The Horse and Its Rider

In the days of Moses, Israel had a revelation of God.

In the days of the amazing Besht, the Baal Shem Tov,
God had a revelation of Israel.

So Abraham Joshua Heschel opined,
when two contrasting eras were defined

this way by him, with God wagged by, let’s say, His tail —
His people. Surely there cannot be greater evidence of love
shown to the Jews by God, who surely finds our people very odd.

Without a rider, what use is the horse?
Smart horses are aware of this, of course,

and both are liable to fail
if they do not cooperate, as must a talmid with a rov,
unequal peas upon no pedestal, while sharing the same pod.

On Shabbat Shirah we read in Exod 15:1:

אָז יָשִׁיר-מֹשֶׁה וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת-הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת, לַיהוָה, וַיֹּאמְרוּ, לֵאמֹר: אָשִׁירָה לַיהוָה כִּי-גָאֹה גָּאָה, סוּס וְרֹכְבוֹ רָמָה בַיָּם. Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spoke, saying: I will sing unto the LORD, for He is highly exalted; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.

Gershon Hepner

Shabbat Shirah, 5781