Her Name is Ashira Tikva - Defining Ashira

 

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On the fourth of the month of Tammuz, 5759 (June 18th), in the early hours of Friday morning, my daughter came into this world.  A beautiful baby girl, 9 pounds 5.  On Shabbat day in Vancouver, Canada we named her in the Synagogue.

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     The word ashira appears eleven times in Tanakh (1).  In each case it revolves around an aspect of singing to God.  We first encounter its appearance immediately after the children of Israel cross the Red Sea, witnessing the demise of their enemies, the Egyptians.  As they experienced the hand of God, Moses turned to God and sang with pride, "ashira la-Hashem ki ga'o ga'a" — I will sing to God for His proud victory." (2)

 

The song, known as 'shirat Moshe' — the song of Moses, is certainly one of the highpoints in the lives of the Children of Israel.  With their enemy deposed, triumphantly and confidently defying nature, their leader sings of the present, "az yashir Moshe" — then Moses sang, and includes a call for the future — ashira — I will sing in the future.

 

     Ashira, in this regard, represents the blend of confidently singing a song of praise for the present, with the self-assurance of singing a song in the future.  It is the song of the realization of the unequivocal manifestation of God amongst His people.

 

     Devora the prophetess also sang a song to God and also used the term ashira.  The story takes place not in the time of the Torah, but rather in the later stage of the Neviim — the prophetic time.  In a generation where sin and punishment is a mainstay of their existence, a shining light emerges during the reign of Devora, a 'judge' and a prophetess in one.  She appoints Barak the son of Avinoam to the military leadership, though the ultimate victory, she prophesies, will be by the hand of a woman, Yael, who single-handedly kills the general of the Canaan army.

 

     After twenty years of subservience, a miracle takes place.  The small army of ten thousand Israelites defeats the great Canaanite army, with their 900 chariots.  The people were freed from their threat, the future seemed bright, perhaps the highlight of this difficult period in Jewish history. 

 

     At such a juncture Devora and Barak sing.  Not just about the present but about the future as well.  They are convinced that the God of Israel who has melted mountains will melt their enemies in the future, as He did at that time.  They call out to kings and princes: "Anokhi la-Hashem, anokhi ashira, azamer la-Hashem, Elohei Yisrael" — "I to God, I will sing, and give praise to the Lord of Israel" (Judges 5:3). 

 

     The song, not unlike the one their ancestors sang at the Sea, is filled with, praise, poetic adulation and confidence of a bright future.  Ashira - I will sing - with this Devora continues the Mosaic tradition of singing in the present and in the future.

 

     King David uses the word ashira as well, though his definition is far from commensurate to our previous ones.  Gone is the confidence we saw when Devora sang to kings and princes, gone is the certitude with which Moshe sang, we no longer feel the surety in his desire to sing in the future.

 

     Instead we find ashira used in the context of a David to which we are accustomed; David the poet, David the individual, by no means assumes a bright future, in no way can he confidently know that he is destined for a hymn of joy.

 

Let us take a look at some of the Psalms in which this phrase appears:

 

Psalm 13 we have already analyzed in Shiur 25, which I entitled "singing in adversity." It was in this Psalm that the idea dawned on me that David is using the word ashira with a different twist. 

 

We have until now defined the verb ashira as 'I will sing.'  The truth is, though, that there is an extra 'heh' at the end of the word.  I will sing in Hebrew should read 'ashir,' like ekach (Gen.14:23) 'avih' (ex.11:1) azkir (Isa.63:7), not ashirA.  Why the extra heh? 

 

There is ample evidence that in poetic Biblical Hebrew an extra heh is added on to the word.  Thus, according to this approach, there is no change in definition.  Ashir and ashira mean 'I will sing.'  However, Amos Chakham gives a second perspective on the extra heh.  It becomes an 'atid mo'arakh,' an elongated future tense.  The definition of the word changes from I will sing, to 'I hope to sing,' 'please let me sing,' 'I pray and hope I can sing...'(3) 

 

David is in no position to confidently predict the future.  At most he acknowledges a moment of respite in the present; more often he hopes the song will lead him out of his suffering, and away from his enemies.  In this regard 'ashira' is a prayer, a supplication, a petition.

