Click here to listen to Rabbi Bergson 4 min thought for Shabbat “Choosing how we seeing things”
Connection to the Parshah: Can we hear the song of life? Can we perceive the music of our existence? Can we look at life as coming from an infinite God that we cannot wrap our minds around?
When we choose to see life as an invitation to connect to our Creator then our only response is to sing with unadulterated joy. When every moment of “being” is seen as pregnant with depth of purpose – then we become enthralled by life, “dancing” with joy and enthusiasm.
Hashem is Haya Hoveh and Yihyeh (Was,Is and Will Be)- transcending time. When we connect to Him through the Torah and Mitzvot we too connect to eternity! This is the deepest Joy that exists.
This is the concept of Shabbat Shira. When Hashem split the sea this was more than just saving the Israelites on the one hand and destroying the Egyptian enemy on the other hand. The splitting of sea represents a concept of revealing that which is concealed. (This explains the Midrash cited by Rashi that all the water in the world split which makes no sense if the only purpose was utilitarian. Rather there is a spiritual message for the world that is being conveyed then and for all time.)
The Midrash teaches “A maidservant saw at the sea that which even Ezekiel Habuzi (the prophet) did not!”
At the Sea of Reeds God reveals to all the Israelites a vision of the unfolding of creation itself. The deepest secrets are uncovered.
Every day we recite the song the Israelites sang at the sea to try and tap into our souls deeper consciousness.
On the one hand we are land creatures. We are unable to be submerged in water for very long. Land represents the revealed world where the diversity of creation is open for all to see. The sea on the other hand is teeming with life yet the water covers it all. The deepest core of the soul lives in “the sea” submerged in the oneness with Hashem. When we sing Shira each day we are trying to connect to that core.