“Feed the birds, tuppence a bag
Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag
Feed the birds,” tuppence a bag
Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag.”–Mary Poppins
This is the Shabbat where we are commanded to feed the birds. It is Shabbat Shirah, the Sabbath of Song. The Shabbat where we read, really sing, two songs, the Song at the Sea and the Song of Deborah.
Both are known as two of the oldest pieces of Scripture. Song helps us to remember the important message.
In terms of the Song at the Sea. We are to see ourselves as if we went forth from Egypt, out of the narrow places, out of slavery itself, into the Promised Land. We, then walked through the Sea of Reeds. We all stood at Sinai. Not just our ancestors, but we ourselves. And our children yet unborn.
Walking through the Sea took courage. We remember the story of Nachson ben Aminadav who stuck his toe into the Sea and waded up to his nostrils before the sea parted.
When we got to the other side, to the Shores of the Sea, we had a mixture of emotions. Fear, relief, amazement, awe, thanksgiving and gratitude. We broke into jubilant song. The introduction in our siddur says, “Anu shirah b’simcha rabah, We sang this song with great joy.” The song includes: “Ozi v’zimrat ya. G-d is my might and my strength and my song. G-d is my deliverer. This is my G-d. Who is like you amongst all the gods that are worshipped. Who is like You, doing wonders.”
The answer to that question, “Who is like You,” is at the beginning of the Torah service. “Ain Kamocha, No one is like You. G-d reigned. G-d reigns and G-d will reign forever and ever. “
In every generation, people write new music for our liturgy. The psalms even tell us to Sing unto G-d a new song. (Psalm 96, Psalm, 98) Debbie Friedman, z”l even set that to music. (Sing here, Sing Unto God – Debbie Friedman & the Highland Park Senior High Camerata (1973)
In every adult study class this week I asked two things. Favorite ice cream flavor since it is National Ice Cream for Breakfast Day and works with the Birthday Kiddush. It turns out to be Neapolitan for those of you who can’t make up your mind, which goes with the idea of freedom. You are free to pick your ice cream. Second question: your favorite Mi Chamocha which might be the High Holy Day one, The nusach for the High Holy Days is designed to be regal, to coronate the King, the Ruler, the Sovereign, the One who will rule forever and ever. It fits the emotion that the Israelites must have felt when they reached the other side of the sea. It echoes for all eternity just like G-d.
My favorite one is probably the Debbie Friedman one that goes with her composition “Miriam’s Song”. And the women dancing with their timbrals. Mi chamocha b’aleim Adonai.” Mi Chamocha (Friedman)
Make no mistake, the woman celebrated their freedom. They knew enough to bring their tofim, their timbrals, their drums. They sang. They danced. Their voices were heard. As were Shifrah and Puah who rescued the baby Israelite boys. As was Deborah who commanded the well to spring up. Debbie Friedman set that to music too. And Hannah, who prayed for a child, even though her mouth was not moving, and Eli thought she was drunk. As was Ruth and Esther. So, when people say, here in the United States or in Israel, that women’s voices should not be heard I cringe. And feel compelled to speak out. Which is definitely a subtext of Mary Poppins and the mother’s role as a suffragette.
For those of you who look for how we relate the text to our lives today, this is one critical way.
Another way is in how we respond to freedom. Rabbi Shoshana Perry, who supervised my internship at Congregation Shalom, used to say that with freedom comes responsibility. She didn’t like the upbeat Mi Chamocha tunes. It didn’t carry the gravitas that comes with freedom and responsibility.
We know that from these very verses that we do have responsibilities. We are to praise G-d. To remind people that there is no one like G-d. We are to tell people that. Like Chanukah, we are to publicize the miracle.
Some other favaorites:
Mi Chamocha- Hebrew Song- A capella
https://www.tisrael.org/mi-chamocha/
And we are to remember. We are to remember that we were slaves in Egypt. That we were strangers in a strange land. And with that, as we studied last night, 36 times in Torah we are exhorted, commanded to love the stranger, the sojourner.
There is to be one law for Israelite and Ger, alike. We are to leave the corners of our field for the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the most marginalized amongst us, the ones who cannot provide for themselves. We are to offer hospitality, like Abraham and Sarah did with their tent open on all four sides.
Do not ill-treat a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in Egypt. Exodus 22:20-21:
Leviticus 19: 34: “When a stranger lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The stranger living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were strangers in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.”
