Shabbat Shirah, we read the portion of the Torah of the Song of the Sea. After crossing the sea, Moses and the people burst out in song, praising Hashem for their deliverance. The Midrash (Aggadat Bereishit 60:1) marks this as a serial practice every time Israel is in a state of distress and is rescued.
Aggadat Bereshit 60:1 - The Pattern of Distress and Song:
The passage opens with the principle:
וְהָיָה כִּי־תִמְצֶאןָ אֹתוֹ רָעוֹת רַבּוֹת וְצָרוֹת וְעָנְתָה הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת לְפָנָיו לְעֵד
"This is what the Holy One Blessed Be He said: When these troubles find Israel and I save them from them, at that moment they will say a song to Me." (Deuteronomy 31:21)
The examples:
Egypt - They were enslaved. Once He saved them, they sat and ate, and immediately said song, as it says "The song shall be yours as on the night of the sanctified festival" (Isaiah 30:29), referring to that night of Passover.
At the Sea - They were in great distress, as it says "and he passed through the sea of distress" (Zechariah 10:11). Once He performed miracles and saved them, immediately they recited song: "Then Moses sang" (Exodus 15:1).
In the Wilderness - They were hungry and thirsty, their souls fainted within them, and they cried out to Hashem. Once they saw the well of water, immediately they recited song: "Then Israel sang this song, 'Spring up, O well'" (Numbers 21:17).
Deborah and Barak - When Sisera oppressed them and called out all his chariots (Judges 4:13), once God saved them from him, immediately "Deborah sang" (Judges 5:1).
Hezekiah - When Sennacherib came, Hezekiah said "and my songs we shall play" (Isaiah 38:20).
David - Troubles gathered upon him without number (Psalms 40:13). When God saved him from all of them, immediately he recited song: "And David spoke to Hashem the words of this song" (2 Samuel 22:1).
Yet the Talmud presents a strikingly different picture of Hezekiah's response to Sennacherib's defeat.
The Talmud says in Sanhedrin 94a:
״לְםַרְבֵּה הַמִּשְׂרָה וּלְשָׁלוֹם אֵין קֵץ וְגוֹ׳״. אָמַר רַבִּי תַּנְחוּם: דָּרַשׁ בַּר קַפָּרָא בְּצִיפּוֹרִי, מִפְּנֵי מָה כׇּל מֵם שֶׁבְּאֶמְצַע תֵּיבָה פָּתוּחַ, וְזֶה סָתוּם? בִּיקֵּשׁ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לַעֲשׂוֹת חִזְקִיָּהוּ מָשִׁיחַ, וְסַנְחֵרִיב גּוֹג וּמָגוֹג. אָמְרָה מִדַּת הַדִּין לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, וּמָה דָּוִד מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁאָמַר כַּמָּה שִׁירוֹת וְתִשְׁבָּחוֹת לְפָנֶיךָ – לֹא עֲשִׂיתוֹ מָשִׁיחַ, חִזְקִיָּה שֶׁעָשִׂיתָ לוֹ כׇּל הַנִּסִים הַלָּלוּ וְלֹא אָמַר שִׁירָה לְפָנֶיךָ – תַּעֲשֵׂהוּ מָשִׁיחַ? לְכָךְ נִסְתַּתֵּם.
“To him who increases dominion and peace without end…” (Isaiah 9:6). Rabbi Tanchum said: Bar Kappara taught in Tzippori, Why is every ‘mem’ in the middle of a word open, but this one closed? The Holy One, Blessed be He, intended to make Hezekiah the Messiah and Sennacherib Gog and Magog. The Attribute of Justice said: Master of the Universe, David, King of Israel, sang You many songs and praises, yet You didn’t make him Messiah; Hezekiah, for whom You did all these miracles, sang nothing—will You make him Messiah? So it was sealed.
This seems like an obvious contradiction to the verse in Isaiah 38, that Hezekiah did sing! Particularly, in the way the Midrash associates this song with the deliverance from Sennacherib!
But this passage itself raises a critical question: why was Hezekiah’s ability to become Messiah contingent upon his act of song?
Unpacking "אז" in the Song of the Sea
To understand this, we turn to the model of song, here in Exodus 15:1. “אז ישיר משה” (Az Yashir Moshe), “Then Moses sang.” The Midrash Tanchuma (B'shalach 10:7) delves into the meaning of “אז” (Az), “Then.” Is it a reference to the past? Or does it point towards the future, then at a future date? The Midrash presents examples for both, leaving the definition undetermined. Rashi, and the Talmud in Sanhedrin 91b, shift the focus to “ישיר” (Yashir), “will sing,” interpreting it as “מכאן לתחית המתים מן התורה” (from here we see resurrection in the Torah). This implies that Moses’ song at the Red Sea foreshadows a future song at the time of resurrection.
