The majority of us recognize mizmor (chapter) 20 of Tehillim (Psalms) from T’fillat Shacharit (The Morning Prayer Service,) and from other occasions of hardship when it is recited.

This time we will deal with the sublime topics contained in this mizmor, those relating to the days we are about to experience, days of supreme sacrifice and national resurrection.

Let us examine this mizmor little by little, all the while being conscious to the various difficulties raised by each verse.

The mizmor opens with the following description:

“For the Conductor, a psalm of David.

May God answer you on the day of distress, may the Name of Ya’akov’s God make you impregnable.

May He dispatch your help from the Sanctuary, and support you from Zion.

May He remember all your offerings, and consider your burnt sacrifices generous, Se’la.

May He grant you your heart’s desire, and fulfill your every plan.”

(Tehillim 20:1-5)

Thus the psalmist, King David describes a “day of distress” on which we requests God’s salvation.

Then the psalm comes to a turning-point:

“May we sing for joy at your salvation, and raise our banner in the name of our God, may God fulfill all your requests.”

(ibid. v. 6)

Now the psalmist writes: “May we sing for joy at your salvation” – there is God’s salvation which causes us to sing for joy.

King David then continues:

“Now I know that God has saved His anointed one; He will answer him from His sacred heaven, with the omnipotent salvations of His right arm.

Some with chariots, and some with horses, but we – in the name of God, our Lord, we call out.

They slumped and fell, but we arose and were invigorated.”

(ibid. v. 7-9)

Who is “His anointed one?” What exactly is King David describing in these verses?

Then the mizmor comes to its conclusion, with the concluding verse:

“God save! May the King answer us on the day we call.”

(ibid v. 10)

This concluding verse is difficult to understand in the context of the mizmor. For specifically towards the end, mizmor begins to deal with the great Divine salvation – yet then it concludes: “God save! May the King answer us on the day we call,” which is a verse indicating a certain degree of distress. (We are accustomed to saying this verse as a continuation to the verse: “He, the Merciful One, is forgiving of iniquity and does not destroy…” prior to Ma’ariv (the evening prayer service,) a fact which amplifies the aspect of a beseeching plea contained in the verse. How do we understand the transition in the mizmor from the heights of the great salvation, to the cry of distress contained in the verse “God save! May the King answer us on the day we call?”

Let us leave this mizmor for now, returning to it later in the shi’ur. Now we will consider the reading of our Sages with regards this mizmor. Our Sages understood this mizmor as having been composed by David after perceiving his future descendant – King Chizkiyahu - through Ru’ach Ha’Kodesh, (literally “The Holy Spirit,” ie. God’s spirit enabling one to have enhanced perception and understanding.)

We mention this, for we are dealing with Yom Ha’Atzma’ut, and King Chizkiyahu is the ‘Hero of the day’ on Yom Ha’Atzma’ut, for the Haftara (reading from the prophets recited after the reading from the Torah) instituted on Yom Ha’Atzma’ut is from the words of the Prophet Y’sha’yahu relating to King Chizkiyahu.

Let us examine the verses that precede the Haftara of Yom Ha’Atzma’ut in order to understand the background of the Haftara itself. Let us recall that the Haftara deals with Sancheriv’s conquests of Eretz Yisra’el as he slowly advances towards Jerusalem. (Chizkiyahu is in Jerusalem.)

Then the great salvation occurs – Sancheriv’s one-hundred and eighty thousand soldiers who are laying siege to Jerusalem all die in a plague while encamped around the camp of Yisra’el. Sancheriv flees for his life, and upon reaching his kingdom is killed by his allies – as prophesied by the prophet.

After this short introduction the content of the verses will be clearer. (Once again we must remember that the verses we will see describe the situation immediately prior to Sancheriv’s defeat.)

“Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria: he will smite you with a rod, and will raise his staff against you in the manner of Egypt.”

(Y’sha’yahu 10:24)

In this verse the prophet describes the nation dwelling in Zion as it is about to encounter Sancheriv, king of Assyria.

“For yet a very little while, and the indignation will cease, and My anger will be turned to their destruction. And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a whip for him as the smiting of Midian at the rock of Orev, and his rod was upon the sea, so shall He raise (it) as he did with Egypt.”

(ibid. v. 25,26)

And then the salvation will take place:

“And it shall come to pass on that day, that his burden shall be taken off from your shoulder, and his yoke off from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed due of the oil.”

