1:
This mishnah continues with material unrelated to the general topic of the tractate – material which has been prompted by an associational format: midrashic explications given by Rabbi Akiva "on that very day" – on the day that Rabban Gamli'el was deposed from the presidency of the Sanhedrin and replaced by Rabbi El'azar ben-Azaryah. However, it is perhaps particularly apposite that we study this mishnah this week, since the verse which is the subject of our mishnah is a very prominent one in the Torah Reading for this coming Shabbat.
2:
We are, perhaps, so accustomed to the quaint usages of outdated English when translating biblical texts that sometimes we don't even notice tautologies that caught the eye of the sages and fired their imaginations. A very good example of this is Exodus 15:1. Surely, when we look at this verse carefully in the original Hebrew we would note the glaring tautology: why should the Torah need to say both 'and they said' and also 'saying'? The word 'saying' is entirely superfluous to the plain meaning of the text. (Indeed, some careless English translations just omit the word altogether.)
3:
Rabbi Akiva interprets this tautology by seeing in it an indication that Moses sang the words of the song and the Israelites then repeated them after him. Indeed, the verb that is used to indicate the singing is in the singular: 'Then Moses sang … and they said, saying [after him]'. Let us note here that Rabbi Neĥemyah agrees with Rabbi Akiva that this is how to interpret the text.
4:
What these two sages have to say, however, affords us a wonderful window into the manner in which the traditional liturgy was recited in Mishnaic times. We must always bear in mind something that we had occasion to mention many times when we were studying Tractate Berakhot: the prayers were recited by heart since there was no such thing as a printed siddur. Even the Sheli'aĥ Tzibbur, the prayer-leader, was required to improvise the words of the service as he went along, provided that he adhered to the general format instituted by the sages. We also noted that the repetition of the Amidah out loud by the Sheli'aĥ Tzibbur was instituted for the benefit of those worshippers who were not able to construct their own private version of the Amidah. However, our present mishnah introduces two elements of traditional worship that are not 'impromptu improvisations' but direct quotes from Scripture: the three paragraphs of the Shema and the Hallel. (Hallel consists of Psalms 113 – 118 and is recited on festive days.)
5:
Rabbi Akiva says that when the Israelites repeated the words of the Song at the Red Sea after Moses they did so 'as we do when reciting Hallel'; Rabbi Neĥemyah demurs, holding that the repetition was done 'as we do when reciting the Shema'. This obviously means that the manner in which the prayer-leader prompted the congregation in these two sections of the liturgy was different in each case, but our mishnah does not clarify, both sages taking it for granted that their contemporaries knew 'how we do' these things.
6:
Other sources [Tosefta Sotah 6:2, Talmud of Eretz-Israel Sotah 24b, Mishnah Sukkah 3:10] help us understand this difference. It seems that in the case of the Shema the prayer-leader would announce the first word or words of each verse and then the whole congregation, their memories now prompted, would recite out loud and in unison that particular verse. However, in the case of Hallel the prayer-leader would recite the whole verse out loud and the congregation would respond after each one 'Hallelujah'. (This is possible because it is assumed that the prayer-leader is capable of enabling the congregation to fulfill their duty by listening to the words he is saying.) However, when a child is leading the service the congregation must repeat out loud, word for word, the whole of Hallel, because the child cannot enable the adults to fulfill their duty and they must say the words themselves. It therefore seems that Rabbi Akiva is suggesting that when they sang the Song of the Sea, Moses was the one who actually sang the song and the Israelites sang some assenting refrain at the end of each verse. Rabbi Neĥemyah holds that Moses sang the first words of each verse and then the Israelites repeated those words and completed the sentence.
Meir Noach writes:
When I was reading the link to the archives about "On that very day" I read that Gamli'el was the son of Hillel. I have often read that he was the grandson. From Yadayyim, mishnah 5, Explanations, paragraphs 12 and 13. "After the death of the first Hillel (around 20 CE) the presidency of the Sanhedrin was vested in his descendants. He was followed by his son, Rabban Gamli'el and by his grandson Shim'on"
I respond:
There is a Tannaitic tradition that that the first Rabban Gamli'el was the son of one Shim'on who was in turn the son of Hillel. It is now accepted by modern scholars that this is an error – probably caused by the fact that the name of the father of the second Gamli'el was indeed Shim'on. Between Hillel and Rabban Shim'on ben Gamli'el there is room for only one sage – Rabban Gamli'el. (If Hillel had, indeed, a son called Shim'on nothing at all is known of him beyond his name.)