Why does the Tanchuma’s inquiry into “אז” (Az) occur specifically in the context of this song? And why is it important to mention the resurrection here?
Rabbi Aharon of Belz: Singing Through Loss
The following story of Rabbi Aharon of Belz provides a crucial insight. After a harrowing rescue from the clutches of the Holocaust, he arrived in Israel along with his sole surviving brother. Europe was still aflame and the ashes of thousands of Jews were still rising from the crematoria. The Rebbe had lost everything, his entire family and the vast majority of his Hasidim. Their first shabbat was Parashat Beshalach, when “Az Yashir Moshe” is read. He quoted Rashi on resurrection and asked why the Torah references resurrection in this context. The answer, born of his own experience, was profound: according to the Mekhilta (see Rashi, Exodus 13:18) the Israelites lost 80% of their people during the plague of darkness, only one out of five made it out of Egypt. How could anyone sing after such tremendous loss? The only consolation which allowed them to sing, was the hope of a future reunion. The holy Rebbe needed to say nothing more, all understood the sentiment.
Song as Temporal Wholeness
Song, then, is more than mere sound. It is an expression of joy, which requires a heart unburdened by the pain of the past and the anxieties of the future. A momentary redemption is insufficient to evoke the gladness that is necessary for song. The Tanchuma’s exploration of “אז” (Az), a tension between addressing the past or the future, reveals that the true definition of 'Az' is neither. It simply means 'at a point in time'. True song exists when one can fully be present in that 'point in time'. In a moment of temporal wholeness, “then” that transcends the crippling weight of the past and future.
Hezekiah’s Struggle: Faith and Fear
King Hezekiah, however, exemplifies the antithesis of this state. The Talmud in Berachot 10a relates the reason for Hezekiah's near deathly illness.
מָה עָשָׂה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא — הֵבִיא יִסּוּרִים עַל חִזְקִיָּהוּ, וְאָמַר לוֹ לִישַׁעְיָהוּ: לֵךְ וּבַקֵּר אֶת הַחוֹלֶה. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם חָלָה חִזְקִיָּהוּ לָמוּת וַיָּבֹא אֵלָיו יְשַׁעְיָהוּ בֶּן אָמוֹץ הַנָּבִיא וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו כֹּה אָמַר ה׳ צְבָאוֹת צַו לְבֵיתֶךָ כִּי מֵת אַתָּה וְלֹא תִחְיֶה וְגוֹ׳״. מַאי ״כִּי מֵת אַתָּה וְלֹא תִחְיֶה״: מֵת אַתָּה — בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה, וְלֹא תִחְיֶה — לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא.
אֲמַר לֵיהּ: מַאי כּוּלֵּי הַאי? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: מִשּׁוּם דְּלָא עֲסַקְתְּ בִּפְרִיָּה וּרְבִיָּה. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: מִשּׁוּם דַּחֲזַאי לִי בְּרוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ דְּנָפְקִי מִינַּאי בְּנִין דְּלָא מְעַלּוּ. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: בַּהֲדֵי כַּבְשֵׁי דְרַחֲמָנָא לְמָה לָךְ? מַאי דְּמִפַּקְּדַתְּ אִיבְּעִי לָךְ לְמֶעְבַּד, וּמָה דְנִיחָא קַמֵּיהּ קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא — לַעֲבֵיד.
God brought suffering upon Hezekiah and told Isaiah to visit him. Isaiah delivered a harsh decree: 'You shall die and not live - die in this world, and not live in the world to come.' When Hezekiah asked why, Isaiah answered: 'Because you didn't engage in procreation.' Hezekiah explained he had seen through divine inspiration that his children would be wicked. Isaiah rebuked him: 'What business have you with the secrets of God? You should do what you're commanded, and let God do what pleases Him.'
Coming from a wicked father like Ahaz, he was terrified of fathering such a son himself and sought to avoid this pitfall by not marrying at all. To do otherwise would require a suspension of some agency and a surrender to trust and faith. He needs to let go of his father’s past and his son’s future. We see from here the temperament of the holy King Hezekiah.