This is a lot of responsibility. I wonder sometimes why it tells us over and over again to take care of the stranger. The talmud actually argues with itself. Of course. It has been taught: R. Eliezer the Great said: Why did the Torah warn against the wronging of a stranger in thirty-six or as others say, in forty-six places? Because he has a strong inclination to evil. (Bava Metzia 59b)
Is it 36 or 46? Surprisingly, while the Talmud is really good at giving us the textual contexts, the original footnotes, it does not here. So as part of my internship with Refugee Immigration Ministry, I built a list. That’s what Dianha Ortega Ereth, executive director of Centro de Informacion was referring to last night when speaking for Refugee Shabbat. We have a responsibility to welcome the stranger, to love the stranger, precisely because we were strangers in the land of Egypt!
Why 36? Not, I believe, because it is a nice Jewish number representing double chai, life times two. No rather, because this is a difficult commandment that the Israelites struggled with and needed to be reminded of over and over and over again. (Maybe like ground hog day!?) Don’t eat pork? No problem! It only needs to tell us twice. Take care of others? 36 or 46 times! It’s like we have to be hit over the head to remember this.
When the Israelites finally left Egypt, they left as a mixed multitude, an erev rav. Who were these people that chose to flee Egypt with the Israelites. There are several interpretations. Maybe they were slaves, exclusively Egyptian or the result of mixed marriages. Perhaps they were mercenaries that had intermarried with the Israelites and thus provided the arms suggested in Exodus13:18. In any case, we are told that 600,000 men over 20 left Egypt. The estimate is that the total number was closer to two million. Men, women, children and those part of the mixed multitude.
But what about those birds. Why are we commanded to feed them today? Because they chirp most at dawn and remind us of G-d’s ongoing miracles. The sun really did come up this morning.
There are five classic texts. (See below for full references.)
Freedom. Responsibility. Take the first step. Speak out. Remember we were slaves, strangers in the land of Egypt. Love the sojourner. And yes,,,feed the birds. But not bread. Not good for them.
References for feeding the birds for further study:
1) R. Rafael Meizlish (18th century) and R. Yehiel Michal Epstein (1829-1908), in their defense of the custom, say that there is a popular saying among the masses that the birds sang at the Sea and we are therefore grateful to them. Thus, the purpose of feeding them is to remember the joy of Shirat Hayam and therefore we have no halakhic objection to feeding the birds. In other words, we feed the birds in order to thank them for singing at the Sea.
2) Another explanation says that we feed the birds kashe (buckwheat) on Shabbat Shirah because they are called ba’ale hashir (the singers). No creature can sing like a bird because they rule the air, and music is created by the flow of air (Bet Aharon quoted by Sefer Hamatamim).
3) Rabbi Eliyahu Ki Tov says that the birds receive their reward on Shabbat Shirah for the songs which they utter to God every day, and when we recite our Song, we remember their songs.
4) Rabbi Moshe Sofer, the Hatam Sofer (Pressburg, 1762-1839) says that this custom is based on the verse in our parashah (Exodus 16:32) “In order that they may see the bread which I fed you” i.e. that future generations should see that when you trust in God with your whole heart, he provides food as he did for the children of Israel in the desert. We feed the birds on Shabbat Shirah in order to say that if the Jewish people, who are compared to a bird, will devote themselves to Torah and mitzvot, then God will provide them food without toil.
5) The most well-known explanation is that given by Rabbi Avraham Eliezer Hirshowitz (quoting Ma’aseh Alfass). He reports that it says “in the Yalkut” on Exodus 16:27 “And behold on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather [manna] and did not find any”. Why does it say “and did not find any”? Because Datan and Aviram went out on Friday night outside the camp and spread some manna, in order to make Moshe a liar, since he said there would be no manna on Shabbat. They then said to the people: go out and see that there is manna in the fields! Therefore, some people went out to gather, but found nothing because the birds had eaten the manna which Datan and Aviram had strewn about. We give them their reward on Shabbat Shirah since we also read the story of the manna on that day.
So says “the Yalkut”, but as Rabbi Menahem Mendel Kasher points out, this midrash is not found in Yalkut Shimoni or any other collection of midrash. Indeed, in Sefer Matamim it is quoted in the name of Rabbi Bunim of Parsischa, while in Sefer Ta’amey Haminhagim it is quoted in the name of the Holy Seer of Lublin. Therefore, this midrash is really a hassidic explanation from the nineteenth century.