Today's class is dedicated in honor of the birthday of Mrs Jean Shiloach by her daughters. We are now up to the 13 th pasuk of Az Yashir נָחִ֥יתָ בְחַסְדְּךָ֖ עַם־ז֣וּ גָּאָ֑לְתָּ נֵהַ֥לְתָּ בְעׇזְּךָ֖ אֶל־נְוֵ֥ה קׇדְשֶֽׁךָ׃ Nachita B’Hasdecha.. You guided with Your kindness, this nation that You redeem. You also guided (or directed) with Your strength, to the dwelling place of Your holiness ( which refers to the Bet Hamikdash) The rabbis and the midrash explain that this pasuk is telling us the secret of the Jewish people, and what causes us to have a special connection with Hashem. The Mishna in Pirkei Avot says the world stands on three things, Torah, Avodah/Serving Hashem and Gemilut Hasadim/good deeds, and these three concepts are hinted at in this pasuk: Firstly, נָחִ֥יתָ בְחַסְדְּךָ֖ You guided us with Hessed refers to the trait of Gemilut Hasadim עַם־ז֣וּ גָּאָ֑לְתָּ This nation that You redeemed This is to say that although all the nations of the world do kindness, there's something special about our kindness. Number two, נֵהַ֥לְתָּ בְעׇזְּךָ֖ You directed with Your strength. The word strength refers to the Torah , as it says, God gave us strength. That strength is Torah And finally, אֶל־נְוֵ֥ה קׇדְשֶֽׁךָ׃ To Your holy dwelling place, refers to the Bet Hamikdash, where we serve God with korbanot , which is Avodah . So, Torah , Avodah and Gemilut Hasadim are hinted at in this Pasuk. Furthermore, the Zohar says that these three concepts also refer to Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov, נָחִ֥יתָ בְחַסְדְּךָ֖ You guided us with Hessed represents Avraham, who symbolizes Hessed, נֵהַ֥לְתָּ בְעׇזְּךָ֖ You directed with Your strength refers to Yitzhak Avinu who is called Gevurah/strength, And ־נְוֵ֥ה קׇ דְשֶֽׁךָ You holy dwelling place refers to Yaakov’s Avinu, who is called Kadosh . And in the zechut of the Avot,the sea was split. So whether it's the three pillars that the world stands on, or the three Avot, that is what gives us our special connection. One last point on this pasuk: How did God guide us with His kindness? With the clouds of glory, which were called the clouds of kindness that led us throughout through the desert. The Baal HaTurim says there's another pasuk in Tanach that uses the word Nachita/You guided us- i n Tehilim where it says, Nachita K’tzon Amecha Just like the shepherd grazes his sheep and gives each sheep what he needs, so too, the clouds would deal with each individual as he needed. They went at different speeds based on the person's need, which shows a tremendous level of God’s supervision. As we mentioned previously, we're supposed to be realizing that these concepts apply today as well. There's a hidden cloud today that leads us through our challenges, even though we don't see it, and we also need these three merits in order for us to see miracles today. Pasuk 14: שָֽׁמְע֥וּ עַמִּ֖ים יִרְגָּז֑וּן חִ֣יל אָחַ֔ז יֹשְׁבֵ֖י פְּלָֽשֶׁת The nations will hear and be scared and the Pelashet/Philistines will tremble The next pasuk says אָ֤ז נִבְהֲלוּ֙ אַלּוּפֵ֣י אֱד֔וֹם אֵילֵ֣י מוֹאָ֔ב יֹֽאחֲזֵ֖מוֹ רָ֑עַד נָמֹ֕גוּ כֹּ֖ל יֹשְׁבֵ֥י כְנָֽעַן The chieftains of Edom were confounded, the strong ones of Moav were trembling in fear. They melted, Yoshvei Canaan One nation (the Pelashet) were specifically more scared, as Rashi tells us that there was a group of Jews that tried to leave early and the Philistines killed them. Rabbenu Bachye tells us the four nations mentioned, Pelashet, Edom, Moav and Yoshve Canaan refer to the four corners of the earth. That means the splitting of the sea was something that was heard about in all four corners of the earth. Everyone was aware that the sea had split and saw God's power over nature. The Emek D’var explains that this shows us that a general fear is instilled in the nations around us. And again, this is true as well today. The Gemara says one sheep is dwelling among 70 wolves. How does that sheep survive? And the answer, is the Shepherd is great . That's why these pasukim about the other nations are preceded by Nachita B’Hasdecha , Nachita reminds us that God is that Shepherd. How are we surviving? The clouds take us through the snakes and scorpions…but what about those 70 wolves? Pesukim 13-16 (we will do 16 tomorrow) all refer to the fear that's instilled by God, miraculously . We don't realize how it is that we're surviving. How could there be so many millions of Arabs around the small Eretz Yisrael and yet we survive? This is all from this concept of Nachita B’Hasdecha. And again, every day, we're supposed to say Az Yashir like we were there, because we are there. Sh’Bechol Dor V’Dor… In every generation, they want destroy us, and Hashem saves us from their hands. Have a wonderful day.