RAV KOOK ON PARSHAS BESHALACH PART 1

translated and abridged by Rabbi Chanan Morrison Parshat Beshalach The Talmud in Sotah 30b portrays Shirat HaYam, the Israelites' song of thanksgiving and praise at their miraculous deliverance at the Red Sea, as a song of children and babies: "When the Israelites exited the sea, they wanted to sing. How did they sing? A young child was sitting on his mother's lap and a baby was nursing at his mother's breast. When they witnessed the Shechinah, the young child lifted his neck and the baby stopped his nursing, and they sang out, "This is my God and I will honor Him" (Ex. 15:2)." Why did the Sages describe Shirat HaYam as a song breaking forth spontaneously from the mouths of babes?