 

Consider the psalms where this phrase appears:

 

In psalm thirteen, five out of six verses describe his angst stemming from his adversaries, his depressions, and most of all his feeling that God has forgotten him.  Does this sound like a proud hymn of triumph? 

 

Similarly, in psalm 27 (4), half of the poem expresses confidence in himself, and his relationship with God, but then it takes an about face.  The section in the middle is one long request the king asks from God.  Part of the request is 'ashira va-azamra la-Hashem' — 'let me sing and hymn to God.'  Here too the elongated future tense exhibits a plea motivated by uncertainty. 

 

     This pattern can be traced in psalms 57:8, 89:2, 101:1, and 144:9.  In each case, David recalls his enemies, his suffering and his uncertainty.  In each case, though, David uses this word as a transition, a hope for the future, a surge of faith which helps him overcome his fears, and enables him to entertain the notion of song at this difficult juncture in his life.

 

     The ashira of David aims to revert one day to an ashira of Devora, and ultimately of Moshe.  David teaches us to dream, to never give in to your urges, fears, or pressures, and to find something inside of you to help you see the light at the end of the dark tunnel.  He raises the 'atid mo'arakh' — the elongated future - as a banner of Judaism despite the adversity.  In the face of his enemies, and his fears, he will sing to God. 

 

     Our lives are somewhere in the middle of these two definitions of the word ashira.  Often when we feel high, when things go our way, we sing.  Sometimes the song is to ourselves, other times to God; in this respect, Devora and Moshe teach us that it must always be directed at God. 

 

And when in times of joy and in times of confidence we relax our guard and claim assuredly that we will sing to God in the future, we forget God, forget the address of our song, and our song disappears.  David reminds us, though, that even when we falter, when no tune stirs up in our minds, and no lyrics on our tongues, we hope and pray to sing yet again. 

 

     In this regard our song is a song of hope — ashira tikva.  The hope that as I sing today, I will sing tomorrow, and the knowledge that if my song eludes me, I will always pray and hope to sing once again.

 

     What is the song?  What do we sing about as Jews, as people?  David's rejoice lay in God's salvation and he willed to sing of the kindness with which God would deal with him.  Devora sang of the glory of God in Israel, Moses sang of the miracles of God towards His nation, as they marched out of Egypt. 

 

     I imagine every generation has a different song to sing.  Every period in Jewish history has its unique flavor, its songs that define their triumphs and tribulations.  Often they are Davidic in nature, as the people will to sing, despite their tumultuous trials. 

 

     Our generation, our century has shown us reasons not to sing, indeed six million of them.  But our ashira was still there.  We willed to sing, willed to exist and to fight.  From the flames we found a home.  We returned to the place our ancestors sang about, we restored our faith, our people, and our nation. 

 

Lest we forget and build the confidence in ourselves to sing for the future, we must remember that our song is to God, for God.  As King David wrote and sang:  "Elokim shir chadash ashira lakh, be-nevel asor azamra lakh" — "Lord, a new song I hope to sing to you, with a ten stringed harp let me play for you."

 

My wife Hadley chose Tikva for its second more historical meaning.  It is the hymn of hope that the land of Israel will be unified and populated by our people.  We direct that song to God, wishing that Ashira Tikva will merit hearing the 'new song' as we return once again to hear the songs of the Leviim in the Temple. 

 

     Let us hope and pray and sing for a future of unity, love, and spirituality.

Notes

(1) Ex 15,1, Jud 5,3, Jes 5,3

    Ps 13,6; 27,6; 57,8; 89,2; 101,1; 104,33; 108,2; 144,9.

2. It is, of course, a verb. my mother in-law turned to me as she heard the naming and said, "my granddaughter is a verb!"
3. This elongated form takes root in the command form as well as the future, and it appears all over David's writings.  See Chakham's introduction to Tehillim p.16 for an overview of the different conjugations.
4. Of which I have written about as well, this can be accessed on the web at http://www.vbm-torah.org.