Weekly Services

Summary: 

The “Sabbath of Song” - “Shabbat Shirah”

Pharaoh yet again, regrets freeing the Israelite slaves!  He frantically orders Egypt's finest charioteers to pursue them and bring them back to Egypt.  The Israelites, encamped at the Red Sea, catch sight of the approaching Egyptians and cry out in panic: “Moses! …What have you done to us? Did you bring us out here to die?!” Moses reassures the people: “Have no fear! You shall behold your deliverance: The Egyptians, whom you see today, you will never see again!” 

That night the waters of the Red Sea divide, owing to a “strong wind,” and the Israelites cross it the following morning. But as the Egyptian troops pursue them onto the dry seabed, the sea suddenly collapses upon them. The Israelites, realizing they are now truly free, break into ecstatic song: Miriam the prophet, Moses’ sister, takes hold of a tambourine and leads the women in dancing and celebration.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Alvin Wainhaus