The Redemption of Speech by Rav Moshe Weinberger

From the Fire

Parshas B’Shalach The Redemption of Speech

By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf

Man is defined as one who speaks. The Torah (Bereishis 2:7) describes Hashem’s creation of man as follows: “And He blew into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being.” In his Aramaic translation of “l’nefesh chaya, a living being,” Onkolus translates those words as “ruach m’malelah, a speaking being.” We therefore see that the power of speech defines man. Man’s speech and the essence of his life are one.

Regarding the importance of listening to the Torah taught by one’s parents, the pasuk in Mishlei 4:22 says, “Ki chaim haeim l’motza’eihem, for they are life for those who find them.” The Gemara (Eruvin 54a) explains this pasuk as follows: “Do not read l’motza’eihem as ‘to those who find them’; rather read it as l’motza’eihem b’peh, ‘to those who pronounce them orally.’” We therefore see that true life and speech are intertwined. The living soul is expressed through speech. Likewise, one draws out the living soul from within himself by speaking.

The Seforim Hakedoshim teach that, in Egypt, the power of speech was in exile. Even our redeemer’s speech was impaired. Moshe was described (Shmos 4:10) as “heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue,” and as (Shmos 6:12) an “arel sefasaim,” a person with “impaired speech.” Moshe also said about himself (Shmos 4:10), “I am not a man of words.” His power of speech was covered, concealed, and blocked. Indeed, the Jewish people were unable to hear Moshe’s words, as the pasuk (Shmos 6:9) says, “And they did not listen to Moshe because of their shortness of breath and the hard work.” This is further reflected in Pharaoh’s name, which is a contraction of the words, “peh rah, evil mouth.” The Jewish people’s response to the suffering in Egypt was (Shmos 2:23), “And they cried out … and they groaned.” They were unable to daven to Hashem with words.

The power of speech, when it is free, is expressed on a number of different levels, the highest of which is shira, song. It is the mouth’s highest mode of expression. Song is the greatest expression of man’s essence as a living being. When a person is filled with vitality, he cannot be satisfied with speaking alone. He must sing. That is why we say in the tefilla “Nishmas,” “Would that our mouths were filled with song like the sea and our tongues with exultation like its numerous waves...”

Therefore, the yom tov which relates to the redemption from Egypt, from the exile of speech, is called Pesach, which is a contraction of the words “peh sach, speaking mouth.” When the redemption came, speech was no longer in exile and our mouths were then able to speak. Our newly unleashed power of speech soon turned into song, as we say in davening, “A new song, praising redemption.”

The Torah uses four words to describe the redemption (Shmos 6:6-7) which correspond to the four cups of wine we drink at the Seder. This relationship between wine and singing songs of praise for Hashem’s redemption is expressed by the halacha (Brachos 35a) that the Levi’im “only sing over the wine [of the libations].” With wine, a person’s innermost song is released, as the Gemara (Eruvin 65a) says, “When wine enters, the secret comes out.” In addition, an onen, one who has just lost a close family member, may not drink wine. The loss of a living soul renders him “songless.” Aharon Hakohen was silent when two of his sons died because silence surrounds the person facing death.

As long as the Jewish people were still in Egypt, they were compared (see the sefer Arvei Nachal, parshas Eikev) to “a fetus in its mother’s womb.” Regarding a fetus, Chazal say (Nida 30b) that “its mouth is closed.” Because it is not yet fully in the category of the living, it has no power of speech, but the final act which prepares it for birth is the angel’s strike on the mouth, which opens up its mouth (Ibid.).

The redemption from Egypt and Song at the Sea represented the birth of the Jewish people and the redemption of speech. Regarding that time, when we transitioned from the world of the “dead” to the world of those who are truly living, Chazal say that the song we sang that day is reminiscent of the ultimate resurrection of the dead (Rashi on Shmos 15:1). The redemption from Egypt was also simultaneously a redemption of the power of speech and our birth as a nation. Not only did the Jewish people go from speechless to speaking, and then to singing, but even the babies in their mothers’ wombs sang the Song at the Sea in gratitude of Hashem’s redemption (Sota 30b).

How does the song the Jewish people sang through prophecy connect to Tu B’Shvat, the Rosh Hashana for trees, when, in the dead of winter, Chazal teach (Rashi on Rosh Hashana 14a) that the trees’ sap begins to rise as they come to life again in preparation for spring?

Rav Tzadok Hakohein of Lublin in Resisei Laila (34) explains that the word for prophet, “navi,” comes from the word niv, speaking, as in the pasuk (Yeshaya 57:19) “niv sefasaim, speech of the lips.” Rav Tzadok explains that the same root word also means “produce” or “fruit,” as in the phrase “tenuvas ha’aretz, the produce

of the land,” so that the same word can mean the speech of a person’s mouth or the fruit of a tree. And, as we know, the Torah is homiletically interpreted to teach that man is compared a tree, as the pasuk says (Devarim 20:19), “Man is like a tree of the field.” The fruit of man’s humanity is his speech.

