Today's class is dedicated Leilui Nishmat Yitzhak ben Chana, Mr. Irving Missry by his daughters.
בְּהֵמָה דַּקָּה טְהוֹרָה אוֹמֶרֶת.
The Behema Daka, the small animal such as the sheep and goat, says
מִי כָמֹכָה בָּאֵלִם יי מִי כָּמֹכָה נֶאְדָּר בַּקֹּדֶשׁ נוֹרָא תְהִלֹּת עֹשֵׂה פֶלֶא: (שמות טו יא)
Who is like You in the strong ones Hashem, who is like You, glorified in holiness, awesome in His praises, Doer of wonders
Why is this the song of the docile, kosher animals? Rav Chaim Kanievsky, in his commentary to Perek Shira, says that sheep and goats are chased more than any other animals. As is explained in Vayikra Raba 27,5, that's why Hashem uses them for Korbanot. They're chased and they're dear to Hashem. And Hashem saves those that are chased, which is a hint to the Jewish people, who are constantly chased by the goyim. The Midrash Tanhuma Toldot siman 5 says that one of the Caesars told Yehoshua, Look how powerful the sheep is, that he can stand among 70 wolves! To which the Rabbi answered, No, the sheep is not great, but Gadol Hu HaRo'eh, the Shepherd is great, that protects the sheep. That is the song of these sheep and goats, and it's the message of the Jewish people- that you have a great Shepherd that does wonders and saves you and protects you.
There is a famous Gemara in Masechet Yoma 69B that says God is Gadol Gibor V'Norah, great powerful and awesome. It says because when the Bet Hamikdash was destroyed, the Anshei Knesset Gedolah said, Where is God's strength? Where is God awesomeness? To which the Gemara says, the Anshei Knesset Gedola put it back because they said, You know where God's awesomeness is? If not for the fear of Hashem, we wouldn't survive. You think it's the powerful armies that we have, the weapons that we have, the intelligence that we have? No, it's that God instills fear. That's what stops them from attacking. Nora tehilot, He is awesome in His praise, which means He's awesome. He's powerful.
This actually goes back to Yaakov's Avinu in Parashat Bereshit 35,5. After Shimon and Levi wiped out the city of Shchem, Yaakov Avinu said, "What are you doing? You're going to cause them to attack me?!"
Then it says they traveled and there was fear of God on those cities that surrounded them. They did not chase Bnei Yaakov. The Baal Turim says the words and they traveled show up twice, teaching us that when the Jewish people traveled in the desert, they were similar to Yaakov Avinu's bed, with the tribes all around it, to tell us that just like the fear of God was around the cities due to the zechut of Yaakov, so too, when we traveled in the desert, we were not attacked. We were a nation traveling the desert for 40 years. Why weren't we attacked? The fear of God. The miracles of the desert continue in our times as well, but we just don't see it as openly.
The Targum Yonatan ben Uziel adds on words. He says, they traveled from there, and adds the words "praising and praying to Hashem," which means they praised Hashem for the success in the war in Shchem, and they prayed for continued success. Therefore, There was a fear of God instilled in the people around them. That's one approach as to why this is the song of the animals- because of the wonders of Hashem's protection.
The Sefer Sivtei Raanot give an additional, advanced explanation, in his commentary on Perek Shira. He says that these animals are used for Korbanot, and through the Korban, we announced the three fundamentals of our religion. It says in Sefer Ikarim that there are three fundamentals of our religion:
-The existence of God
-Torah Min Hashamayim, that the Torah was given to us from heavens.
And,
-Hashem's Hashgacha Pratit.
Where do we see that in the korban? Firstly, the Korban goes to Hashem, Who created the world. That means God exists. Secondly, we are doing this as Hashem directed us to in the Torah. That's Torah min Hashamayim.
Lastly, the Hashgacha Pratit is that we believe that everything we did to the animal should have happened to us as a punishment for our sins. Thus, Hashem is watching. We want to protect ourselves, so we bring Korbanot.
That's why these animals sing the song of Mi Kamocha B'El Hashem- Who is like You amongst the powerful ones, that describes God's strength, Mi Kamocha Nedra B'kodesh/ Who is glorified in holiness, that He gives reward to the Sadikim and he punishes the Resha'im. That's what they were saying. This is the Mi Kamocha in the fact that Hashem punished the Egyptians at Keriat Yam Suf. As powerful as He is, He controlled himself and meted out justice at the right time.. And finally, Norah Tehilot/God is awesome was the awesome site of Matan Torah where everyone saw that there was nothing else but God and everything else is nonsense.
The animals that are part of the Korban system testify to these three principles of our faith, through their song.