As promised, we will continue to delve into the simple understanding of Az Yashir, because it's our daily job to sing songs to Hashem. The Zohar finds a hint to this in Az Yashir: It starts off, אָ֣ז יָשִֽׁיר־מֹשֶׁה֩ וּבְנֵ֨י יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל אֶת־הַשִּׁירָ֤ה הַזֹּאת֙ לה׳ וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ לֵאמֹ֑ר Then Moshe and Bnei Yisrael sang this song, to Hashem , and they said, לֵאמֹ֑ר /to say : Why does it say, “ and they said, to say?” The added word לאמר to say , means that we should say it too. Every day of our lives, we are supposed to say the Shira as if we stood by the sea and saw the miracle (although we didn't). This brings many benefits to the soul, amongst them is the fact that, as the Zohar says, one’s sins are cleansed when one sings this song. So great things happen. The first words are: אָשִׁ֤ירָה לה׳ I will sing to Hashem, כִּֽי־גָאֹ֣ה גָּאָ֔ה Ki Ga’Oh GaAh, (Which literally means), “Arrogant, He is arrogant,” The Targum explains, “ He’s arrogant above the arrogant, and arrogance belongs to Him.” This is hard to understand, because, as we've said in the past, the term arrogance is usually understood as a negative term. So why do we call God, in our opening words of song, arrogant ? We also see this term when David Hamelech says in Tehilim (and actually this is attributed originally to Adam HaRishon), “ Hashem Malach Ge’ut Lavesh/God is king, He wears ( a cloak of) arrogance. ” The commentaries explain that arrogance means taking credit for what happens, so for any being, other than God, to take credit is a negative term, because you didn't do it. When we say that God is arrogant , it means God is the one who has a right to take credit for what happened, because He really did it! At the splitting of the sea, they realized God's total control over nature, and therefore they said only God can be the one proud of anything that happens, because only He makes things happen. What does He do? ס֥וּס וְרֹכְב֖וֹ רָמָ֥ה בַיָּֽם׃ He throws the horse and the rider together into the sea Rashi says He threw them into the sea while they were connected, something that a human being cannot do, making them go up and down together in the sea. So basically, this first pasuk is a revelation that the Jewish people had, that we're supposed to have every single day, that God is in total control. God is the only one that does anything. And everything that happens should be accredited back to Him. So the next time you sing Az Yashir, think of anything that you’ve done or accomplished, whether it's in your work, your cooking or baking, learning- whatever your pursuits are, think, “Ashir L’Hashem/I'm going to sing a song to God because He’s the One that takes credit for it. He does the impossible.” That's pasuk א Pasuk ב says, עׇזִּ֤י וְזִמְרָת֙ יָ֔הּ Ozi V’Zimrat Ya. Vayehi Li Lishua The word Oz means strength . And most people this that the word Zimrat means song , like Mizmor , but that's not how Rashi learns. Usually, a Yud at the end of a word means my , like Beti ביתי means “ my house,” but Rashi argues on that as well, and brings proofs from other words that the Yud doesn’t always indicate possession (such as in the phrase HaYoshvi B’Shamayim). Sometimes the Yud at the end of the word does not change it from just being a verb. So Ozi is like it says,Oz/ the strength, and V’Zimrat, means (like it says in Vayikra 25,4 Lo Tizmor - don't cut the branches during the seventh year) cutting. So Rashi explains, עזי וְזִמְרָת֙ יָ֔הּ Ozi V’Zimrat Ya/ Strength and cutting power is to God, which means God's strength and vengeance is what saved us. Ozi V’Zimrat Ya/ The strength and cutting power of God (not my strength). וַֽיְהִי־לִ֖י לִֽישׁוּעָ֑ה That's what brought my salvation. (And now for the powerful words J זֶ֤ה אֵלִי֙ Zeh Eli/ This is my God The Jewish people had such clarity, that they could point with their finger, This is my God. One a might ask, do we still have that today? Yes we do. Once a month, when we make Birkat Halevana/ the blessing on the moon, and because it's like receiving God’s Shechina, we have to say it standing. Our rabbis say that the words HaHodesh Hazeh/this month is for you, refers to the new moon. When the moon big or small, that's a revelation of God. It's not the splitting of the sea, it's the revelation of God in nature, that the moon has a cycle and therefore, by pondering the moon getting bigger and getting smaller, we can receive God. Zeh Eli. This is my God. B’Ezrat Hashem, we will continue tomorrow.