Long ago, in the days of the Maharal, the children of the city of Prague looked forward eagerly to Shabbos Parshas Beshallach. Even the cold European winter could not keep them home on this Shabbos.

"Come on," Aaron urged his little brother Eliezer, pulling him gently by the hand. "We don't want to be late."

Bundled in their warm sheepskin coats, the two boys hurried down the narrow cobblestone streets of the Jewish quarter of Prague.

"There's Pinchas with his father," Aaron said as he spotted his friend up ahead. "Let's catch up to them and we'll go together."

From every corner children, parents and teachers were making their way to the central shul where the great Jewish leader and Rabbi, the Maharal of Prague, had instructed them to gather on the roof of the shul. There the teachers would tell the children the story of Kerias Yam Suf, the splitting of the Red Sea.

"Even the birds chirped and fluttered their wings when the Jewish people sang 'Az yashir,' "the teachers would describe enthusiastically. "And the little children picked the buds off the sea plants and fed them to the chirping birds."

After the story was told, the teachers, following the Maharal's instructions, gave the children kasha grains which they tossed to the birds and the hens below. "Just like the children fed the birds at Kerias Yam Suf," the children of Prague called out with delight.

Then a hush swept over the roof of the shul. Everyone turned toward the beloved leader of Prague. The Maharal himself had joined them, and now he blessed the children and wished their parents much nachas. "May you merit to bring your children to Torah, chuppah, and good deeds," the Maharal said.

This was the custom that the Maharal encouraged in ancient Prague.

Are you wondering why the Maharal insisted that the children follow this custom, and why he himself took the time to participate? The Maharal was a brilliant scholar who taught and wrote very deep explanations of the Torah.

This practice on Shabbos Shirah taught the people a Torah lesson, but the lesson was not about how to keep mitzvos. After all, it only recalled a story in the Midrash. The story wasn't even about people, but about birds. And the day was Shabbos, when a Jew should strive to be involved only in holiness. Still, the Maharal gave some of his precious time to the little children. The reason was that he wanted to stress to them how important it is to follow our customs and to be happy about keeping our minhagim.

(Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. II, p. 521)