The following d’var was delivered by Rebecca Mark at Kabbalat Shabbat services on February 7, 2020/13 Shvat 5780 on Shabbat Shira.
There is a minhag (tradition) to put out breadcrumbs on Erev Shabbat of Parshat BeShalach, for the birds to eat the next day. This Shabbat is known as “Shabbat Shira” the “Shabbat of Song.”
It is an Ashkenazi tradition I grew up with and hold dear, a joyous tradition that broke up the drudgery of winter.
On Friday afternoon after school, amidst the Shabbat rush, my mom would find time to guide us through the craft - the one where you spread peanut butter over a toilet paper roll (or preferably, a pinecone!) and then sprinkle bird seed on top. We would hang the pinecones by a string on the porch of our first floor apartment in the Bronx, waking up on Shabbat morning to the delightful sights and sounds of city birds getting their treat on. Also a few squirrels. They always seem to crash the party.
My mom taught us this minhag, one that she learned in the cold winters of Cleveland.
My grandmother of blessed memory, would say that this Shabbat would always seem to be “the coldest of the year,” just as it was when she was growing up in Munkatz.
When talking with friends, I discovered that many people have not heard of this tradition, and when asked to explain it, I knew a few reasons for doing this, but not where it came from.
First of all, let’s get one thing out of the way. This minhag goes all the way back to the Gemara, at least 1,500 years ago. We know this because we find extensive halachic arguments around whether you can feed the birds on Shabbat itself. Many of these arguments carried on for centuries after the Gemara. I would love to nerd out on that with y’all next time, but the approach everyone wound up recommending was putting out crumbs right before Shabbat.
There are a few reasons we feed the birds on this Shabbat: many of them come from stories of the Midrash, which is….? Auspicious Jewish FanFiction! (How we lovingly describe it at Hinenu)
The most common answer is because when we safely crossed through the Sea of Reeds or Red Sea, the people burst into joyful song. Miriam then led the women in singing and dancing, and the birds joined in and sang praises to HaShem with us!
Another detail to this midrash, is that when B’nei Yisrael walked across the split sea, they took plants out from the water on either side. For example, some plants that grow in the Red Sea include mangroves and 11 species of seagrass beds. The children fed seeds from these ocean plants to the birds, and then the birds joined in our peoples song of praise to HaShem! The purpose of keeping up this custom is to remember the joy of this moment, and thank the birds for sharing in this joy.
Another tradition links the feeding of the birds to the description of the manna mentioned in this week’s Torah selection. (Quick tangent time!) Manna is described as an edible substance which HaShem provided B’nei Yisrael during their 40 years of traveling the desert after our Exodus from Egypt. Manna is described in the book of Shemot as being "a fine, flake-like thing" like the frost on the ground, tasting like wafers made with honey. It is described in the Book of Bamidbar as arriving with the dew during the night. I always imagined it as fried dough or funnel cake, but that’s me :)
Moshe instructed the people to eat only the manna they had gathered for each day. On Fridays however, there would be a double portion, which they were told to collect for Shabbat, the day when no Manna would appear.
Two disruptive bros, Datan and Aviram, wanted to discredit the miracle and undermine Moshe. So they scattered some manna late on Friday and told the people that they would find manna in the fields on Shabbat. But birds appeared and ate up the manna! Moses’ leadership and organizing efforts were affirmed, and thus we thank and reward the birds on Shabbat Shira!
Something I read from the Scheter Institute, is that when there are many explanations for a custom, that usually indicates the original reason is unknown.
I really enjoy some of the more nature-based explanations, reasoning that we are providing sustenance to the “ba’ale hashir” the singers of the natural world. No creature can sing like a bird because they rule the air, and music is created by the flow of air (Bet Aharon quoted by Sefer Hamatamim).
Rabbi Eliyahu Ki Tov says that the birds receive their reward on Shabbat Shirah for the songs which they utter to God every day, and when we recite our Song, we remember their songs. The Jewish people are also compared to birds in a number of texts. This act of remembering and supporting birds in a time of scarcity like winter, can remind us and future generations that HaShem will look out for us as well.
It is said that the importance of singing songs to HaShem is unfathomable, and that singing can open your heart and invoke blessings and prayers that are deep within your heart. The act of feeding birds in the winter for Shabbat Shira is a practice of Hakarat HaTov, of gratitude, or literally, “recognizing the good.”
May we continue to sing together, in community with each other and in harmony with the natural life forces around us. May this singing help keep our hearts open, help us practice gratitude, and in hard times, never forget the goodness that is abundant in the universe.
Shabbat Shalom!