(ibid. v. 27)

Let us consider the imagery employed by the prophet: “and the yoke will be destroyed because of the oil.” The meaning of this expression is that Sancheriv’s yoke will be removed from Yisra’el “due to the oil” – because of their light, their illumination – their Torah.

On this verse our Sages expounded – “and the yoke will be destroyed due to Chizkiyahu’s oil, for he would he would engross himself in Torah, and in his days there was not a child from Dan to Be’er Sheva who did not engross themselves in the laws of tum’a and tahara, (impurity and purity.)”

We also know the famous Midrash that Chizkiyahu fixed speared a sword in the Bet Midrash and would say – “Whoever does not engross himself in this (Torah,) will die by this (the sword.)”

In summary, Chizkiyahu’s generation was a generation that was not lacking in Torah. Let us recall that Chizkiyahu was the son of Achaz, who was an idolater; and Chizkiyahu was the father of Menashe – he too served idolatry. Yet in the interim, between the generations of his father and his son, Chizkiyahu was like chilled waters for the suffering national soul, tortured by the idols and idolatry.

The prophet then continues describing Sancheriv’s advance to Jerusalem:

“He has come to A’yat, has passed Migron; at Michmash he has left his weapons. They have passed over the passage, taking up their lodging at Geva; Rama is afraid, Giv’at Shemu’el has fled. Lift up your voice O Bat Galim, hearken Laysha, O destitute Anatot. Madmena has deserted, the inhabitants of Gevim flee for safety.”

(ibid. v. 28-31)

Now the Haftara of Yom Ha’Aztma’ut begins:

“Even today he will halt at Nov: he will wave his hands against the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.”

(ibid. v. 32)

This verse describes Sancheriv as he approaches Nov, intending to wave his hand over the mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. The waving of his hand is an expression of something simple and easy, in other words Sancheriv views the conquest of Jerusalem as something entirely straightforward.

But then there is a dramatic change:

“Behold, the Master, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the top branches with terror, and the tall ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled. And He shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and the Levanon shall fall by a mighty one.”

(ibid,. v. 33,34)

In other words the greatness and might of Assyria, described as “the tall ones of stature” will disintegrate – while the outcome in reality is the deaths of tens of thousand of Assyrian soldiers camped around Jerusalem, and the fleeing of Sancheriv back to Assyria, where he meets his own death at the hands of his compatriots.

The description of the despair prior to the victory, and then of the victory itself, we find in Divrei Ha’Yamim (Chronicles,) as follows:

“And for this Y’chizkiyahu the king, and the prophet Y’sha’yahu son of Amotz, prayed and cried to heaven.”

(Divrei Ha’Yamim II 32:20)

Chizkiyahu and Y’sha’yahu cry with all their being to God.

Then the Divine retribution occurs, striking the entire Assyrian camp, and even laying its hands on Sancheriv after he reaches his safe haven.

“And God sent an angel who cut off all the mighty warriors, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned shamed to his own land. And when he came to the house of his god, his own offspring slew him there with the sword. Thus God saved Y’chizkiyahu and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sancheriv, the king of Assyria; and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side.”

(ibid. v. 22,23)

The expression: “Thus God saved Y’chizkiyahu and the inhabitants of Jerusalem” reminds us of “And on that day God saved Yisra’el from the hand of Egypt,” (Shemot 14:30.) The similar terminology indicates the existence of a common foundation, there is a subliminal contrasting of what happened now and the miracle of the exodus from Egypt. We will understand this contrast shortly.

Then the prophet continues, describing the international reaction to Chizkiyahu’s victory:

“And many brought tribute to God to Jerusalem, and presents to Y’chizkiyahu king of Yehuda, so that he was elevated in the eyes of all the nations thereafter.”

(ibid. v. 23)

Thus many people bring offering, tributes, and presents. The miracle is evident in all its greatness, and proof of this can be seen in the Book of Y’sha’yahu, the verses we mentioned above, which after describing the great salvation moves on to describe the King the Messiah, and the future Redemption:

“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Yishai, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the spirit of God shall rest upon him, and the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of God.”

(Y’sha’yahu 11:1,2)

From here the verses continue to describe the Melech Ha’Mashiach (literally “king, the anointed one,” ie. The Messiah.) And then the verses move to a description of the future era:

“The wolf will live with the sheep, and the leopard will lie down with the kid; and a calf, a lion cub, and a fatling will (pasture) together, and a young child will lead them.”

(Y’sha’yahu 11:6)

Then the prophet moves to a more general description:

“They will neither injure nor destroy in all of My sacred mountain; for the earth will be as filled with knowledge of God as water covers the sea bed.”

