שבת שירה בשלח בס”ד

The number of pesukim in בשלח is 116, the סימן being יד אמונה, based on the pasuk ויהי ידיו אמונה עד בא השמש. Moshe’s hands were spread out in ‘faith’. However there were still doubts in אמונה, by the Israel , as they were on the 49^th level of טומאה in Egypt. Hashem took the Israel to the 50^th level of קדושה, which is אמונה, as the Zohar says וחמשים עלו בני ישראל . When a yid experiences such a drastic change, there is always a danger he could fall, since the rise was from a מתנה, and not from his personal עבודה. After the Israel left Egypt, Hashem took away these levels of holiness, and they now had to go through the forty nine days of ספירה, in order to achieve this high level on their own. Beside the פשט that Rashi gives for חמשים, that the Israel were prepared for battle with Amalek and Sichon and Og, that is- they were armed, Rashi also says here that only חמשים 1/5, or 20% of the Israel left Egypt. Of these 20%, there were four different divisions, all dependent on their אמונה. There were those Israel that when they saw that the Egyptians were chasing after them, they wanted to return to Egypt. There were those who wanted to fight, those who wanted to commit suicide, and those who had perfect faith that Hashem would send a ישועה, a salvation. This is another interpretation of חמשים, being 1/5^th, or 1/50^th, or 1/500th, or1/5000^th, of the total number of כלל ישראל, the latter being the fewest group, who had perfect faith, like נחשון. The Israel with the least faith were the greatest number or 1/5^th of those that left Egypt.

Hashem didn’t want the Israel to go דרך ארץ פלשתים, as the Pelishtim were the same קליפה as the Egyptians, both descending from חם. The פלשתים were immoral and ממזרים, and Hashem didn’t want this influence, at such a vulnerable time. In the first chapter in Tehillim, it says ובמושב לצים לא ישב, where Rashi says that the לצים or scoffers, refer to the Plishtim. ליצנותis the opposite of אמונה. Having אמונה is believing in that which is not seen or logical, where ליצנות is making fun of that which one even sees- ירושלם=586=ליצנות=586=ויאמינו בהויה ובמשה עבדו where sometimes a Gematria displays the exact opposite meaning, so says the “Ari” that is משיח=358=נחש. Since the Israel just left Egypt, and had not completely removed the טומאה, Hashem didn’t want them to be affected by the קליפה of the Pelishtim. One doesn’t bring an addict in the same room as his addiction. Amalek was also the קליפה of ליצנות, as it says אשר קרך בדרך meaning, everything is a coincidence, that is no השגחה –it’s all a joke זהומת הנחש=821=אשר קרך. It says in the אז ישיר that חיל אחז ישבי פלשת, that the dwellers of Pelashes- the Pelishtim were in fear of what was coming, since they killed the בני אפרים who left Egypt thirty years before the time והרגו אנשי גת. The בני אפרים wanted to bring the גאולה on their own, but there was a lack of אמונה, as they should have waited and prayed and not be דוחה השעה

The ימי השובבים prepare us for פורים, which is hinted in the Bracha to Binyamin ולערב יחלק שלל, where Rashi says, refers to פורים- שובבים=360=שלל. When a yid purifies the בריתות of ברית and לשון, which are rooted in the mind, then he’s זוכה to the level of מן הדעת למעלה or אמונה, and עד דלא ידע. Haman prepared the עץ גבוע חמישים אמה, trying to instillכפירה into כלל ישראל, which is the שער נ, the 50^th level of טומאה. The Israel were in a state of הסתרה, but מרדכי instilled אמונה in them- אומן את הדסה והוא. When Hashem is acting in a revealed manner, the word זה is used, and when in a hidden manner, the word הוא is used, ולא ידע מן הוא. When our vision is blurred by the הסתרה, we must turn to our אמונה -for example when the Israel saw theמן for the first time they asked- מן הוא (which make up the word אמונה). The מגילת אסתר begins – ויהי בימי אחשורוש הוא אחשורוש. The Midrash says that אחשורוש is Hashem, that is, מלך שהאחרית והראשית שלו Why repeat הוא אחשורוש? The Megilla is telling us that Hashem was in a state of concealment ואנכי הסתר אסתיר. The Israel had to intensify their אמונה and then merit the great י”ט of פורים.

