Today's song is the song of
the Behema Daka Teme'Ah, the Small Unkosher
Animal, and it sings the Song of Tehilim 125,4:
בְּהֵמָה דַּקָּה טְמֵאָה אוֹמֶרֶת.
הֵיטִיבָה יְיָ לַטּוֹבִים וְלִישָׁרִים בְּלִבּוֹתָם: (תהילים
קכה ד)
(David Hamelech makes a
request) Do good Hashem to good people and to the upright in their hearts.
Who is this small unkosher animal?
Rav Chaim Kanievsky says it refers to the hyrax and the hare, which
are listed in the the unkosher animals in the Torah.
Why are they singing this song? He brings down from Bereshit Raba 12,69 on the pasuk where David
Hamelech says that God created rocks as a protection for the hyraxes and
hares. There's a type of bird from above, like a hawk or a falcon, that wants to come down and prey on
them.
What protects them? Rock-crevices and cracks, that they run into for protection.
Says the Midrash, If this is the case for an unkosher animal, that
God created these cracks in the crevices for them to protect themselves, what
do you think Hashem created in the merit of Avraham Avinu, as it says the world
was created for Abraham Avinu. The midrash
says, Abraham, rescrambled means the
world was created for us. God made so many good things for the unkosher
animals, which symbolize the nations of the world. We see from here that the
purpose of the rocks is just for them.
So when the hyrax and the hare see that Hashem created
these rocks, he's the one that says, "Oh, You created rocks for me? Surely
you have to do good for the good people."
That is his song. This is truly a fascinating concept! Although
this is the song of the hyrax and the
hare, the pasuk also talks about how God made mountains for the mountain
goats to run on. This is a concept that we see repeatedly. Every animal has its
habitat, and every animal has its
protection. A Machseh is a shelter. God creates shelters of
protection.
As we say, Ki Atah Machsi /HashemYou are my refuge. Hashem
built places for things to run to. We can say the hole in the wall is for
the mouse to run into. For all creatures
that are hunted, Hashem created that trap door, that protective haven
to run into.
And as we say, it's not only
the rabbit that's singing the song. When we
look into creation, that creature causes us to sing the song. The Chovot Halevavot talks at length about
this in Shaar Bechina. We
are always supposed to look into
creation and learn things from creation. This is a huge lesson of looking at
the protective systems. Hashem built in, for all species, ways to
be protected, and ways to run away in time of danger.
This is similar to a statement of Mishna at the end of Masechet Kiddushin, where one of the Tanaaim says, Did you ever
see a lion that had to work? Did you ever see a tiger that had to work? Did you
ever see a fox that had to work? The animal kingdoms don't work, and yet Hashem gives them Parnasa.
They're all created, He says, to serve Me. Shouldn't I not need to work? But what am I going
to do? Adam HaRishon sinned and there
was a curse.
But barring that curse,
whatever Hashem does for the animal
world, He will surely do for our world.
That's really the Mishna's point here. If
that's what He did for the hyrax and the
hare, what's He doing for me? We have to look and see, says Hovot
Halevavot, that Hashem created for every animal, the proper tools for his parnasa.
For example, the anteater has a long sticky tongue that ants get stuck to, and
so on.
This is the beautiful, eye
opening concept of the rocks of refuge for the hare.
