Commentaire de citation sur Isaïe 48:11

Therefore it is our duty to thank, to praise…and a new song was recited before Him, Halleluyah! This translation is based on a variant reading of the Haggadah text. While most texts read v‘nomar lifanav shira chadasha, “Let us sing a new song before Him,” Rabbi Ginzburg reads the text v’ne’emar lifanav shira chadasha “A new song was recited before Him.” This interpretation is based on a discussion in Talmud ⁹³Pesachim 117a which claims that several miracles took place on Passover eve throughout the ages, and in each case the words of Hallel were recited. At the shore of the Red Sea, Moses and the Israelites said: “Not for us, Lord, not for us but for Yourself wine (we give?) praise;” ⁹⁴Psalm 115:1to which God responded: “For my sake, My own sake, do I act –lest my name be dishonored, I will not give my glory to another.”⁹⁵Isaiah 48:11 These verses are connected because of the similar style of repetition in them. In the first one, Israel says - Not for us but for your own sake. And to this, God responds - for My own sake. This same conversation also took place in the time of Joshua as he fought against the other nations living in the land of Canaan, in the time of Hezekiah as he fought with Sennacherib, and in the generation of Mordechai and Esther as they dealt with Haman’s plot against the Jews. In each case the people of Israel cried out to God to save them for His own sake if not for their sake, and God responded that He would do so for His own sake.⁹⁶The Talmud records several other cases when this took place.
We are taught by the Tur⁹⁷Tur Orech Chaim 218 that when we come across a place where a miracle occurred we should mention all the other miracles that occurred in that place. And that is what we do in this passage in the Haggadah. That is why we say, “It is our duty to give thanks and praise…the one who did all the miracles for our ancestors and for us…” First we mention miracles in the plural – that is, we celebrate not just the miracle of the Exodus but all the miracles which took place on this day. Second we make a reference to the miracles which both we and our ancestors experienced as a way of saying that we are speaking not just about the miracles in Egypt but the miracles throughout the ages, as the Talmud suggests. And we make reference to all the miracles that took place at this time by saying a new song was recited on this day. Shira chadasha, a new song, is a reference to the song which was song at the sea. It is also called a shira,⁹⁸Exodus 15:1 – the problem with Ginzburg’s interpretation is that the word shira is feminine which means that the word v’ne’emar should also be feminine if we choose to read the word this way. Grammar is not one of Rabbi Ginzburg’s strengths. This is not a problem as we read the word v’nomar, And we will recite. just as the song at the Read Sea is referred to as a shira. This was but the first of many songs which were recited on this day.

The [letter,] yod is vocalized by a patach; and it does not state, "yechal," with a yod vocalized by a tsere, as in (Isaiah 48:11), "as how can it be desecrated (yechal)" - like many negative commandments that are stated in the passive form. For if so, its meaning would be that he could not find any way to desanctify his vow, even if it be done through annulment. Hence the verse states it in the active form, to teach that he - from himself - cannot annul it, but it is permitted that it be desanctified by others; and that is with the annulment of others. And this is [the meaning of] of what the Sages, may their memeory blessed, said  (Chagigah 10a), "He may not annul, but others can annul [it] for him."

The Pintele Yid (Page 90b – 91b): “Not by means of an angel, nor by means of a Saraf…but by means of the Holy One through His own glory… I am the Lord – and not another:” Why was God willing to personally redeem Israel from Egypt? Rabbi Jehiel Danziger offered the following explanation: Moses asked, “How is it that we were redeemed from Egypt? Wasn’t all of Egypt sullied with idolatry?” Since God desired the redemption of the Israelites from Egypt, He chose to overlook their idolatry. God ‘hops over the mountains and skips over the valleys.’ Why was God willing to overlook Israel’s impurity and sinfulness? God promised our forefathers that He would never destroy their descendents. When Israel found itself in distress and cried out to God from the very depths of its inner spark of divinity, the Source of Compassion above was aroused within God and could not destroy the nation. This inner spark of divinity is untouched by impurity because it comes from the very throne of glory upon which the form of Jacob is engraved. When such compassion is aroused, God discerns the heart and each person’s inner spark, which comes from this place, is part of the divinity and has compassion upon His own portion. This is the meaning of the verse in Isaiah 48:11: “For my own sake, for my own sake I will do it .” This place of this compassion is highly exalted so that even the angels cannot fully attain this type of compassion. It was with this compassion that Israel was redeemed. This is what the Torah teaches us in the verse above: “I and not an angel; I and not a Seraph; etc…” Only the Holy One Himself in His Glory did this. No other being can attain the depth and significance of this level of compassion.