Haman wanted to ignite the חטא עץ הדעת, the source of all sin. The snake said to Chava ותקח מפריו ותוכל (בראשית ג:ו) where מפריו is the letters פורים. This was the תיקון for the עץ הדעת, which came about through the need to know everything, whereas Purim is above דעת- למעלה מן הדעת. After the Israel crossed the ים סוף, they started to complain וילנו העם על משה that they have no water to drink. Hashem shows Moshe the עץ, as it says ויורהו הויה עץ, which is really the עץ החיים, and now the חטא עץ הדעת is being somewhat rectified- חטא עץ הדעת=657=וימתקו המים. The כלל ישראל are experiencing המתקת הדינים, similar to the י”ט of טו בשבט, when there’s a sweetening of the ימי דין which began ר”ח טבת. We celebrate by eating sweet fruits. As we said that the combination of Hashem’s name for Shevat המר ימרינו והיה הוא, where the sweetening of the מרירות takes place in the middle of the month- (the third word- והיה, or the second half of the month) turning into joy – והיה אלה לשון שמחה אין. The month of טבת is בח” דין, where משמאל=411=טבת which switches on טו בשבט to ימין, preparing for the איש ימיני of פורים.

In the שירת הים it says ימינך הויה נאדרי בכח ימינך הויה תרעץ אויב, and Rashi says the reason why it says ימינך twice, is that when the Israel are doing the ה” רצון, then the שמאל becomes ימין -a new light is revealed-אור חדש על ציון תאיר=1386=ימינך יה–וה נאדרי בכח ימינך יה–וה תרעץאויב

Tu BeShevat is theתחיית המתים of the trees, when the sap begins to flow. The phrase האדם עץ השדה, infers when a צדיק who is pure in שמירת הברית, he is called an עץ. In משלי it says טבת שבט=722=פרי צדיק עץ חיים. In these two months of שובבים, a yid becomes the פרי צדיק עץ חיים, especially on טו בשבט, when he is reborn. The ספר יצירה says טבת was created with an ע, and שבט with a צ, together making עץ This prepares us for the עץ גבוע חמישים אמה, which is נהפך, and the Israel experience the 50^th level of קדושה, which is אמונה, on Purim מרדכי אסתר=935=ימינך יהוה תרעץ אויב –

Even when Israel experience זה א-לי ואנוהו, which was total revelation, they believe that there’s always more- ויאמינו בהויה ובמשה עבדו. The more they don’t see, the more they believe. A yid that has reached the 49^th level of דעת, has the 50^th to strive for, even if it’s impossible while still in a physical body. Purim is a blast of light of this 50^th level. Amalek comes when there are ספיקות in אמונה, as it says at the end of the פרשה, when the Israel saidהיש ה” בקרבנו אם אין , the next words being- ויבא עמלק, so ספק=240=עמלק. These doubts in faith began with the נחש הקדמוני, where, after being seduced, חוה said to Hashem השיאני הנחש, which make up the words היש אין doubts in faith. When the Israel said היש ה” בקרבנו אם אין, they weren’t doubting the existence of Hashem ח”ו, but their doubts were in השגחה פרטית. During the ימי השובבים, a yid is rectifying the blemishes which lead to a lack of faith, שובבים=360=בקרבנו, and working to see Hashem in every aspect of his life, בקרבנו, and then he merits the י”ט of Purim, the י”ט of אמונה. One of the עיקר Torahs in ליקוטי מוהר”ן, that every yid must carry with him always, is in רפב, which is מחזק every yid to look for the good points in others and especially in himself, to counter the despair- אשר קרך that עמלק attempts to instill in each yid מלחמה להויה בעמלק=421=אזמרה לאלהי בעודי

In-פסוק טו פרשת המן, it says the word הוא three times, מן הואand מה הוא and הוא הלחם, and then the very next pasuk begins זה הדבר. There is a change from concealment, to revelation. Parnassa depends on אמונה, where no one would expect the מן would fall from heaven, and then feed them three meals a day, – this is beyond logic. The level of אמונה is achieved through the שמירה in the areas of speech and ברית, as we said many times. Another word for פרנסה is כלכלה which has twice כל in it, one for שמירת הברית and one forשמירת הדבור The month of שבט is a month of rectifying one’s eating, מאשר שמנה לחמה or what’s written in the ספר היצירה about the month of Shevat- המליך אות צ -לעיטה. – פרנסה=395=שמנה.

