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There is a custom to place crumbs outside for the birds to eat on Shabbos Shira. In this weeks’ parsha, Beshalach, we read about the falling of the man. This was the miraculous food with which Hashem sustained the Jewish people in the desert. He gave the Jews special instructions regarding collecting the manna. Each person was to collect a set amount each day of the week. On Friday, however, they were to collect a double portion as none would fall on Shabbos. There were some cynics who wanted discredit Moshe Rabbeinu. So they went out after dark on Friday and put out manna that they had collected that morning. They hoped that people would believe that the man had fallen on Shabbos. In that way, they hoped to prove that Moshe Rabbeinu was just making up his own laws.

The birds saw what happened and ate the man that the disbelievers had put out so that the Jews would continue to trust Moshe and respect the laws of Shabbos. As a reward for this act of faith in Moshe and Hashem, some have the custom to put out bread for the birds on this parsha. What other nation goes so far to show appreciation, even for the birds?

Shabbos Shira. The Shabbos of song. What song? The song of praise, faith
and thanks that the Jews sang to Hashem after the miraculous splitting of the Red Sea. The Jews had already witnessed the ten plagues in Egypt. Why hadn’t they sung there? It wasn’t until the splitting of the sea that Hashem’s revealed intervention reached its crescendo. Paro and the Egyptians pursued the Jews with armed chariots. They caught up with the Jews at the Red Sea. There was no place to go. The enemy was closing in from behind the Jews and the sea blocked the way before them. Their fear and awe of Hashem increased immeasurably as He rescued them from that impossible situation. What burst forth from the Jewish people in that moment was the Song at the Sea. This song is written in the future tense, literally “we will sing”. The Medrash interprets this as meaning that the same people who sang then, will sing again at the resurrection of the dead in Messianic times.

We do not pray for our needs on Shabbos. Yet, Shabbos is the day that we are the closest to Hashem. Wouldn’t it make more sense to pray for our needs only on Shabbos? Rav Pincus, zt’l explains the relationship between prayer and Shabbos. He says that Shabbos is a special opportunity to develop our relationship with Hashem. Hashem wants us to have a break from our worries on Shabbos. He wants us to be happy to just be with Him. After spending Shabbos together, we can come to talk to Hashem about our needs. But, now, we are speaking as His close friend.

Shabbos also has the power to heal. Sometimes when we let go and trust Hashem on Shabbos, we can come to view our challenges differently. What before Shabbos seemed to us as stumbling blocks, might now appear as opportunities.

See Nefesh Shimshon, Shabbos Kodesh, Making the most of Shabbos by Rav Shimson Dovid Pincus, page 37 for more on this thought.

Blessed is our God who created us for His glory; to praise Him and relate His majesty. More than any nation He strengthened His kindness over us. Therefore with complete heart, with complete soul, and with complete resources, let us proclaim Him King and proclaim Him Unique. We sing zemiros on Shabbos to praise and connect to Shabbos, and to Hashem. Thinking about the meaning of the words that we sing in our best language can help infuse your zemiros with joy. Then, build your own special home at the foot of the Mountain.

In Mincha on Shabbos we recite “You are One and Your name is One; and who is like your people Israel, one nation on earth.” This week, a new religious organization sprung up in Jerusalem. Young high school volunteers answer phone lines to give out the Hebrew names of Israeli soldiers fighting in Gaza. The callers take the soldier’s names to say Tehillim for then and to pray for that soldier’s safety and success. Soldier’s names were also distributed in yeshivos so that the merit of the Torah learning should protect the soldiers. Truly, where is there another nation like Israel?

Candle-lighting time is a powerful time for prayer. We can use that power to pray for the unity of our nation, the success of our soldiers and for true peace. May H-shem see our unity and grant us peace.

Imagine that you are a beautiful silver cup, like the one adorning your Shabbos table. You pour your heart out in prayer and cry out “H-shem, give me health, happiness, parnassa, nachas from my children, whatever you ask for..” Because He loves you, H-shem is right there – ready to fill your cup to overflowing with the good that you asked Him for.

