The Gemara states that Rabbi Meir maintains that even the unborn fetuses sang Shira at the Sea as it is said (Tehillim 68:27) בְּמַקְהֵלוֹת בָּרְכוּ אֱ-לֹהִים יְ-ה-וָ-ה מִמְּקוֹר יִשְׂרָאֵל, in congregations bless G-d;[bless] my Lord, all who descend from Israel. One must wonder why it was necessary for unborn fetuses to sing Shira and what lesson can be learned from this statement.
In order to answer this question we must first understand the idea of Shira. The Sfas Emes associates the word שירה with the word שור, which means a wall and something that is upright and just. Furthermore, the Sfas Emes writes that although the Torah states that the Jewish People in Egypt believed in Moshe’s proclamation of redemption, they were still lacking in their אמונה, and only by the Sea did they attain a high level of אמונה. The word אמונה, writes the Sfas Emes, connotes cultivation and growth.
Based on these two ideas of the Sfas Emes we can suggest that the Gemara here is teaching us that at the Sea the Jewish People were still cultivating their אמונה in HaShem and for this reason even the growing fetuses sang Shira. While an unborn child is not deemed to be a child according to Jewish law, we are nonetheless exhorted to do our utmost to protect the fetus, as the potential child is significant for the growth of the Jewish People. Indeed, the Gemara (Niddah 13b) states that Moshiach will arrive only after all the souls in the גוף (literally translated as body) are depleted.
Furthermore, the Gemara (Sanhedrin 94a) states that HaShem wished that Chizkiah should become Moshiach but he forfeited this opportunity because he did not sing Shira. The Sfas Emes explains in the name of his grandfather, the Chiddushei HaRim, that for Chizkiah, nature and miracles were one and the same, so it was difficult for Chizkiah to be aroused to sing Shira. Based on what we mentioned earlier we can explain the Chiddushei HaRim’s words to mean that for one to sing Shira, he must acknowledge the process of pain and growth which culminates in HaShem performing a miracle. Due to the fact that Chizkiah could not relate to a distinction between nature and miracles, he was not able to assume the role of Moshiach, who is the culmination of Jewish pain and suffering.
In summary, the unborn fetuses sang Shira because to sing when HaShem performs a miracle is to recognize the initial hardship and the cultivation of faith in HaShem. Chizkiah, however, viewed the hardship and suffering as akin to the miracle, and for that reason he was not rewarded with the role of being Moshiach, the culmination of pain and growth that lead to the Ultimate Redemption.
Daf Drush 