JANUARY 28 • 2021 | 27

SPIRIT

Happiness Is …
T

he Jews leave Egypt and
cross the sea. After the
crossing, Moshe and
Miriam led the Jewish people
in a song of praise known as
the Song by the Sea. It
is written that one who
joyfully recites the song
daily is granted spiritual
and physical health,
intellectual clarity, for-
giveness of wrongdoing
and a general well-being.
It is understood that
the Jews achieved a clar-
ity of mind while cross-
ing the sea; they were
able to point to Hashem
and say, “This is my
God and I will glorify Him.
” We
recite the song and achieve the
same clarity. Having achieved
it, we now enter a spiritual state

in which sins are forgiven. The
Baal Shem Tov emphasizes
that the singing must be with
joy, which breaks through all
boundaries.
Once our minds are in
harmony with Hashem’s
reality and we achieve this
state of mindfulness, then
all our foreign thoughts are
blocked. We can experi-
ence the world as it will be
in the time of Moshiach.
To illustrate the point,
let me recount the follow-
ing story, which I heard
from Reb Zalman Posner,
the late shaliach from
Nashville, Tenn.
“I was 14 when the yeshivah
started accepting young boys.
We were about a dozen in two
groups, my brother’s and mine.

We were the only ones from
‘out-of-town’ (Chicago). Before
going home for Pesach, Laibl
and I had a private audience
with the previous Lubavitcher
Rebbe. When the he asked us
how long it took to get home, I
told him 24 hours. ‘Where will
you daven?’ ‘On the bus.
’ ‘
And
tefillin?’ he asked, with a bit of
surprise, I think. He also asked
if it would be warm on the bus.
“The following Passover,
when we went in again for
an audience, he asked, ‘With
what are you going home?’
Remembering last year’s ques-
tion very well, I confidently
answered, ‘With the bus.
’ ‘I’m
not asking that. I’m asking with
what are you going home? What
are you taking with you? What
did you add in Torah during the
past six months since I saw you
last?’ I just stood there for sev-
eral eternities while the Rebbe
stared down at his desk, waiting

for me to answer. Finally, merci-
fully, the Rebbe spoke. ‘I am not
asking for you to answer; but
you must ask yourself from time
to time, ‘What have I added
in making the world a better
place?’”

Rabbi Herschel Finman is co-di-
rector (with his wife, Chana) of
Jewish Ferndale and host of “The
Jewish Hour” radio son WLQV 1500
AM - Sundays 11-noon; contact
rabbifinman.com.

TORAH PORTION

Rabbi
Herschel
Finman

Parshat

Bshallach:

Exodus 13:17-

17:16; Judges

4:4-5:31..

CONVERSATIONS
In light of the current health
situation, what makes you
happy? How have you recently
made the world a better place?
The Jews experienced a rev-
elation at the crossing of sea
greater than the prophecies
of Ezekiel; where do we see
God’s presence in our lives?
The two young students in the
story were happy to express
their Judaism in a public forum
(on a bus). Would you? Why or
why not?

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