Today we study the song of the Camel. It's a partial quote from a pasuk in Yirmiyah 25,30
גַּמַּל אוֹמֵר. יי מִמָּרוֹם יִשְׁאָג וּמִמְּעוֹן קָדְשׁוֹ יִתֵּן קוֹלוֹ שָׁאֹג יִשְׁאַג עַל נָוֵהוּ: (ירמיה כה ל)
Hashem cries from above, from His holy abode. He gives a voice, He roars, on His dwelling place, He's crying over the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash.
What does this have to do with the camel?
The Chida, in his commentary on Perek Shira, says something fascinating. He quotes, "the angelic and holy Mahari Semah," who was a great Kabbalist. In his sefer Meshivat Nefesh, he writes that Yishmael is connected to the camel, which seems obvious, as the camel is predominantly found in Arab lands.
But he goes deeper and says it's called HaGamal הגמל the camel because it's Heh Gimmel Mal" - and Mal is Brit Milah.
What does that mean? The Zohar, in vol 2, page 86 says that Eretz was given to the Arabs when it's in state of destruction. That is what is delaying the Geula- the fact that the Arabs have control of Eretz Yisrael. This was written 400 years ago. He adds that, "the camel is roaring," means that Yishmael wants the Bet Hamikdash to be built when he is in control Eretz Yisrael (which doesn't really make sense because when the Bet Hamikdash is rebuilt, he won't be here). But the point is that Yishmael has a connection to Eretz Yisrael, albeit not a full connection. He has a connection only in its destruction.
Rav Wolbe beautifully connects this Zohar to the words of Rav Akiva Eiger, in order to help us understand it on a simple level.
In Aleh Shor vol 2, he quotes the Zohar that cites Rebbe Shimon that it says says about Yishmael in Bereshit 16, that he's a Perah Adam, which is like a wild donkey of a man.. He's not called a man. He's called a Perah Adam. Why? The Adam aspect is because he had a Brit Milah, which is the completion of a person. but he didn't finish it off because he never received the Torah. So he has the beginnings of man, but it was never finished off. The Jewish people finished it off with Kabbalat HaTorah so they're called Adam Mamash/ true man. Rav Wolbe quotes Rabbi Akiva Eiger in Nedarim 31A, where it discusses the connection between the Brit Milah and Torah.
He says that the Brit Milah removes the foreskin of the body, and also the foreskin of the heart, and allows the person to understand Torah. He goes on to add a very big, hiddush- that the father makes the Beracha that he's putting his son into the covenant of the Jewish people- but the father does not do the Milah- the Mohel does. So, why is the father making that beracha?
Because the Brit Milah allows the father to his fulfill mitzvah to teach his son Torah. He couldn't teach his son Torah without the prerequisite of the Brit Milah. Therefore, he makes the beracha, "I'm now able to do what I need to do with my son, because of the Brit Milah," which allows this child to learn Torah. Therefore, he makes a practical application that just like the Halacha that if a father is not teaching his son Torah, it's the grandfather's responsibility. (The pasuk says, "Tell your children and your grandchildren," and this is quoted by the Rambam in Hilchot Talmud Torah, where he says that the grandfather has responsibility to teach his child grandchild Torah.) Similarly, says Rav Akiva Eiger, if the father is not available, and the grandfather is at the Milah, the grandfather would make the Beracha, because he has that same responsibility to teach the child Torah.
The Brit Milah opens up the gates of Torah for the young child. That's why Rav Chaim Palaggi says that in Birkat Hamazon, we say Brit V'Torah, because the Brit is what gets the person ready for Torah.
The Arabs have a connection to Eretz Yisrael. That's why they're there and that's why they're interfering. The one up that we have over them is the fact that we received the Torah. That's why the greatest protection, and what will bring the Mashiach, is Limud Torah, which is the antithesis of Yishmael, who fell short.
Coming full circle, that's why the Camel sings that song, because that's the song of the Yishmaelim. They're singing the song that somehow, they still want to stay connected to Eretz Yisrael, even when there is a Bet Hamikdash. But, as we know, that will not happen.
Have a wonderful day.