(Y’sha’yahu 11:9)

The graphic narrative of the prophecy then continues on to wondrous events:

“You will draw water with from the springs of salvation. And you will say on that day: ‘Give thanks to God, declare His name, make His acts known among the peoples; declare that His name is exalted.’ Make music for God, for He has acted with grandeur; make this known throughout the world. Exult and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for the Holy One of Israel is great in your midst!”

(Y’sha’yahu 12:3-6)

From the words of the prophet we see that there is something in Chizkiyahu’s salvation that is reminiscent of the great salvations in the past. (As the expression “Thus God saved Y’chizkiyahu” reminds us of “Thus, on that day, God saved Yisra’el from the hand of Egypt.”) Concurrently there is a strong connection to the future redemption, and thus after the description of the miracle wrought for Chizkiyahu the verses describe the Mashiach.

What happened after the great salvation from Sancheriv? The verses in Divrei Ha’Yamim answer this:

“In those days Y’chizkiyahu became deathly ill. He prayed to God, and He answered him, and gave him a sign. But Y’chizkiyahu did not reciprocate the benevolence that he was shown, for his heart became haughty. God’s rage then came against him and against Yehuda and Jerusalem.”

(Divrei Ha’Yamim II 32:24,25)

This is a difficult conclusion to Chizkiyahu’s life and achievements. How is it possible that Chizkiyahu, such a saintly, righteous king, reaches the state of “his heart became haughty?” How is it that a person who stood firm against the external enemy, (Assyria,) as well as those demoralizers within the nation (Rav Sha’ke and his cohorts who called on the nation to surrender to Assyria,) who stood together with Y’sha’yahu in prayer, prayer that bore fruit – how is this person ensnared in the trap of “his heart became haughty?”

“But Chizkiyahu humbled himself from the haughtiness of his heart – he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem – so the rage of God did not come against them in the days of Chizkiyahu.”

(ibid. V. 26)

Indeed God’s wrath did not appear during Chizkiyahu’s reign, but it did rage later, during Menashe’s reign, but the prophet emphasizes that the decline began during the days of Chizkiyahu.

In Midrash Raba, our sages deal with these events, attempting to understand what that ‘haughtiness of the heart’ was, and why it occurred. These are their words:

“Rabi B’rechya said in the name of Rabi Elazar – It was fitting for Yisra’el to say praise at the defeat of Sichon and Og.”

(Shir ha’Shirim Raba, 60:8)

Yet they did not give praise to God, and therefore this is considered as a grave error and a sin. The Midrash continues:

“And it was appropriate for Chizkiyahu to give praise after the defeat of Sancheriv, as the verse states: ‘But Y’chizkiyahu did not reciprocate the benevolence that he was shown,’(why?) ‘for his heart became haughty.’”

That haughtiness then, expresses itself in Chizkiyahu’s failure to give praise to God. Yet the Midrash immediately asks:

“You see that Chizkiya was a king and a saint, and you say “for his heart became haughty?’”

In other words, how is it possible that he was haughty – for in Chizkiyahu we have the wonderful merging of a great king and a holy saint? How then is it possible that such a saintly individual, during whose reign the study of Torah was given the greatest honor, develops a ‘haughty heart?’

The Midrash answers:

“His heart was haughty for he did not want to give praise.”

We will examine this concept of praise shortly, let us continue with the Midrash:

“Y’sha’yahu came to Chizkiyahu and his entourage and said to them: ‘Sing to God!’”

Thus Y’sha’yahu comes to Chizkiyahu and his immediate staff and follower and tells them “Sing to God!” – ie. offer praise to God!

Their response was:

“They said to him: ‘Why?’”

Y’sha’yahu responded:

“For He has acted with grandeur, (Y’sha’yahu 12:5.)”

God has performed a great miracle, and praise must be offered for this.

Then they respond:

“They answered him: ‘it is already ‘known throughout the world!’ (ibid.)’”

The Amora’im (Sages of the Gemara) are divided as to the meaning of this response.

“Rabi Aba bar Kahana said: ‘Chizkiyahu said: ‘The Torah that I am engrossed in atones for the (need for) praise.’”

Chizkiyahu and his followers believe that they have no need to give praise and offer thanks to God, for the Torah that they are studying and engrossed in takes the place of the praise, and atones for the need for thanksgiving.

