I’m sorry this Dvar Torah isn’t going to be as ‘deep’ or as long as usual. I’ve started school again and my schedule is WAY busier than before. However, this week I’m starting a shiur with my new chavruta (the lovely vshavubanim - if you don’t follow her, you should!) and we’ll be writing a joint Dvar Torah every week.

The main feature of this week’s Sidrah is שירת הים - the song that Moses sang when the Israelites finished crossing the Red Sea during the Exodus.

This first sentence of this song is

א. אָז יָשִׁיר מֹשֶׁה וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת לַי־הֹוָ־ה וַיֹּאמְרוּ לֵאמֹר אָשִׁירָה לַי־הֹוָ־ה כִּי גָאֹה גָּאָה סוּס וְרֹכְבוֹ רָמָה בַיָּם:

1. Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and they spoke, saying, I will sing to the Lord, for very exalted is He; a horse and its rider He cast into the sea.

It is interesting to note that the word יָשִׁיר is written in the future tense and means ‘he will sing’. It is said that Moses will and the Messiah will sing another song, once the Redemption arrives.

This is significant to us, especially in the days that we are living in.

A Jewish proverb states

מעשה אבות סימן לבנים

The actions of fathers are a sign for their children

Essentially, this means that the actions and events that took place in the lives of our ancestors, will be paralleled in our own lives.

The culmination of the Exodus was the Revelation at Mt. Sinai and the Israelites’ entrance to the Land of Israel.

This will parallel to our own Redemption.

It is our duty to ensure, we learn and study as much Torah as possible and enter our eternal Homeland - make Aliyah. As we, the Jews, do this collectively, we fulfil the prophecies of the Redemption and are for sure, on the path to the Redemption.

Shabbat Shalom.

This week’s Parsha begins with G-d telling Moses that He has heard the cries of His people and He will redeem them. In addition to this, at this point, G-d tells Moses that He will give the Land of Israel to the Israelites as their “inheritance” (also translated as “heritage”).

וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נָשָׂאתִי אֶת יָדִי לָתֵת אֹתָהּ לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב וְנָתַתִּי אֹתָהּ לָכֶם מוֹרָשָׁה אֲנִי יְ־הֹוָ־ה

I will bring you to the land, concerning which I raised My hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you as a heritage; I am the Lord.’

(Exodus 6:8)

The only other time the word מוֹרָשָׁה is used in the Five Books of Moses is as a description of the Torah, just before the Israelites were to enter the Land of Israel.

. תּוֹרָה צִוָּה לָנוּ מֹשֶׁה מוֹרָשָׁה קְהִלַּת יַעֲקֹב:

The Torah that Moses commanded us is a legacy for the congregation of Jacob.

(Deuteronomy 33:4)

Rashi comments on this phrase and simply writes

אחזנוה ולא נעזבנה

We have taken hold of it, and we will not forsake it!

(Rashi on Deuteronomy 33:4)

Rasi’s commentary is written in relation to the actual Torah; however, as the word מוֹרָשָׁה is used only once previously in the Torah, a גזרה שווה (a parallel) between the two phrases exists and Rashi’s commentary on Deuteronomy can also explain the verse in Exodus. Therefore we learn, that  once we

“have taken hold of [the land of Israel] we will not forsake it”.

We cannot give away or divide the Land of Israel, our “heritage” and “inheritance” which G-d Himself gave to us. In recent years, we’ve seen how the ‘land for peace’ strategy works - it doesn’t!

The גזרה שווה, the parallel, teaches us another lesson. Just as the Land of Israel is our “inheritance” so is the Torah. The Torah is meant to be kept in its entirety.  There are many Mitzvot that can be only completed in the Land of Israel. We’re supposed to observe our “inheritance” in the Land of Israel, which is also our “inheritance!” However, if we do not observe the Torah in the Land of Israel - the Land of Israel, we will no longer be worthy to live there.

ארץ ישראל בלי תורה היא כגוף בלי נשמה

The Land of Israel without the Torah, is like a body without a soul

The word מוֹרָשָׁה  has the root י.ר.ש. This root can can mean inherit, but in some contexts, it can also mean dispossess or remove. If we do not observe the Torah in the Land of Israel, we will be removed from the Land of Israel and we will dispossess her.

With the help of G-d, we will all soon make Aliyah and live in the Land of Israel, our inheritance whilst observing the laws of the Torah - also our inheritance. We are lucky to be living in the 21st century, where Israel is once again the centre of all Torah learning - for the first time since the Destruction of the Temple. There are thousands of Shules and Batei Midrash all over our tiny country and the words of Torah are always in the air.  However, we must remember that although the Land of Israel is our inheritance, we must hold on to her and never forsake her or divide her.

Have a good Shabbos and a hearty Mazel Tov, to one of my favourite cousins and her new son.