At the center of Parashat Beshalach stands the Song of the Sea, a hymn of praise sung by the Israelites after safely crossing the Red Sea that has been incorporated into the liturgy as part of the daily prayer service. Song is also central to the Haftarah that accompanies this portion, which features the Song of Deborah, a poem from Judges 5 sung after the defeat of the Canaanites. Both of these songs are, in essence, songs of thanksgiving to God for victories in war.
Victory in battle is not the only purpose of song in the Torah. When Moses is making his final address to the Israelites, he communicates with them partially in song. The Torah portion of Ha’azinu, the only one in the Torah written in a two-column format suggestive of its poetic nature, serves a kind of hymnal function, intended to engrave the laws of the Torah into the national consciousness: “Now therefore write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me among the children of Israel” (Deuteronomy 31:19).
Songs are also important in the mystical tradition. Several mystical compositions from the end of the talmudic superficially function as hymns of praise. Some of these have become well-known, such as the Aleinu prayer, recited at the close of every prayer service, and Ha’aderet VeHa’emunah, a piyyut (liturgical poem) recited on the morning of Yom Kippur.
Song also occupies a central place in the Zohar, but here the perspective on song and its meaning changes. To see this, let’s look at a homily about song taken from the Zohar commentary on Parashat Shemot. This passage describes the psalms of David in the Book of Psalms, and the songs of Solomon in Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, as they function in the songs sung by the Levites in the ancient Temple.
Rabbi Elazar opened: “The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s” (Song of Songs 1:1) — We have learned that when the Holy One, Blessed be He, created His world, it arose in His desire, and He created the heavens with His right hand and the earth with His left hand, and it arose in His desire to guide the day and the night. He created the angels appointed over His lovingkindness (chesed) by day to recite song by day … and He created the angels appointed to recite song by night …
Rabbi Nehemiah said: Fortunate is one who merits knowledge of that song, for we have learned that one who merits that song will know matters of Torah and wisdom, and will listen and investigate and add strength and might in what was and what will be. By this, Solomon merited knowledge. For Rabbi Shimon taught that David, may he rest in peace, knew this, and composed many songs and praises, and alluded in them to what would come in the future, and added strength and might through the Holy Spirit. He knew matters of Torah and wisdom, listened, investigated, and added strength and might in the Holy Tongue. And Solomon merited even more through that song, and knew wisdom, and listened and investigated and composed many proverbs, and made a book from that very song, as it is written (Ecclesiastes 2:8): “I acquired for myself male and female singers” — meaning, I acquired knowledge of song from those supernal singers, and those beneath them. This is what is written: “Song of Songs” — meaning, a song of those singers of above, a song that encompasses all matters of Torah and wisdom, and strength and might, in what was and what will be, a song that the singers of above sing …
Rabbi Elazar said: At that hour when Levi was born, they opened above and said (Song of Songs 8:1): “O that you were like a brother to me, who nursed at my mother’s breasts! If I found you outside, I would kiss you; surely they would not despise me.” When the singers below emerged from the tribe of Levi, they all became sanctified, and stood at their posts, and these became sanctified corresponding to those companions as one, and the worlds became one, and one King dwells over them. Solomon came and made a book from that song of those singers, and wisdom was concealed in it.
Rabbi Judah said: Why are the singers below called ‘Levites’ (Levi’im)? Because they are attached (nilvim) and joined to those above as one, and the soul of the listener becomes attached and cleaves above. Therefore, Leah said (Genesis 29:34): “This time my husband will be joined (yilaveh) to me.” Rabbi Tanhum said: For in everything the seed of Levi was attached with the Shekhinah, through Moses and Aaron and Miriam, and through all his descendants after him, and they are the ones attached to the Lord to serve Him.
In this passage, two conceptual approaches to song are represented. According to the first, presented here by Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Nehemiah, the essence of song lies in the secrets it encodes. The roots of this conception can be seen in the mystical songs noted above. If the essence of song is to praise God, then it follows that songs should reflect something of the esoteric secret of divinity, of God’s attributes and His might. If so, it should be possible for the song to reveal secrets of the past and the future (“what was and what will be”) and wisdom, which was the aspiration of the mystics. The song here becomes a mystical text, a source of contemplation from which one might extract a deep understanding.
But in the final lines, and almost in passing, Rabbi Judah offers a different conception of song. He teaches that the name of Levi, the father of the tribe who sang in the ancient Temple, is related to the Hebrew words levayah (attachment) and hibur (joining). According to this conception, the essence of the song is its influence on the soul, its capacity to elevate a person and bring him closer to cleaving to the supernal realms — what the mystics call deveikut, or attachment to God. It appears that what matters is not the song’s content or its music, but the uniqueness and sharpness of its expression, its imagery and rhythms, similar to what one might feel when reading a poem, even if its content does not provide any new knowledge. The song’s potential for devotion and spiritual elevation is related to its poetic quality.
These brief words, representing a relatively early layer of the Zohar, may reflect something of the world of the kabbalists who authored it. Alongside their pursuit of the secrets contained in the biblical text — a project continued from earlier mystics — an additional aspiration to mystical cleaving sprouted within them. They found the means to this in song, which has the power to awaken inspiration and bring about elevation, and indeed the merging of their souls with the supernal worlds.
This piece was originally published as part of A Year of Zohar: Kabbalah for Everyone, an original series produced by My Jewish Learning and Sefaria. Sign up for the entire series here.