It says in ספרי רבי נחמן that אמונה depends on שמירת הברית. While all the Israel were gathering the spoils of the Egyptians, at קריאת ים סוף, Moshe went to retrieve the coffin of יוסףas the pasuk says- ויקח משה את עצמות יוסף. Moshe is taking with him the מדה of Yosef, the מדה of יסוד. Yosef said פקד יפקד, not to make the mistake of the בני אפרים, but to utilize the power of their אמונה, and not bring the גאולה before it’s time. In our time, the קליפה of Yishmael is similar to Egypt (his roots), who strives together with עמלק to ensnare the Israel with doubts in אמונה, and פגם הברית. Since ישמעאל is a פרא אדם, he fights the true values ofאדם –

האדם עץ השדה=524=והוא יהיה פרא אדם ידו בכל ויד כל בו. Yishmael is steeped in זנות, similar to the טומאה of Egypt – ערות הארץ. The tikun of this פגם is referred to as מקבץ נדחים, to gather all the lost sparks of holiness משם יקחך=524=האדם עץ השדה ( משם יקבצך ). In our generation, with all the high tech., we ‘know it all’, and we don’t have to come on to Hashem anymore. We are steeped in טומאה and כפירה more than ever, as some Rabbis stated that in this generation, we are revisited by both the דור המבול and the דור הפלגה. What a person thinks is a coincidence, is really revelation- מקרא מגלה=419=ויורהו הויה עץ The מגילת אסתר means, to reveal that what was hidden. It’s not הוא, but זה, and when it is הוא, that is a concealed time, then a yid has faith in the זה, and with the זכות of our אמונה, we will be redeemed from this long גלות.

In פסוק יג:כב, it says לא ימיש עמוד הענן ….., where Rashi quotes the Gemorra in שבת כג:, and says that שעד שלא ישקע זה עולה זה, meaning the Israel were never left without protection, or from the clouds during the day, or from the pillar of fire at night. In the Parsha we have all the three gifts that Hashem provided for כלל ישראל – the ענן, the באר, and the מן, which was given in the זכות of Moshe Aharon and Miriam. The בעל הטורים says the words לא ימיש is found one other time in חומש inלג:יא פרשת כי תשא with יהושע, where it says – ומשרתו יהושע בן נון נער לא ימיש מתוך האהל, that יהושע never left the אהל. He was the first one to come to the בהמ”ד in the morning, and the last one to leave. He never left the בהמ”ד unattended- יהושע=391=לא ימיש This is how the two times לא ימיש, are connected. Besides being hinted here in the beginning of the Parsha, יהושע is mentioned for the first time at the end of the Parsha, where he is chosen to fightעמלק . This is the Torah reading on פורים, and the first משנה of מגילה, which is the תורה שבעל פה of מגילת אסתר, also mentions יהושע. Who are the ones that עמלק are fighting? The pasuk says אשר קרך בדרך ויזנב בך כל הנחשלים that Amalek was starting with the weak ones, which אונקלוס translates הנחשלים as מאחרין, the late comers. The Targum Yonason says that these were the בני דן. Even when the Israel were crossing the ים סוף, Micha from שבט דן took an idol with him. Only the בני דן who were the lowest of כלל ישראל, Amelek was able to have an effect on, as they were the outcasts, the ones spit out of the clouds. Amalek was the first to start up with כלל ישראל as a nation, as בלעם prophesized ראשית גוים עמלק. In this respect, Amalek has a lot of זריזות, in starting up with the late comers. Yehoshua was the one that had to go to battle against Amalek, and defend the בני דן. We would think that יהושע would have absolutely no tolerance for the בני דן as his מדה was totally opposite, as he was a זריז.

