Talmud zu Schemot 15:2

A Torah scroll may not be placed on a bed and [certainly]²⁰Cf. N.Y. on Sof. III, 13. The insertion of ‘certainly’ avoids an anticlimax. not at its foot or under it; nor may one sit²¹lit. ‘that one may sit’. on a bed while a [Torah] scroll rests on it. It is related that R. Eliezer²²In Sof. III, 13, ‘R. Eleazar’. once sat [unknowingly] on a bed on which a [Torah] scroll lay, and [when he realized it] he jumped up as if a snake had bitten him. [Such respect is shown for the Torah] because Scripture declares, Ye shall keep My sabbaths, and reverence My sanctuary²³Lev. 19, 30.—it is not the Sabbaths that one reverences but Him Who commanded [to observe them], for Scripture declares, This is my God, and I will glorify Him²⁴Ex. 15, 2. [which means,]²⁵Connecting we’anwehu (I will glorify Him) homiletically with na’eh (beautiful) and understanding it as ‘I will serve Him in a beautiful manner’. I will perform the commandment in a beautiful way to His glory.²⁶lit. ‘before Him’. Such is the interpretation of R. Ishmael. R. ‘Aḳiba expounds it: I will expatiate on His excellencies.²⁷Heb. na’oth, lit. ‘beauties’, excellent attributes. Abba Saul explains it: I will be like Him,²⁸He explains we’anwehu as the equivalent of ’ani wahu (I and He). i.e. as He is gracious and merciful so be thou gracious and merciful.

A scroll of the Torah may not be placed on a bed and [certainly]⁴²Cf. N.Y. The addition of ‘certainly’ avoids an anticlimax. not at its foot or under it; nor may one sit on a bed on which a [Torah] scroll [happens to] rest. It is related that R. Eleazar once sat [unwittingly] on a bed on which lay a [Torah] scroll and [when he realized it] he jumped up as if a snake had bitten him. [Respect is shown for the Torah] because Scripture states, Ye shall keep My sabbaths, and reverence My sanctuary⁴³Lev. 19, 30.—it is not the sabbaths that one reverences but Him who commanded [to keep them], nor is one to reverence the sanctuary but Him who commanded [to make] it.
It is obligatory to make beautiful ẓiẓith, beautiful mezuzoth, to write a beautiful scroll of the Torah with choice ink, with a fine reed-pen [written] by an expert penman⁴⁴[Reading with Bacher, Ag. d. Tannaiten, I, p. 254n לבלר אומן for לבלרין נאים (fine pen-men).] on well-finished parchments, on deer skins,⁴⁵So GRA. V and H, ‘dyed skins’. and to wrap it in precious silks; for Scripture states, This is my God, and I will glorify Him,⁴⁶Ex. 15, 2, I will glorify Him (ואנוהו) is connected homiletically with נאה, ‘beautiful’, and understood as ‘I will serve Him in a beautiful manner’. which means, perform the commandments in a beautiful manner to His glory.⁴⁷lit. ‘before Him’. Such is the interpretation of R. Ishmael. R. ‘Aḳiba expounds the text as meaning that one should expatiate on His excellencies. Abba Saul explains: Be like Him;⁴⁸He explains ואנוהו as the equivalent of אני והוא, ‘I and He’. as He is merciful and gracious so be thou merciful and gracious.

HALAKHAH: “On the same day, Rebbi Aqiba explained: “Then would Moses sing,” etc. ¹²⁹Tosephta Soṭah 6:2–4; Babli 30b/31a. A small part of the text is in Mekhilta dR. Ismael, Shirah, Parashah1 (Mekhilta dR. Simeon bar Ioḥai, p. 72, cf. Note 137). Like a minor who recites the Hallel in school and all repeat every word after him¹³⁰The entire class, until they know Hallel by heart.. Moses said, “I shall sing¹³¹Ex. 15:1.”, and they repeat after him: “I shall sing”. Moses said: “Strength”, and they say: “Strength¹³²Ex. 15:2.”. Rebbi Eliezer the son of Rebbi Yose the Galilean said, like an adult who recites the Hallel in the synagogue, and they repeat the first word¹³³This is prescribed by the Babli, Sukkah 38b, and retained in the Yemenite balādī rite, where the congregation answer hallelujah (the first word of Ps. 113) at each caesura and end of sentence. The Galilean Amoraic way was for several people to recite the Hallel, with each of them saying half a verse (Berakhot 8:9 fol. 12c, Megillah 1:11 fol. 72a).. Moses said, “I shall sing”, and they repeat: “I shall sing”. Moses said: “My strength”, and they repeat after him: “I shall sing”. Rebbi Yose the Galilean says, when our forefathers were in the sea, the toddler was resting on his mother’s knees and the baby was suckling from his mother’s breast; but when they saw the Divine Glory, the toddler lifted his head from his mother’s knees and the baby took away his mouth from his mother’s breast; they opened their mouths in song and praise and said, “that is my God and I shall declare Him Beautiful¹³²Ex. 15:2.”. Rebbi Meïr said, even the fetuses were saying a song from their mothers’ wombs, as it is said: “¹³⁴Ps. 68:27. In Mishnaic Hebrew, מָקוֹר means the female womb; cf. Lev. 20:18. In choirs praise God, the Eternal from the source of Israel.” Rebbi Nehemiah said, when our forefathers rose from the sea they saw the corpses of the sinners who had subjected them to hard, forced labor, all of them dead corpses thrown on the sea shore. They wanted to sing and the holy spirit rested upon them. Even the most insignificant in Israel sang the song just as Moses did. That is what is written: “¹³⁵Is. 63:11. The verse ends: “Where is He Who put His Holy Spirit in their midst.” He remembered the days of old, Moses, his people; where is He Who raised them from the sea?” It is not written “the sheeps’ shepherd” but “His sheeps’ shepherd”; this teaches that He turned all of them into shepherds¹³⁶Since the first half of the verse equates Moses and His people, the singular of the second clause is taken as collective..