We're now on the song of a creature called Siya.
Interestingly, there's a question of whether this Siya is actually a creature at all, because the word siya also means desert. But based on the fact that it's mentioned in the list of birds, we're going with the approach of the Mabit that it is a bird. Exactly which bird is the Siya?
The sefer Kenaf Renanim, a commentary on Perek Shira by Rabbi Lowe, written about 200 years ago, tells us that the Siya is a certain bird known those times as the storm bird or the hurricane bird. It seems that there were birds that would warn ships of impending hurricanes. Even today, it's found in scientific literature that birds have a certain sense of a coming hurricane. And this Siya was so named because he warned the sailors of hurricanes.
Kn Additionally, a boat is called a Siya as it says in Tehilim 105, 41 (as well as in other pesukim)
הָ֝לְכ֗וּ בַּצִּיּ֥וֹת נָהָר׃/they traveled in the boats.
So the Siya is called the boat bird because it saved the boats by warning them to prepare for hurricanes. What's his song? אוֹר זָרֻעַ
לַצַּדִּיק וּלְיִשְׁרֵי לֵב שִׂמְחָה:
(תהילים צז יב)Light is planted for the righteous, and for those that are straight of heart, there will be happiness.
Why is that his song? The Gemara in Kedushin 82A tells us that most sailors are sadikim. Rashi explains that this is because they're always in dangerous situations and must subjugate their hearts to their Father in heaven. Like it says in Tehilim 107, 23-25, one of the people that says HaGomel is the sailor. David Hamelech says, יוֹרְדֵ֣י הַ֭יָּם בׇּאֳנִיּ֑וֹת עֹשֵׂ֥י מְ֝לָאכָ֗ה בְּמַ֣יִם רַבִּֽים׃/they go into the river, into the oceans with ships, הֵ֣מָּה רָ֭אוּ מַעֲשֵׂ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה /they see the hand of God
So they see the wonders. They're in situations of potential shipwreck and they have to pray hard. This commentary asks What does David Hamelech mean when he says וַיֹּ֗אמֶר וַֽ֭יַּעֲמֵד ר֣וּחַ סְעָרָ֑ה Vayomer? He asks, Who was saying? He explains that this saying is the warning that God gives to the sailors through this bird, and that's why they see miracles. This bird is the warning.
Why does it say Ohr Zarua L'Sadik/Light is planted for the righteous?
Because these sailors are sadikim, and the dangerous situations are there in order for them pray and get closer to Hashem.
Although it may not look good at the moment, it's a planting for the future, like it says, הָ֘ל֤וֹךְ יֵלֵ֨ךְ ׀ וּבָכֹה֮ נֹשֵׂ֢א מֶשֶׁךְ־הַ֫זָּ֥רַע בֹּא־יָבֹ֥א בְרִנָּ֑ה נֹ֝שֵׂ֗א אֲלֻמֹּתָֽיו׃People walk with tears and then they come with happiness.
So the difficult or dangerous situation is a planting for the future. In the end, a simha is going to come out of it, because by subjugating their hearts to Hashem, they are going to be saved.
This is an important rule, this concept Ohr Zarua LSadik.
The Ramchal talks about this in one of his Maamarim. He says everybody has a certain amount of doses of light, so to say. Imagine that every day, you're supposed to get a one gallon dose of light. But sometimes in life there are dark times, so what happens to that light that we were supposed to get? The Ramchal says that God puts it in the light bank where it earns dividends for the future.
That's what Ohr Zarua LSadik means. When we have challenges and see only darkness, but we overcome and stay strong through Emuna, all that light gets planted for the future.
That's the Ohr Zarua LSadik, which will eventually bring re וּלְיִשְׁרֵי לֵב שִׂמְחָה: (תהילים צז יב)
It's earning dividends. That's why it says שמחינו כימות עמיתנו /Make us happy corresponding to the days that we were in pain.
We have to understand this important principle that even though times look dark, that doesn't mean that it's really dark. It means Hashem is, so to say, creating a pension plan. We're planting for the future.
That's the lesson of this bird, the Siya, that warns us of all those dangerous situations for the sailors to eventually overcome, and become the the ones that get the salvation.
That's the lesson of the storm bird.