לע"נ רבי אברהם דב בער בן רבי דוד בעל ה"בת עין" ביאהרצייט שלו

 לך ענו שירה בשמחה רבה ואמרו כולם - Was this שמחה רבה - great simcha at Krias Yam Suf, a quantitatively greater שמחה or a simcha of a different quality all together??

"וישובו ויחונו לפני פי החירות" - "Speak to the Children of Israel and let them return and camp before Pi HaChiros". This was the only time a specific act was required of the Jewish people. Until now, they just left Egypt and traveled forward. Now they were required to return and camp before פי החירות. We became partners in the ultimate Krias Yam Suf.

"אז ישיר" - Chazal say that this is an allusion to תחיית המתים. Why in this context?

There is no בקשה, request, in our liturgy for תחיית המתים. There is only a bracha of praise [the 2nd bracha of שמונה עשרה]. Why is there no בקשה?

When death was decreed on Adam HaRishon, this was not merely a shortening of his life but rather a diminishing of his entire spiritual stature. "שת עליו כפו ומיעטו" - Hashem placed His hand upon him and diminished him [Chagiga 12]. Meaning, his deeds now reached a much lower place in Shomayim. He lost his spiritual power. חייב לומר בלשון רבו - We lost our מקום נגיעה. Our deeds didn't "touch" the same elevated places. This meant [among other things] that we may no longer ask for תחיית המתים. All we can do is praise Hashem for this. It is now completely His realm and beyond ours. 

"תורי זהב נעשה לך עם נקודות הכסף" -  We will make you lines of gold, with studs of silver. [Shir Hashirim 1-11]. Chazal expound [במדבר רבה י"ג כ] that that the ביזת הים - booty of the Yam Suf ["gold"], was greater than the ביזת מצרים - booty of Mitzrayim ["silver"]. Chazal further expound that תורי זהב refers to the טעמי המקרא - what we call "Trop" while נקודות הכסף refers to the נקודות - dots under the letters. What is the connection between the drashos of תורי זהב meaning ביזת הים and טעמי המקרא? 

Chazal tell us that not only are the letters but even the dots and Trop are from Sinai. Without dots we wouldn't know how to properly pronounce the letters. Without the Trop we would be able to pronounce the letters but said dryly we would not know the meaning of the words. The tune says it all. Someone says a bright cheerful "Good Morning🌞". That has a very different meaning than a "Good Morning" said with a scowl and in an undertone. The tune conveys the meaning of the words.

There are dots and there are lines. Dots are random [until connected....] while lines give a direction. תורי זהב - lines of gold. Trop. Direction. Meaning. 

When we left Egypt on the 15th of Nissan we were created as a people. On the 21st of Nissan at Krias Yam Suf we received a direction. Am Yisrael's job is to restore the world to its original state where there is no longer death and those who already died come back to life - תחיית המתים. That Am Yisrael is here to stay was made clear at Krias Yam Suf when the pursuers drowned. Now the direction of history is clear. 

פסח is comprised of two words - פה סח. Speaking mouth. On Pesach, Man was born. The true Man who was intended at the time of creation. אתם קרויים אדם [יבמות ס"א]. A speaking being "נפש חיה - רוח ממללא" [Breishis 2-7 w/ Unkelos]. What makes man unique is his ability to verbally express intelligent ideas. The night of the 15th was נקודות הכסף. Dots. Pronouncing the words. פה סח. But there was no clear direction. What is the deeper meaning of the words? That happened on the 21st of Nissan when we received the Trop. תורי זהב. The tune, the direction, the meaning. This direction leads us to תחיית המתים, the complete Tikkun of Man and ה' ימלך לעולם ועד. 

" וְחִזַּקְתִּ֣י אֶת־לֵב־פַּרְעֹה֮ וְרָדַ֣ף אַחֲרֵיהֶם֒ וְאִכָּבְדָ֤ה בְּפַרְעֹה֙ וּבְכׇל־חֵיל֔וֹ" - I will strengthen Paroh's heart so he will chase after them, and I will be honored through Paroh and all his army. כבוד is achieved when the Tachlis is reached. When the Egyptians drowned there was כבוד to Hashem b/c the Tachlis was achieved. The music was revealed. The Pnimiyus of creation came out. That is why the Pasuk says תורי זהב נעשה לך - in the future tense because this revelation related to the future. 

תחיית המתים is Hashem's "job" alone.

  לֶעָתִיד לָבוֹא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מְרַפֵּא אוֹתָהּ מַכָּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה ל, כו): וּמַחַץ מַכָּתוֹ יִרְפָּא, מַחַץ מַכָּתוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, יִרְפָּא.[ב"ר י':ד']

At Krias Yam Suf, the Jews were given some level of impact on this hidden Divine task of תחיית המתים. That is symbolized by their act of וישובו ויחונו לפני פי החירות. See how the Jews are impactful on the ים - the hidden world. 

אז ישיר. From here is the allusion to תחיית המתים [Sanhedrin 91b]. It says there that if one sings שירה in this world then he merits to sing שירה in the next world. The שירה sung now in this world was a taste of the שירה of the future. They were already singing the שירה of the future in the present. אז ישיר. Future tense. They were able to transcend this world and achieve a נגיעה to the hidden world of Hashem's ידיעה. 

That is "בשמחה רבה". There is life and there is life. כל הנשמה תהלל י-ה. With every breath -  נשמה, as in נשימה - breath, we praise Hashem. Living people want to feel life and vitality. חיות!!! We don't want to breath once a week. We want to breath constantly and with every breath - praise to Hashem. Praise connects to life. לא המתים יהללו י-ה. Dead people cannot praise Hashem. At Krias Yam Suf the Jews felt life so strongly that they were able to tap into תחיית המתים which was above their מקום נגיעה at that time. 

The GREATEST שמחה possible is the תחושת החיים, the feeling of life, of חיות, of vitality. 

לך ענו שירה בשמחה רבה - This wasn't just a greater שמחה than one normally feels but a שמחה of a completely different order. A שמחה of touching the Life of the future. A Life without death. A Life of constant עלייה. A Life of תחיית המתים. 

[עפ"י תורת מרן ראש הישיבה שליט"א]