We cannot ignore the strong undertones of this Midrash. For it is concerning the reasoning of Chizkiyahu that “The Torah that I am engrossed in atones for the (need for) praise” that the prophet tells us “his heart was haughty.” In other words, whn praise to God is required, even Torah study is not an adequate substitute.

The Midrash brings an alternate reasoning:

“Rabi Levi said: ‘Chizkiyahu said: ‘Why do we need to tell of God’s miracles and greatness – it is already known from one edge of the world to the other! Has not the sun stood still in the middle of the heavens – and they saw the miracles and the greatness of God from one edge of the world to the other!”

The Midrash brings a number of explanations to this reasoning. We will mention the one clarification which seems most plausible.

According to this understanding, Chizkiyahu claimed that indeed great miracles had taken place, but how can these miracles compare with miracles wrought in the past – the halting of the sun in its path in the days of Yehoshu’a for example. Thus, indeed there was a miracle, but to put it into our vernacular – no need to get excited, no need to become overly excited about a miracle like this one. And thus naturally there is no requirement to praise and offer thanks to God. This then, is the second explanation of why Chizkiyahu chose not to offer praise to God.

The Midrash brings a third possibility:

“Rabi Yishma’el the son of RabiYosi said in the name of Rabi Aba: ‘Already Pharaoh king of Egypt and Tarhaka the king of Cush were in the same miracle, and they came to Chizkiyahu’s assistance.’”

Meaning that there were other kings who witnessed the miracle; the miracle had already been publicized, and therefore there is no further need to give praise and thanksgiving. (The Midrash in fact goes on to prove that these kings came to Chiziyahu’s assistance, and they too experienced the miracle in being spared from the Assyrian forces, and then emerging victorious.)

Let us review all that we have said thus far.

We have found three possible explanations offered by the Sages of the Midrash as to why Chizkiyahu specifically chose not to offer praise to God:

The first possibility is – the Torah study that he was engrossed in was in place of praise;

Second – who was he to offer praise to God? Moreover, the miracles wrought to him were by no means comparable to the miracles our ancestors experienced;

Third – there was no need to offer praise nor to publicize the miracle, for others would do this in our stead.

The severe consequences of Chizkiyahu not offering praise are recorded in the Midrash:

Rabi Yehoshu’a ben Levi said: ‘If Chizkiyahu would have offered praise at Sancheriv’s defeat, he would have been Melech ha’Mashi’ach, and Sancheriv (would have been) Gog u’Magog; yet he did not do this, rather he said: ‘Now I know that God has saved His anointed one… Some with chariots…’ What is stated in the Torah? ‘God save! May the King answer us on the day we call.’”

Thus Chizkiyahu would have been worthy of being the Messiah had he offered praise. This explains why the prophet Y’sha’yahu (in his words we brought above) describes the defeat of Sancheriv and then moves on to a description of the future and the days of the Messiah.

From the Midrash we are able to gain a clearer understanding of the picture embedded in Mizmor 20 with which we opened our shi’ur.

In a prophetic vision, David perceived his descendant, Chizkiyahu. He saw how the armies of Sancheriv advance bit by bit, passing through the portion of Binyamin, heading all the time for Jerusalem. Then David says:

“May God answer you on the day of distress, may the Name of Ya’akov’s God make you impregnable.”

He prays:

“May God fulfill all your requests.”

Then he perceives Sancheriv’s defeat, and David is joyful and exalts God’s salvation of “His anointed one,” while David refers to Chizkiyahu, who would have become God’s anointed one, the Mashiach, had he offered praise.

It is on this note that the mizmor concludes with a theme of prayer and hope, that the entire historical process has come to its conclusion, and the complete redemption has arrived. But when Chizkiyahu refrains from offering praise and thanksgiving, David concludes:

“God save! May the King answer us on the day we call.”

Another hope has been dashed, another historical junction which could have led to the salvation and redemption has been missed.

We must ask ourselves, what is this “shira” – this praise? What is its content and its nature, that refraining from it has such dire consequences?

Let us recall that we are not dealing with a simple individual. We are dealing with Chizkiyahu, king of Yehuda. Chizkiyahu, whose father worshipped idolatry, yet he discarded his father’s gods, and served his Father in Heaven. We are dealing with a person, our Sages note, during whose reign even the youngest children were conversant in Torah.

This was a person who during the harshest days of the siege, when Am Yisra’el was at war with a powerful enemy, and fear and doubts were taking hold of the nation, perpetrated by the likes of Rav Sha’ke, this person demonstrated unflinching faith in God’s salvation.