Another example is from Pesachim 56a, based on 2 Kings 18-19 which further demonstrates his pragmatic and anxiety-based planning and a lack of complete surrender to trust in divine providence.
Hezekiah’s Deeds: Faith vs. Fear
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: שִׁשָּׁה דְבָרִים עָשָׂה חִזְקִיָּהוּ הַמֶּלֶךְ, עַל שְׁלֹשָׁה הוֹדוּ לוֹ, וְעַל שְׁלֹשָׁה לֹא הוֹדוּ לוֹ: גֵּירַר עַצְמוֹת אָבִיו עַל מִטָּה שֶׁל חֲבָלִים — וְהוֹדוּ לוֹ. כִּיתַּת נְחַשׁ הַנְּחשֶׁת — וְהוֹדוּ לוֹ. גָּנַז סֵפֶר רְפוּאוֹת — וְהוֹדוּ לוֹ.
וְעַל שְׁלֹשָׁה לֹא הוֹדוּ לוֹ: קִיצֵּץ דְּלָתוֹת שֶׁל הֵיכָל וְשִׁיגְּרָן לְמֶלֶךְ אַשּׁוּר — וְלֹא הוֹדוּ לוֹ. סָתַם מֵי גִיחוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן — וְלֹא הוֹדוּ לוֹ. עִיבֵּר נִיסָן בְּנִיסָן — וְלֹא הוֹדוּ לוֹ.
The Talmud (Pesachim 56a) recounts six actions taken by King Hezekiah, of which the Sages praised three and criticized three. It seems to me that both the actions praised and the actions criticized revolve around this struggle between faith and anxiety.
Actions Criticized:
• Sending the Temple doors to the King of Assyria: In spite of the assurances given by Isaiah, he paid vast tribute in an attempt to ward off the Assyrian siege. This is seen as a a lack of trust in divine protection.
• Stopping up the upper waters of Gihon: This action, done in preparation for the Assyrian siege, was viewed as excessive planning and a lack of faith.
• Intercalating Nisan in Nisan: This manipulation of the calendar was seen as an attempt to control time and events, rather than trusting in God's timing. It is even more striking that the miracle of the death of the Assyrian army occurred on the eve of Passover. Attempting to delay what was destined for deliverance, the month and holiday of redemption, was a sure sign of existential dread.
Actions Praised:
• Dragging his father's bones on a rope bed: This act, while seemingly harsh, was seen as a symbolic rejection of his father's wicked ways. It no doubt was a factor in his fear of getting married.
• Destroying the copper serpent: Hezekiah removed an object of idolatry, demonstrating his commitment to monotheism. This can be understood in a more elaborate manner. The Torah in Leviticus 19:26 forbids actions of divination and auguries which attempt to control future outcomes rather than trust in g-d. This is called לא תנחשו, and the copper serpent is called the נחש הנחשת sharing the same root word. Perhaps the serpent represents this anxiety based planning and control, and its destruction shows Hezekiah's growth in his faith.
• Hiding the book of remedies: Hezekiah encouraged reliance on prayer rather than solely on medical solutions. This illustrates less planning and more trusting. So we see the actions that were criticized relate to lack of surrender, and the actions that were praised indicate his growth in faith and trust.
Song of the Messiah
The Messianic era is one that is free of fear about the future, and the divine light will illuminate the struggles of our past with a new perspective. It won't be a momentary redemption, but a 'final' redemption. Then will be singing the ultimate song, driven by a joy that will be free from the weight of past and future. That is a song of Az Yashir. Then, in a period of temporal wholeness, we will truly sing a שירה חדשה, new song, as described in Psalms 96:1.
For Hezekiah to be the Messiah, he needed to embody these qualities. A surrender to faith in the present moment with no fear of the future. A finality that only the 'final' redemption can truly provide. This is symbolized by song. But Hezekiah could not sing. For, as we have seen, he was not free of concerns about the future. This is why the sources are not contradictory. Hezekiah played songs, made sounds - but he didn't achieve shira. Because song is not merely producing sound or reciting words of praise; it is a state of being. One can go through all the motions of gratitude while remaining trapped in calculation and anxiety.
Mem in the Middle
The closed ‘Mem’ (ם) in Isaiah 9:6, as discussed in Sanhedrin 94a, symbolizes this. ‘Mem’ represents Messiah, and a closed ‘Mem’ at the end of a word signifies finality. Its placement mid-word indicates a disruption, a failure to achieve that finality. Hezekiah’s inability to truly sing, stemming from his temporal anxieties, prevented him from becoming Messiah.
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