That day, the Lord saved the Israelites from the Egyptians. And when the Israelites… witnessed the wondrous power the Lord had unleashed against the Egyptians, the people were in awe of the Lord, and they believed in Him, and in Moshe, His servant.
And then Moshe and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord…
(Exodus 14:30-15:1)

The Song at the Sea was one of the great epiphanies of history. The Sages said that even the humblest of Jews saw at that moment what even the greatest of prophets was not privileged to see. For the first time they broke into collective song – Az Yashir – a song we recite every day.

There is a fascinating discussion among the Sages as to how exactly they sang. On this, there were four opinions. Three appear in the tractate of Sotah:

Rabbi Akiva expounded: When the Israelites came up from the Red Sea, they wanted to sing a song. How did they sing it? Like an adult who reads the Hallel and they respond after him with the leading word. Moses said, “I will sing to the Lord,” and they responded, “I will sing to the Lord.” Moses said, “For He has triumphed gloriously,” and they responded, “I will sing to the Lord.”

Rabbi Eliezer, son of Rabbi Jose the Galilean, said: It was like a child who reads the Hallel and they repeat after him all that he says. Moses said, “I will sing to the Lord,” and they responded, “I will sing to the Lord.” Moses said, “For He has triumphed gloriously,” and they responded, “For He has triumphed gloriously.”

Rabbi Nehemiah said: It was like a schoolteacher who recites the Shema in the synagogue. He begins first and they follow along with him. (Sotah 30b)

According to Rabbi Akiva, Moses sang the song phrase by phrase, and after each phrase the people responded, I will sing to the Lord – their way, as it were, of saying Amen to each line. According to R. Eliezer son of R. Jose the Galilean, Moses recited the song phrase by phrase, and they repeated each phrase after he had said it. According to Rabbi Nehemiah, Moses and the people sang the whole song........

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