About Mi Chamokha

So, it was Tu Bishevat last  Shabbat, and this has always been a difficult holiday for me to truly celebrate when the trees are covered with snow, and when I hardly want to set a foot outside because it is 17°F. I know this has been a holiday greatly revived by Israelis who have a purpose for it, when they also enjoy 17° outside but 17° Celsius…

But we had a wonderful oneg still, – some will tell you about the chocolate covered pomegranates that were a sure killer – some other will tell you about the chevrette, a fantastic goat cheese that was rivaled only by a very particular mango stilton that I can still taste on the tip of my tongue.

However, as delicious as all this was, I enjoyed above all singing with our choir, for our now famous Mi-Chamokhaton.

This has been the tradition to honor Shabbat Beshallah, at which time we read the Torah portion where Myriam sings a new song (hence the name Shabbat Shirah) and we offer to sing the traditional Mi Chamokha (Who is like You?) on as many tunes as possible.

That evening, I also finally learnt about a midrash that could explain the oddity of the pronunciation of Mi Chamokha ba-elim Adonaï, Mi Kamokha needar ba kodesh. Why kh first then k, when no grammatical explanation to it? It has to do with a leap of faith from Nachshon, son of Aminadav: in front of the Sea of Reeds, before the  waters had parted, there had to be a leader, he went into the sea, against the tide, water reaching his waist, then his chest and shoulders, and gargled when it reached his mouth hence not beeing able to utter the aspired kh anymore, but only to blurt out an explosive k.

Don’t you love those stories?