We're up to the song of the zarzir, which is commonly translated as the starling. The starling is actually very similar to the raven. They're both black and they hang out together. What's the lesson of the zarzir? The Gemara in Masechet Bava Kama 82B tells us a rule that is known in English as, "Birds of a feather flock together." Which means similar creatures stick together. One of the examples the Gemara cites is that Esav married the daughters of Yishmael- birds of a feather flock together. The source of this is a pasuk that says, Every bird dwells with its species and people with their like. So if you want to know somebody, as they say, know his friends.
The Mishna tells us that anything that hangs out with Tameh is Tameh, and anything that hangs out with Tahor is Tahor. Rabbi Eliezer says It was not for no reason that the starling hangs out with the raven; they're the same.
That's the lesson of the zarzir. The Sifrei Emet, in Parashat Toledot, from one of the Gerrer Rebbes, tells us something fascinating.
He quotes the Megaleh Amukot, one of the great Mekubalim, a Rav Shapiro from a few hundred years ago, that tells us the numerical value of זרזיר +עורב(starling + raven) is the same as שבת Shabbat: 702. What's the connection? He tells us that the starling and raven resemble Esav and Yishmael, who hang around together. It's like the terrorists who blow up who knows what, and the nice, civilized French and German people who flock there to hold hands with the Palestinians and help out the poor Palestinian refugees. That's an example of the starling hanging out with the raven. If you know who the raven is, and the starling is with the raven, then you know what the starling is like as well. So the zarzir and Orev symbolize Esav and Yishmael. Shabbat belongs to Jews. Esav and Yishmael can't enter Shabbat, so Esav chose Sunday, the day after Shabbat, and Yishmael chose Friday, the day before Shabbat. That's what it means, Take away the Satan from Friday before Shabbat (which Yishmael chose) and from Sunday (the day Esav chose). That's the symbolism of זרזיר עורב(starling and raven)
And now, for the pasuk of the zarzir- taken from Yeshaya 61,9, talking about the future:
נוֹדַע בַּגּוֹיִם זַרְעָם וְצֶאֱצָאֵיהֶם בְּתוֹךְ הָעַמִּים כָּל רֹאֵיהֶם יַכִּירוּם כִּי הֵם זֶרַע בֵּרַךְ ייTheir (the Jewish people's), seed will be known amongst the goyim, and their offspring will be recognized amongst all other nations. All those that see them will recognize them. They'll say, "Oh, that is a Jewish person, because their seeds are blessed by God.
That means throughout that the generations, we don't hang out with everybody else. We're separate. Halacha says we don't take the same haircuts as they do, we don't dress the same as they do. We're different than them, and we don't associate with them because we really are special. And the fact that we don't hang out with them shows that we're not like them. The zarzir is teaching us that message. It's quite beautiful that this is a message from our enemies throughout. They tell us, The world will know- I'm the starling. I hang with the raven. We're both no good. But the dove, who is white and a symbol of the Jewish people, doesn't hang around with us. The dove is not like us.
We are different. We're special, we're unique. The Mabit's commentary on Perek Shira says that all people from Adam to Noah were the same. There was no difference in their 248 limbs. But the Jewish people stood at Har Sinai and became cleaner and more pure. We sinned, and we might have lost some of that purity. There were recognizable differences in the Jewish body and makeup, but we lost that. Now our only difference is that we have a Brit Milah. But the time will come when it's clear to the world, he says, that we are different. We'll be so different and so special that everyone will look at us, even without different clothing or any external differences, and say, They are the seed that's blessed by God. That is indicated by our being separated. And that's the song of the zarzir.