You will lead the people
You have redeemed with Your mercy; You will guide (them) to Your holy dwelling
with Your strength. Exodus 15:13
As
we noted in a previous Dvar Torah, verse thirteen presents a shift in the content
of the Song of the Sea, from praise of God for His battle
against His and His nation’s enemies, to a future focus, praising God for
leading His nation into the Promised Land.
Midrash Lekaḥ Tov expounds
the verse thus:
“You
will guide them with Your strength” – through the merit of Torah, as the verse
states: “The Lord will give strength to His people.” [Psalms 29:11]
“To
Your holy dwelling” – through the merit of Your holy dwelling, which is the
Temple, as the verse states: “A peaceful dwelling.” [Isaiah 33:20]
Based upon this Midrash, with
the Song of the Sea, Israel praises God for taking us out of Egypt in order to
give us Torah and bring us into the Land, where we will build the Temple.
Building the Temple constitutes the apex of Israel’s entry into its Land, and realization
of the ultimate level of sanctity, as our Sages taught: “The Land of Israel is
holier than any other land,” and the peak of sanctity is the Holy of Holies of
the Temple. [Mishna, Keilim 1:6-9]
Thus, the Song of the Sea presents
the twin destinations of the exodus: Mount Sinai and Mount Moriah.
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