"For the Lord's Portion is His People"

Shirat Ha'azinu (the poem in Parashat Ha'azinu) is unique among all sections of the Torah, in that Moshe received an explicit command to write it and teach it to Bnei Yisrael. The shira will thereby be eternalized both in written form as well as orally - in the mouths of Bnei Yisrael. To this we must add God's explicit promise that the shira will never be forgotten from the nation. These details reflect the importance the Almighty afforded the shira. This article discusses the shira's function and its primary contents, in an attempt to explain its unique significance.