In פרשת וישב we saw that יוסף had a special relationship with Dan- והוא נער את בני בלהה, as he was trying to bring them close, and this did not appeal to his brothers. Besides this, Rachel had given her maidservant Billah to Yaacov, so that she would merit having her own child. Dan was born to Billah, and later Yosef to Rachel. And so we could say that Yosef was born, because of Dan- יוסף הצדיק=365=שבט דן . Yehoshua, a direct descendant of Yosef, followed in the same path as his great grandfather (by both it says the word נער, that they were both youthful). Also יהושע was careful in ברית הלשון as he didn’t speak against א”י, and was pure inשמירת הברית as he was the one who circumcised כלל ישראל on יא ניסן and according to some, introduced the מצוה of פריעה. There is a Tosefta in Sota that says that because Avraham Avinu said והשענו תחת העץ, we were זוכה to the ענני הכבוד in the desert. Avraham was bringing in, under his shade, those who he believed were idol worshippers, so that he could teach them of Hashem. So we see that the ענני הכבוד came in the זכות of קירוב רחוקים. In pasuk יד:יט it says the clouds were יעמד מאחריהם, that before the sea split, the clouds stayed behind כלל ישראל, even when there was the עמוד אש, and didn’t leave, protecting the בני דן. Similar to the ענני הכבוד, was יהושע (by both it says לא ימיש), who was youthful, and could battle for the ones who were burnt out, as it says ואתה עיף ויגע, – and rejuvenate the Israel . This is why Yehoshua merited to be written in the first משנה of Megilla, connected to the י”ט of פורים, theי”ט of ונהפוך הוא.

Normally the Tzadikim are first, the ראשית before the אחרית. The Midrash says that Achashverosh was named so, since he refers to Hashem, who’s the מלך שהאחרית והראשות שלו, where the אחרות comes before the ראשית. Theמשנה says המגילה נקראת ב-יא ביב ביג ביד בטו, where the בני כפרים, who were the ignorant Jews, got precedence and read the מגילה first. Those who lived in י”ם, the city of ירא שלם, where the Tzadikim and the Cohanim lived, they read the מגילה last, on טו. Purim is different than other חגים, in that the אחרית Jews get a chance before the ראשית Jews. On Purim there is a special תיקון for the lower נשמות, the בני דן. The name המן is written in the Megilla fifty four times- דן=54. Haman is battling the sinners, the ones that went to the סעודה, the ones that bowed down to the idol in the time of נבוכדנצר. There are 613 Mitzvos from the Torah, and seven from the Rabbanim, totaling 620. Chanuka is mitzva number 620, and פורים mitzva number 619, where המן בן המדתא האגגי=619=אחרית Yehoshua is defending those אחרית Jews that are out of the clouds, who everyone says there is no hope for. That last words of יעקב אבינו was the Bracha to Binyamin, of whom descended מרדכי ואסתר. The פסוק begins בנימין זאב יטרף which רשי says refers to מלך שאול, and that ולערב יחלק שלל refers to Purim. Interesting, that the complete pasuk-

ראשית תבואתה=1725=בנימין זאב יטרף בבקר יאכל עד ולערב יחלק שלל The Israel are called Hashem’s first even in the lowest state.

The הפטרה, speaks of דבורה נביאה, calling on ברק to lead a war against יבין מלך כנען and סיסרא his general. Rav Tzadok HaCohen, who wrote דברי חלומות said that יבין was the זה לעומת זה of יהושע, that is יבין was in טומאה to what יהושע was in קדושה, and יבין is the ר”ת of יהושע בן נון, with the י of קדושה taken out from the Israel , which was retrieved after the מלחמה.

As we said before, the month of שבט corresponds to תרועה, one reason being Moshe began teaching ספר דברים in seventy languages, on ר”ח שבט, and so תרועה is תורה ע. Also the eleventh month of שבט, corresponds to the eleventh הללויה in Tehillim קנ, which is הללוהו בצלצלי תרועה- – שער הנון=681=תרועה.