Why then, when such a great person refrains from shira, are the consequences so severe? To the contrary – even according to the first explanation in the Midrash, that Chizkiyahu studied Torah and believed that this would atone for the shira – we reach a very interesting conclusion. As we mentioned already, when the situation demands for praise and thanksgiving, if one engrosses himself in Torah, even though we know that Torah “shields and guards one,” (Sotah 21a,) here Torah does not offer any benefit, and in fact to the contrary it hinders the salvation.

(We will note that there is personal Torah and Torah that itself is shira and praise, which we will discuss shortly.)

What, then, is shira?

Shira, praise and thanksgiving, is the power to see the illumination of the future in the present. It is the power to perceive us as a link between the past and the present, and thus the power to raise everything towards the all-encompassing redemption.

Therefore after crossing the Reed Sea, in “Shirat Ha’Yam” – “The Shira of the Sea” - it states: “Az Yashir.”

“Az” – “Then,” past tense, is a reflection on the past, “Yashir” – “will sing praise” in the future tense. In this shira there is the union of the past and the future, thereby giving meaning to the present.

The Torah itself if also termed “shira.” While there is the striving to perceive God’s manifestation in everything, in every corner and aspect of life – both the communal and personal realms of life – this is the Torah that elevates the world. This is not the Torah that creates the superficial divide between the world of the Beit Midrash and the external, secular world, but rather the Torah that desires to see everything, and of course especially the manifestation of God’s name.

Therefore it is possible to study Torah, to have a generation when even the children are proficient at the laws of tum’a and tahara, yet still the redemptive process is hindered and delayed for hundreds of years.

God and Y’sha’yahu expect Chizkiyahu to offer praise, to say shira, to elevate the entirety of reality. Yet he does not offer shira, and as a result is not deemed to be Mashiach, and the world is thus restrained from reaching its goal.

Therefore, one’s individual Torah, despite it’s great value and benefits, is not termed “shira.” Only the transcending Torah that strives to see how everything is bound to the Master of the Universe is termed “shira.”

Claiming that there is Torah and there is a State, or that Torah exists in the State is not shira. Shira is the realization that the Torah is connected to everything, and materializes and is revealed through the State.

This is how Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook explains our Sages’ criticism of Chizkiyahu. “That in his days briers and thorns covered Eretz Yisra’el,” for Chizkiyahu did not demonstrate how the Torah is also connected to the land. For the most beautiful agricultural accomplishments evaporated being unable to absorb their nourishment from the Torah. On the other hand there is also the requirement that the Torah reveal itself and be manifest in the earth.

One of the explanations for Chizkiyahu’s actions was that that “the sun did not stand still,” and therefore it was not a sufficiently miraculous event worthy of shira. Yet there is one more error, for we are not qualified to know or to judge which miracle is greater or more substantial.

And it is this that the prophet describes harshly as “for his heart was haughty.” Haughtiness of this nature is humility that God does not desire. God has brought us the land of our forefathers after thousands of years of exile not solely to study Torah, but also to recite shira. Shira can only originate from deep knowledge of our roles, of what our relationship to each of our fellow Jews should be, and of our purpose in the world.

Shira dissolves the moment ingratitude raises its head.

When we think of “Shirat Ha’Yam,” we understand that as a result of their Shira on the banks of the Reed Sea Yisra’el merited tremendous heights of sanctity. They, who a short period previously had sunken through the forty-nine gates of impurity, rocketed to the heights of prophecy as a result of their shira. Then they believed in God and in themselves, longingly clinging to the Temple that was still to be built in the future – “The sanctuary of God, Your hands have founded,” (Shemot 15:17.) For then they envisaged on the sea, that which even the prophet Yechezkel ben Buzi had not seen.

Chizkiyahu’s era is so familiar to us. The difficulties and hurdles, the struggle without, and cowardice within. The simplistic solutions of Rav Sha’ke, then, and the political solutions today. Everyone says: “Just a bit of faith and everything will sort itself out.”

Now, fifty-six years after the lion cub of Yehuda rose resurrected, we must not cease offering shira, praise, and thanksgiving. We must not capitulate to pragmatism and realism. We must continually remind ourselves that this great concept, shira, has no substitute – even Torah which is not as shira – can not substitute it.

Y’sha’yahu’s call must echo in our ears:

“Make music for God, for He has acted with grandeur.”

For then we will hear the Divine salvation:

“God save! May the King answer us on the day we call.”

Translated by Sholem Hurwitz.

Copyright Keren Yishai/Rav M. Elon