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Daily Chizuk #1353
Parenting / Family
Orchestrated Details: The Intertwined Meaning of Billions
Rabbi Menashe Reisman asked, "How could it be that the Jewish people sang the אז ישיר after Kiryat Yam Suf with so much joy, being that the Chazal told us that 80% of the Jews died out during מכת חושך?" That means so many of their relatives and loved ones had just passed away. There were so many orphans and widows, and so many of them lost children when the Mitzriyim threw their babies in the Nile. Yet, we say every day that they sang בשמחה רבה with great jubilation! How do we understand such a thing?
It was the first Shabbat after the Belzer rebbe was freed from the nightmares of the Holocaust. He was in Haifa, and he said, "How could we possibly sing and praise HaShem when our families and friends have all perished?" When Miriam brought out the instruments for the ladies to sing with, they could have easily said to Miriam, "Now is not the time to sing. We lost so many of our family members." Yet, they too, sang with great jubilation. How is that possible?
The Ramban explains that shirah applies to past, present, and future. The midrash says, from the day the world was created, nobody ever sang shirah to Hashem until the Jewish people at Yam Suf. Although many people thanked and praised Hashem throughout the generations, no one was able to sing shirah because they did not have the full understanding of everything that was taking place in their lives. When Hashem reveals himself in the future, we are going to sing the greatest shirah of all because then the entire plan of the world will be understood, even the persecutions of the Jews throughout the generations, including the Holocaust, and Lo aleinu, the massacre that we have witnessed. We anticipate that glorious day when we will all sing the greatest shirah and we hope it will come bekarov.
It was the first Shabbat after the Belzer rebbe was freed from the nightmares of the Holocaust. He was in Haifa, and he said, "How could we possibly sing and praise HaShem when our families and friends have all perished?" When Miriam brought out the instruments for the ladies to sing with, they could have easily said to Miriam, "Now is not the time to sing. We lost so many of our family members." Yet, they too, sang with great jubilation. How is that possible?
The Ramban explains that shirah applies to past, present, and future. The midrash says, from the day the world was created, nobody ever sang shirah to Hashem until the Jewish people at Yam Suf. Although many people thanked and praised Hashem throughout the generations, no one was able to sing shirah because they did not have the full understanding of everything that was taking place in their lives. When Hashem reveals himself in the future, we are going to sing the greatest shirah of all because then the entire plan of the world will be understood, even the persecutions of the Jews throughout the generations, including the Holocaust, and Lo aleinu, the massacre that we have witnessed. We anticipate that glorious day when we will all sing the greatest shirah and we hope it will come bekarov.
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