Today's song is from the Agur, not a well-known word. We're working
with the explanation that it's a crane,
which is a type of bird, and he says הוֹדוּ לַיי בְּכִנּוֹר בְּנֵבֶל
עָשׂוֹר זַמְּרוּ לוֹ: (Tehilim 33,2)/ Thank Hashem with a kinor/harp, with the nevel-asor (an instrument with
10 strings), sing to him.
The pasuk that
follows this one in tehilim, continues, שִֽׁירוּ־ל֭וֹ שִׁ֣יר חָדָ֑שׁ הֵיטִ֥יבוּ נַ֝גֵּ֗ן
בִּתְרוּעָֽה׃/Sing a new song to Him, play well with a trumpet.
Why exactly does the crane sing this? The Mabit tells us something
very interesting about the crane. The crane has a tremendous power of tsifsuf/chirping
or noises, and is able to sing in a very powerful way.
There is a pasuk in Yeshaya 38,14 where Hizkiyah
Hamelech says,
כְּס֤וּס עָגוּר֙ כֵּ֣ן
אֲצַפְצֵ֔ף
I'm going to make noise like a crane.
The crane was created in a certain way to, to communicate. It has a
very long trachea and its mouth is different than other type of birds. It's
able to make a call that can be heard for several miles.
So, the crane is known as a very powerful,
loud bird and therefore, says the Mabit, the crane tells us, 'You might not
have my abilities, but you have your own abilities. You can use your kenor/harp.
Why does he say Hodu L'Hashem b'kinor/ Thank Hashem with the
harp? He answers that a harp is something that is quite simple to play.
This Hodu/ Thanks to Hashem is
directed to the four people that have to say Gomel. The word Hodu
is the term used in the prayer of HaGomel,
which is said after surviving a situation of danger, whether crossing the ocean or desert, being released from captivity or recovering from an illness. And since these
are common events, the crane says, I
can't ask you to do something complicated. It needs to be a common thing.
Everyone has their kinor/harp, the standard way of saying thank you. And the
people that are on a higher level, whom he calls the Benei Aliya,
won't simply do a Hodu they'll do Zamru/ a song, and they will use this Nevel-asor, which is a more
complex instrument. The commentaries discuss about the Asor and ask, why a 10 string harp? The Gemara in Masechet
Arechim 13B quotes a pasuk and
tells us that the harp of the Bet
Hamikdash had seven strings When a Mashiach comes, it's going to have eight strings, and LaAtid Lavo when it comes to Olam Haba, the highest
level, it's going to have 10 strings.
And that's actually our pasuk, where it says a 10-stringed Nevel,
and then the next pasuk says, a new
song-which is the song of Olam Haba.
What exactly does that mean? The Ramban explains in Shaar Hagemul
letter 144 that this symbolizes the
forces and energies that we have. The is
the world of seven, and there are seven different Middot that are revealed to us, which are the seven Ushpizin.
So we can sing to God with the harp of seven. But that's for the common
folk.
Then we go on to a higher level of eight, which is Olam Haba, and then finally we go on to 10. This means different people have different energies
and different abilities, but whatever your ability is, you have to use it to
praise, to sing, and to give over what you can and sing your song.
So the crane is saying to
everyone, You don't have to be like me.
Rav Wolbe was once sitting with a student by the beach when they saw a beautiful bird landing
in the most elegant and graceful way. The student commented, "Wow. Look how
elegant and beautiful that bird is as it lands."
Rav Wolbe replied, "You too can be elegant and graceful if you
use your talents to do what you have to do."
That's really the message of the crane. He's saying, 'You might
not have my voice, but Hodu LHashem b'kinor-You can use your kinor or your nevel
or whatever your instrument is.'
The bottom line is this beautiful message, the song of the agur
הוֹדוּ לַיי בְּכִנּוֹר
בְּנֵבֶל עָשׂוֹר זַמְּרוּ לוֹ:
