מִּ צְ רִָמ לֵא שְׂ֭ ִי ֑
This was their song on the night of their liberation . In Abarbanel ’ s words :
ב א ו ת ו ל י ל ה ל א ה י י נ ו ע ב ד י ם ל פ ר ע ה ו נ ע ש י נ ו ע ב ד י ם ל ה ק ד ו ש ב ר ו ך ה ו א
“ On that night , we were not servants to Pharaoh , but we became servants to the Holy Blessed One .”
Our newly freed ancestors of course lived Psalm 114 , which opens “ ֵצְבּ ת֣ א ָר םִי - amidst Israel ’ s escaping from Egypt ” and prominently features water caught up in awe and supernatural occurrences . Psalms 113 and 114 therefore constitute what the sages of old called .” Hallel - Hallel HaMitzri - the Egyptian ה ל ל ה מ צ ר י “
For our spiritual forebears , Psalms 113 – 114 were grounded in a foundational mythical time and place : Egypt , on the eve of our freedom . Psalms 115 – 118 , on the other hand , exist outside the realm of the Exodus alone . Though some of these verses express their intimate familiarity with Jerusalem and the Temple within it , Abarbanel
”, לעתיד לבוא לזמן ג ל י ו ת “ as marked these four Psalms “ for a future [ moment ] to come , in a time of exile .”
Tonight , Psalms 113 – 114 bring us back to the Sea of Reeds , tasting for the first time our own flavor of independence as a people . We had not yet eaten the food of free people .
120