TTfT 1215

 

The Talmud tells us that Dovid referred to Torah as a song (zemer) and was called to task for doing so because the word song (zemer) seems to indicate a casual relationship with Torah.

We note that at the end of Parshas Veyeilech, Moshe calls the Torah a song (shira). There is however a difference in that zemer refers to a song that has  limits, such as Shabbos Zemiros. (The word zemer may be related to a similar word meaning “to prune a tree”.) A Shirah is far more sophisticated and ongoing. For a nice article on this topic by Rabbi Frand please click here: RavFrand List – Rabbi Frand on Parshas Naso – Torah.org