This week we reach the dramatic crescendo of the Exodus story in Parshat B’shalach, as Pharaoh finally releases the Israelites, and they face the constraints of that in-between place, with the Red Sea before them and Pharaoh’s army bearing down behind. No spoilers needed for how this plays out, with all the attendant Hollywood-style special effects to augment the miracle. But what is at least as interesting is what happens on the other side. The Israelites offer a song to praise and thank God. Why a song? Perhaps from our own experience, we know that ideas are better committed to memory and conveyed to others, not through words alone, but through melody associated with them. That melody can be both musical and syntactically poetic. Think of passages you’ve memorized that can only be recalled through song. Think of how music impacts us in ways that transcend the merely intellectual. The rabbis also cherished this moment in our sacred history, enshrining the most iconic words in our Mi Chamocha prayer: Who is like You, amongst the gods that are worshipped? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders?