The תרועה means broken sounds and of all places, we learn this from the mother of סיסרא, who was waiting for her son to return from battle ותיבב אם סיסרא, where תיבב is יבבה or wailing. Tosfos says she wailed 100 cries, and we learn from here, that the תקיעת שופר onר”ה has 100 blows. One of the כוונות of the Shofar is תחיית המתים, so says רב צדוק, and we learn that תחיית המתים is from the Torah, here in our Parsha, when it says אז ישיר in future tense. By פרשת בשלח we have already gone through the שובב of שובבים, which is the root, and the עיקר. With the תיקונים that we accomplish during this time, we can turn the שובב, or the one who strays, into בשוב, the one who returns to Hashem, and be זוכה to the שירה, and to merit ציון and משיח, as it says שיר המעלות בשוב ה” את שיבת ציון היינו כחלמים.

The second pasuk of the הפטרה says והיא יושבת תחת תמר דבורה, where the Gemorra in מגילה says Devorah sat under a date tree so that there shouldn’t be a question of יחוד when talking to a male. The branches of the date tree made a separation. According to one opinion דבורה was a גלגול of צפורה, who was extremely upset that she had not witnessed the שירת הים, and so she was מתגלגל into דבורה, who said שירה. Because of her modesty, דבורה had the great merit to say her שירה, at the same time that we read שירת הים in our Parsha. צפורה is צור פה, since she took a rock and circumcised her son, saving Moshe- פה=85=מילה. Devorah is also the לשון of הדבור, and so with the תיקון הברית והלשון, she was זוכה to שירה. Another opinion says that דבורה was the גלגול of תמר, who was referred to as a קדשה, and so she was מתגלגל into דבורה, to rectify this blemish to her name – והיא יושבת תחת תמר. Only one who’s has תקון הברית is called a Tzadik צדיק כתמר יפרח . In the זכות of her modesty, she defeated סיסרא with his תשע מאות רכב ברזל which is ר”ת תמר. Also one who speaks לשון הרע, is punished with hot coalsגחלי רתמים , where the opposite of תמר is רתם.

יבין was the epitome of פגם הברית and סיסרא was פגם הדבור, representing the main תיקונים during the ימי השובבים. Some commentators say that from the בני סיסרא came out the master of תורה שבעל פה- Rebbi Akiva. יבין מלך כנעןruled in the capital of all his cities- called חצור, of which יהושע burned down totally. חצורis the letters רוצח, the name given to a פוגם ברית. In the Haftora, שופטים ה:כח it says בעד החלון נשקפה ותיבב אם סיסרא בעד האשנב מדוע בשש רכבו לבוא, that the mother ofסיסרא , who the Zohar says was aמכשפה , a witch, was crying while waiting by the window, for her son to return. It says that she was somewhat comforted by the thought that her son סיסרא was delayed, as most likely he was killing more Jews. This פסוק could be used in the קדושה, where the אם refers to בינה, or the שכינה. The שכינה is waiting and crying by the window for the גאולה, for the משיח to come- משיח=358=האשנב andמשיח בו דויד=434=בעד האשנב Why isn’t משיח coming מדוע בשש רכבו לבוא? Another כונה of the תרועה is ביאת המשיח, where we wait and cry for משיח. The ימי השובבים is a tikun to bring משיח.

The Gemorra in ברכות: נח says כי כל בשמים ובארץ is מלחמת סיסרא, where the war, was against the מדת היסוד, as we said יסוד=80=כי כל . In the song of Devorah, it’s mentioned there, that the stars fought סיסרא and יבין, something that we don’t find anywhere- מן שמים נלחמו הכוכבים, where כוכב is ר”ת of כי כל בשמים ובארץ, and so ביאת המשיח depends on מדת היסוד.

מלך משיח בן דויד=524=ומשם יקחך=524=מדת יסוד. When משיח will come, there will be a tenth song אז ישיר, when the תיקון will be בשלמות and the י will be taken from יבין, and returned to קדושה. Right before the שירת הים in pasuk יד:לא it says ויאמינו בה” ובמשה עבדו. The city of Yerushalaim is the city of אמונה where there are no doubts that י”ם belongs to the Israel – ירושלם=586=ויאמינו בהויה ובמשה עבדו.