What happens though, if He comes to fill your cup, and your cup is already full? You wanted clear, flowing good, but there is already thick, sticky mud right up to the top of your cup. Some people have the custom to clean their silver cup right before using it to make kiddush on Shabbos. We can do that for ourselves, too. On Shabbos we can clean ourselves of all the “mud” that we have collected in our “silver cup.”

Anger, worry and sadness are mud. Emunah and joy clean the cup and leave room for the deliverance that you are praying for. So this Shabbos, don’t forget to clean out your silver cup.

Adam and Chava (Eve.) The first man and the first woman. They were created on Friday. They just had to make it to Shabbos without sinning and they would have lived forever in Gan Eden. But, they made a mistake. Their mistake introduced death to the world. They were sent out of Gan Eden. The primordial light that was created on the first day of Creation was hidden away. Punishment came in the form of hard work in order to eat and pain in order to give birth.

As a gift, H-shem allowed Adam and Chava to stay and enjoy the incredible spiritual and physical delights of Gan Eden for that first Shabbos. When we light Shabbos candles we are correcting Adam and Chava’s mistake. They introduced death, work and darkness to the world. We create life, rest and light. They tried to hide from H-shem and we come to greet Him. Everyone makes mistakes. The question is what do you do with them. Use Shabbos to see things as they really are. Ora v’simcha Shabbos menucha. Light and joy – the restful serenity of Shabbos.

Look at the rays of the sun, the further away they are from the center, the further away the rays are from each other. When the rays are further from the center, they are also further from one another. How can we come closer to members of our family, or even to other members of Klal Yisrael? Focus on what you have in common, rather than what is different about you. That is what will ultimately bring you closer to the Source. When you sit together as a family on Shabbos focus on mutual respect. That is what can bring individual and unique members of a family closer to one another, and thus, closer to G-d.

What is the point of being a Jew? What does G-d want us to learn in the school of life? Jews are called maminim, bnei maminim. Believers, the children of believers. Avraham, the first Jew, looked at the world, and realized that it must have a Creator. Our belief in G-d is the essence of being a Jew. The essence of Shabbos is that on it we declare our trust in G-d. We affirm our belief that it is He who provides for us. We are like our forefathers, who followed G-d into the desert. Just as they prepared for Shabbos by collecting a double portion of manna on Friday, we also make all of our preparations beforehand. Just as they, refrained from work on Shabbos, so do we. Just as they had a special relationship with G-d, so can we.

We are living through difficult financial times. What can we do about it? We know that everything that G-d does is for the good. We know that He does not want us to suffer. On the contrary, G-d wants nothing more than to bestow His bounty on us. So, how can access that bounty?

Shabbos is the well-spring of blessing. Look inside your heart. Are you getting the most out of your Shabbos? Is Shabbos really a resting place for you? Do you leave business at the door on Friday afternoon, and welcome in G-d? Or, do you unfortunately find yourself doing the opposite?

When you let in business, you are saying that your material success is dependant upon you. If business is the center of your thoughts on Shabbos, then it is as if you are asking G-d to leave you in charge of your material success. It is hard to admit that we are not in control. That our success depends on G-d’s help. The only thing harder than admitting that we need G-d, is trying to go it alone.

Shabbos gives us an opportunity to say “O.K., G-d, I am leaving this one up to You. I have worked to the best of my ability for six days. Now, I am going to take a day off. No more running around. I am going to use Shabbos to just be with You and the wonderful family that You have given me. I trust that You will take care of me. I am going to let You feed me and clothe me today.” When you trust G-d on Shabbos, you come to realize that He is the one who is taking care of you on the other six days, too…

Why is this so hard to do? Because the yezer ha-ra comes along and tells us that we don’t deserve good. He argues that after all the distance that we have made from G-d during the week, He is never going to be interested in us on Shabbos. So, we sleep, or we ridicule, or we speak poorly about people, or Rabbis, or chalila about G-d Himself.

Fight back. H-shem loves us. We have closed the spigot to blessing in our own lives and we can open it again. Use Shabbos to sing zemiros. They have tremendous power. Use Shabbos to learn with your family, just a drop more about the Parsha, or about the halachos of Shabbos. Learn two halachos a day about the laws of proper speech and protect your family from negativity.

Then sit back, enjoy your Shabbos, and let H-shem do the rest…