤גֵ֥ל לִבִּ֗י I’m happy.
אָשִׁ֥ירָה לַֽיהֹוָ֑ה
But when can I sing the song?
Only כִּ֖י גָמַ֣ל עָלָֽ
Only when the miracle actually happens.
So we have a seeming machloket here, whether one can actually sing the song for the miracle before it happens.
But regardless of whether we can sing a song or not, all are in agreement that Bitachon brings miracles, and we can be happy in our hearts before the miracle happens because that's how guaranteed we are. That's the merit that they had at Yetziat Mitzrayim, and that's the merit that we can all have.
There are many stories brought down on this tremendous level of, so to say, celebrating maybe not singing, but celebrating before the miracle happens as a way to bring yeshuot.
May we all see yeshuot in the merit of bitachon.
Shabbat Shalom.