Shabbat Shirah

Shabbat of Song (Feed the Birds)

Photo by Bonnie Kittle on Unsplash

Shabbat Shirah falls on the Shabbat early in Sh’vat (Jan/Feb) where we read the Parsha Beshalach, which contains the Song of the Sea (Exodus 15:1–18) and just before Tu B’Shevat.

It’s a custom in Ashkenazic custom to go out and feed the birds (because they sing) on this Shabbat.  So if you check the #challah on instagram on Shabbat Shirah (or after), you may see a bunch of challot (plural of challah) with birds in them.

Photos of a challah I made a couple of years ago that I’m really proud of that are birds in a nest, and I made my challah offering in the shape of a bird too. I used the offering bird challah to feed birds (or squirrels, or whatever got it).

My teacher Rav Kohenet Ye’ilah (Rabbi Jill Hammer) teaches on her website Telshemesh.org:

“The birds also represent the legendary story that as the Israelites walked through the miraculously split sea, trees sprouted in the sea and grew fruit for the Israelites to feed their children.”