The Torah portion of Vayelech is the shortest of all portions, a mere 20 verses. Although in most years it is read along with the previous portion of Nitzavim, the last part of Vayelech introduces the song of Ha’azinu, the next portion. It is mentioned a number of times that Moses is to teach the song of Ha’azinu to the people as an everlasting testimony: “And now you should write this song and teach it to the Children of Israel, place it in their mouth so that this song will be a witness against the Children of Israel” (Deuteronomy 31:19). Although it appears that God is instructing Moses to teach the song of Ha’azinu to all of Israel, the Sages explain that the song referred to in the verse is actually the entire Torah. Based on this, they derived the mitzvah for every Jew to write, or at the least to participate in writing, a Sefer Torah. Thus, the entire Torah is considered a song! In fact, Rebbe Akiva gave the following advice to those who want to remember their Torah learning: “Sing your Torah every day; sing your Torah every day.”
Although we usually think of Moses as Moshe Rebbeinu, Moses, our teacher, or as a law giver, a strong leader who challenges Pharaoh and at times even God; there is another side of Moses that is less acknowledged – a master of song.
According to Jewish tradition, there are ten archetypal songs sung throughout history. These songs stand out among all the other countless songs in Jewish tradition, in that each one was written in a state of Divine inspiration or prophesy and came at a climactic moment of transition, transformation or revelation for an individual or all the people. They reflect, in general, some or all of the following attributes – a high level of awareness of God’s Providence, a sense of mission and purpose, and a sense of completion and wholeness. It is like those rare and unique moments in life when everything seems to fall into place; when everything feels perfect, just as it should be. A moment when everything about life makes sense and we feel an immediate urge to thank and praise God.
These songs accompany history from Adam, the first human, to the Mashiach, who will lead Israel and all the world to the consummate and final redemption. These songs are sung by both men and women, kings and judges, individuals and the entire people. They are enumerated by the Targum Jonathan as a commentary on the first verse of the Song of Songs, composed be King Solomon. Moses is actually involved in three of them. The first was the Song of the Sea, sung after Israel was miraculously saved from the pursuing Egyptians. This marks the final act of leaving Egypt and the culmination of generations of slavery and oppression (Exodus 15:1-19). We are taught that the revelation of God at the sea was so great that what the simplest handmaiden witnessed was greater than even the revelations of Ezekiel the prophet (Mechilta 15:2). The revelation all the people experienced was transformed into spontaneous joy and song. After all of Israel sang the song, the Torah states: “And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a drum in her hand and all the women went out after her with drums and dances.” The Song of the Sea is included in our prayers every morning.
The next song involving Moses was the Song of the Well sung by all of Israel upon receiving water in the desert, “Then Israel sang this song: ‘Spring up Oh well; announce it! It; the well the princes dug out, that the nobles of the people excavated, through a lawgiver, with their staff” (Numbers 21:17). The princes in this verse refers to Moses and Aaron and the law giver is of course Moses, who brought down the Torah from God at Sinai. Although Moses brought forth water for Israel on a number of occasions in the desert, he does not lead this song due to his hitting the rock instead of speaking to it, which caused him to not enter Israel.
The last of the three songs that directly involve Moses, which will be discussed in next week’s Torah portion of Ha’azinu, was sung by Moses at the end of his life as a culminating review of the history of the world and the Jewish people, replete with predictions and prophecies for the future. (Deuteronomy 32:1-43).
Moses is also involved in two other songs. The first is the song sung by Joshua after the miraculous and climatic event when he stopped the sun and the moon: “Then Joshua spoke to God on the day when God had delivered up the Emori before the Children of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel: ‘Sun, stand still in Givon and moon in the valley of Ayalon.’ And the sun stood still and the moon stayed until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies… So the sun stood still in the middle of the sky and hastened not to go down for a whole day. And there was no day before this or after it, that God hearkened to the voice of a man…” (Joshua 10:12-14). Joshua, according to tradition, was able to stop the sun and moon by actually singing their song. He learned this art from Moses, his teacher, who according to tradition also stopped the sun when Israel fought against Amelek shortly after leaving Egypt.
The tenth archetypal song is waiting for the Mashaich and the final redemption, when the exiles returning home will “sing to God a new song.” This final song represents a time when the purpose of human history will be revealed and all peoples of the earth will worship God as one. This joyous song will express a totally new understanding of life and represents the ultimate sense of completion, purpose and wholeness, the very definition of song. According to tradition, Moses will be part of the soul of Mashiach, along with King David, as it says “He [Moses] is the first redeemer, he is the last redeemer.” Thus, Moses is involved in a full half of all the archetypal songs!
A profound allusion to Moses’ deep connection to song can be seen when he asked God at the Burning Bush what he should tell the Jewish people when they ask who sent him and God names Himself as “I Will Be That I Will Be” (Exodus 3:14).
The numerical value of “I Will Be That I Will Be” is 543, the exact inverse of the numerical value of Moses’ name, 345. This mirror-like image is also seen when Moses’ name (משה) is spelled backward in Hebrew it spells השם (Hashem; the Name), the term used to refer to God when we wish to avoid enunciating one of His holy names.
By revealing the Divine name “I Will Be That I Will Be” to Moses, God was attempting to awaken his leadership qualities and prod him into revealing his unique hidden potential. This is hinted at by the numerical equivalence between “I Will Be That I Will Be” and the phrase “the power of song,” which both equal 543. This teaches us that an individual’s potential and mission in life is aroused through song. In this sense every person has an inner song, an inner vibrational field that attunes itself and guides him or her to fulfill their unique potential and purpose, the “I Will Be That I Will Be,” of his or her life.
Parenthetically, according to the Zohar, Moses’ potential included knowing how to sing all the songs of creation and each individual Jew’s soul song. Through this power of song, he could, according to tradition, even resurrect the dead. That is the ultimate power of song – to enliven “dead” emotions and hope that has died along the way and inspire a new sense of optimism.
King David is known as the “sweet singer of Israel.” Similarly, Moses also deserves to be acknowledged for his connection to song. Both these souls will combine in the Mashiach, whose name when permuted spells yismach, “he will be joyful.” Through his own internal sense of joy, he will cause others to be joyful. This joy will emanate from the new levels of Torah understanding Mashiach will teach Israel, and in fact, the entire world. This level of joy will come through understanding the Torah as the ultimate song, the very music of creation revealed through the symphony of the Torah.