The main test in our time is that of אמונה, the שער הנון of קדושה, as there are tons of ספקות and כפירה, the שער נ of טומאה. When it comes to אמונה, we have to be ודאי, like דוד המלך, as it says -ויברך דויד את יהו, which is ר”ת ודאי. The עמלק today injects doubts in משיח, in תחיית המתים, in שכר ועונש ..etc. In the שמע ישראל, the essence of our אמונה, there is a large ע or ע רבתי, and a large ד or ד רבתי. The word רבתי is the letters of ברית, that is the ברית of the עין and the ברית of דבור. When we rectify the ברית of לשון and מעור, we are זוכה to אמונה. The month of שבט is the eleventh, or עשתי עשרה. If a yid has שמירה on his eyes, then the ע is at the beginning- ענג, and if not, it’s at the end- נגע. In שבט, the ע is at the beginning of the שתי, which is the ר”ת of תקון ימי שובבים and by מכת ארבה it says למען שתי. Right after the שירה, in the first פסוק of the fifth עליה, it says – ויבאו אילמה ושם שתים עשרה עינת מים ושבעים תמרים that is the עין was בשלמות, and they merited to be תמרים or צדיקים – – צדיק כתמר יפרח and so שמע ישראל הויה אלה–ינו הויה אחד=1118=ושבעים תמרים.

The פרשה begins withויהי , which חז”ל say is a לשון צר, as there was fear of the פלשתים, and fear of עמלק. Yet the whole פרשה is called פרשת שירה. This teaches us that we have to sing, even when we find ourselves in difficult times. David HaMelech was being chased by his son אבשלום, as it says in the third chapter of Tehillim – מזמור לדוד בברחו מפני אבשלום בנו, that even when דוד was fleeing from his son, who sought to kill him, and take over the מלכות, he was singing. The Gemora says that being persecuted by a family member is worse thanמלחמת גוג ומגוג . This is a huge lesson in our עבודת ה”.

Parshas בשלח is always the Shabbos prior to or on טו בשבת. All the species in the world, of which there are thousands, were all supposed to bear fruit. However because of the חטא עץ הדעת, only some trees bear fruit. Tu BeShevat is the time that all the trees are rejuvenating, a kind of תחיית המתים from their dead state during the long winter months. On טו בשבט, we get a taste of the future, when all trees will bear fruit as it says in Rashi in the second pasuk of פרשת בחוקתי – חמשה עשר בשבט=1236=ועץ השדה יתן פריו

Many commentators speak of the first pasuk in the Parsha, where Hashem did not want the Israel to travel דרך ארץ פלשתים, since as we already mentioned, the פלשתים were similar to the Egyptians. The pasuk continues פן ינחם העם, meaning that maybe the Israel would have second thoughts. It sounds like Hashem is not sure what to do, however this is impossible since אין ספק קלפי שמאי. The אור החיים brings up the point that the pasuk says ולא נחם אלקים with a ו. The צבי לצדיק, the Dinover Rebbi elaborates and says that it wasn’t Hashem having doubts, but Pharoh thought that Hashem was having doubts, in order for the scenario of קריאת ים סוף to come about.

In pasuk יד:לא which we all say each day in Pesuke DeZimre, the famous words ויאמינו בה” ובמשה עבדו. One question we can ask is if וירא ישראל, if the Israel , even the שפחה saw all the Egyptians wiped out in the tremendous miracle of the ים סוף, then why does the pasuk say ויאמינו. The high level of אמונה is needed when there is darkness and concealment, as the pasuk says ואמונתך בלילות, that faith is needed when we don’t see, בלילות. There is a huge message and lesson here. When things look impossible like what the Israel experienced at the ים סוף, when there was no possible ישועה in sight, a yid has to open his vast wellsprings of אמונה, and never fall into despair.

ויאמינו בה” ובמשה עבדו the ויאמינו is that the Israel believed that the real שירה is coming in the future – ובא לציון גואל ולשבי פשע ביעקב=1217=שבת שירה There was many גלויות after קריאת ים סוף, and that is why the Parsha begins with ויהי, however the Israel knew that this was only temporary, and that there will be a tenth שירה in the future- אז ישיר. Nowadays, כלל ישראל are in the שער נ of טומאה, however since now we have the Torah, we will reach the שער נ of קדושה and receive a higher level of Torah, the תורת משיח, as it says in שה”ש- ישקני בנשיקות פיהו.