A tree only begins giving forth its fruits when it is filled with life, when the sap begins to rise. Similarly, a person can only give forth his fruits when he is connected to his roots, when he is truly alive. A prophet is one who is speaks because he is connected to the source, to the living soul within him. This is why the exodus from Egypt took place in the spring, when the world comes to life and the trees begin bearing fruit. That is when our mouths open up, as we say in the Haggada, “The more one relates [about the exodus], it is praiseworthy.” This an expression of our connection to prophecy, which is connected to the concept of speech, as Chazal say about the Jewish people (Pesachim 66a), “If they are not prophets, then they are the sons of prophets.”

Beis Hillel and Beis Shammai

The beginning of the development of the power of speech, of the fruit of the tree, is on Tu B’Shvat, the Rosh Hashana for trees. But the date of Tu B’Shvat is subject to a dispute.

The Mishna at the beginning of Rosh Hashana relates that “the first of Shvat [Rosh Chodesh Shvat] is the Rosh Hashana for trees according to Beis Shammai. Beis Hillel say that it is on the fifteenth of Shvat.”

It is no coincidence that Moshe regained the power of speech on the same day Beis Shammai identified as the Rosh Hashana for trees, Rosh Chodesh Shvat. As the Torah says (Devarim 1:1, 3), “These are the words which Moshe spoke to all of the children of Israel... on the eleventh month [Shvat], on the first of the month Moshe spoke to the children of Israel...” The Midrash (Devarim Raba, parshas Devarim) says: “Until Moshe merited Torah, it says about him, ‘I am not a man of words,’ but once he merited Torah, his tongue was healed and he began to speak.” The Midrash is based on the pasuk in Mishlei (15:4) that says, “A healing tongue is the tree of life.”

The pasuk in Devarim continues (Devarim 1:5), “And Moshe began to explain the Torah,” which Rashi interprets to mean that “he explained the Torah to them in the seventy languages.” With the Torah, the exile of speech ended and not only did Moshe begin speaking without any impediment, but his speech exploded into all seventy root languages. We therefore see that the full expression of the power of speech on Pesach, the redemption from Egypt, began on Rosh Chodesh Shvat, the Rosh Hashana for trees, according to Beis Shammai. “A healing tongue is the tree of life.”

The truth is that anything actualized during the month exists in potential on the Rosh Chodesh of that month. It is known that (Yevamos 14a) “Beis Shammai are sharper.” They pierce to the root of the matter. That is why we will pasken like Beis Shammai in the World to Come, but not in this world (see Zohar Bereishis 17a). They pierce so deeply that the truth of their position cannot be appreciated in this world. Therefore, even though we do not pasken like Beis Shammai that the Rosh Hashana for trees is on Rosh Chodesh Shvat, they looked into the nature of reality on the subtlest level and saw that the potential for the rising of the trees’ sap exists even on Rosh Chodesh Shvat. Beis Hillel believed that the psak should follow apparent reality. That is why they maintained that the Rosh Hashana for trees should be on the fifteenth of Shvat, when the sap actually began to rise.

This difference between Beis Hillel and Beis Shammai also exists between Moshe and Aharon. The final letters of Moshe’s statement, “Lo ish devarim anochi, I am not a man of words,” spells Shammai. And when Hashem says about Aharon (Shmos 4:14, 16), “Aharon your brother the Levi ... will be a mouth for you,” the first letters of the phrase, “Hu yehiyeh lecha l’peh, he will be a mouth for you,” spells “Hillel.”

Moshe saw to the ultimate depth of each matter, so he wore a mask because of the radiance of his connection to Hashem and did not connect to the people as closely as Aharon, his brother. And Aharon connected to the people, who mourned extensively when they lost him. The connection between Shammai and Moshe is made with the last letters of the words of the pasuk because it is the way of Shami to go to the depths of the matter, to the end, to the root. In contrast, the connection between Hillel and Aharon is made with the initial letters of the words of the pasuk because Hillel always paskened according to that which was most readily apparent, that which was revealed. That is also why Hillel said (Avos 1:12), “Hillel says, be among the students of Aharon...”

The tzaddikim teach that in order to attain true life, our avodah, our job, during the month of Shvat is to work on using our power of speech, the fruit of our essence as human beings, properly. This is the proper way to prepare for Pesach, the redemption of the power of speech. We must therefore purify our speech from lashon hara, talking in shul, misleading speech, and improper language. Even people who have been particularly careful not to talk in shul can slip from their earlier commitment. And when it comes to lashon hara and tale bearing, it goes without saying that many of us need to strengthen our use of the power of speech in this area.

We must purify this ultimate expression of our humanity, our power of speech in order to be redeemed from this final stage of our exile. As the pasuk (Tehillim 126:2) says, “Then our mouths will be filled with joy and our tongues with song.” And, as we say in the Haggada before making the bracha on the second cup of wine, “And we shall give thanks to You with a new song upon our redemption and the saving of our souls.”

Rav Moshe Weinberger, shlita, is the founding Morah d’Asrah of Congregation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, NY, and serves as leader of the new mechina Emek HaMelech.