We're now up to the song of the Zevuv/House Fly, that flies around and annoys us.
Most of the creatures sing their songs unconditionally. But the fly has a condition. He sings a song when he sees Jewish people not learning Torah.
The Chida writes, based on Rav Shimshon of Oshtripoli, that everything down here has a representive up there, and there is a certain negative force called the zivuv. That negative force is anulled when people learn Torah. And if we don't learn Torah, that force (the annoying fly) becomes stronger. Of course, we can do Teshuva, which is part of the song of the fly, as we will soon see.
The fly sings this song when he the Jewish people not learning Torah.
And what is his song? It's from Yeshaya 40,6
זְבוּב אוֹמֵר. בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁאֵין יִשְׂרָאֵל עוֹסְקִים בַּתּוֹרָה, / The fly says, when the Jewish people are not busy learning Torah,
קוֹל אֹמֵר קְרָא וְאָמַר מָה אֶקְרָא כָּל הַבָּשָׂר חָצִיר וְכָל חַסְדּוֹ כְּצִיץ הַשָּׂדֶה: יָבֵשׁ חָצִיר נָבֵל צִיץ כִּי רוּחַ יי נָשְׁבָה בּוֹ אָכֵן חָצִיר הָעָם: יָבֵשׁ חָצִיר נָבֵל צִיץ וּדְבַר אֱלֹהֵינוּ יָקוּם לְעוֹלָם: (ישעיה מ ו-ח)
"A voice says, 'Proclaim,' (Hashem is telling the Navi to say something) and the Navi says, 'What should I say?'And Hashem says, 'All flesh is like grass and all its kindness is like a blossom in the field. Grass withers and blossom fades. But the word of Hashem stands forever.'"
This is the song of the fly, flying around the house. He sees people not learning Torah and he's saying, "You know what Hashem wants to tell you?
That everything that you're involved in flesh, it's all these like trees, like herbage that's going to wither away. You're putting your time and effort into things that are going to wither away. What are you doing? Devar Hashem, Why don't you get involved in something lasting?"
There is a famous saying, I wish I could be a fly on the wall, to watch what's going on. Well, we all have a fly on the wall of our homes, saying, "Hey guys, What are you doing? You're wasting your time. You're involved in things that wither away, in things that don't last." Look at that annoying fly and remember that he's trying to get us involved in something interesting and serious- Devar Hashem.
During the summer, Rav Moshe Feinstein used to learn in the mountains, where there were normally a lot of flies and other things bugs. But interestingly, there were never any flies around Rav Moshe, probably because the flies knew he didn't need to be reminded of anything.
The Yalkut Shimoni, in Melachim 2, perek 4, letter 248, talks about the Isha Shunamit, who tells her husband, "I know that he ( Elisha) is a holy man." The midrash asks, how did she know he was holy? Because, says the Ben Ish Chai, She never saw a fly go on his table,
The fly comes to people who are not doing what they are supposed to be doing. He says, "Hey guys, You're involved in frivolous activities, but don't worry, there's hope." And once you accept his message, and decide to start learning, the fly sings another song (Yeshaya 57, 9.
בּוֹרֵא נִיב שְׂפָתָיִם שָׁלוֹם שָׁלוֹם לָרָחוֹק וְלַקָּרוֹב אָמַר יי וּרְפָאתִיו:I create the speech of the lips, Peace, peace for the far and for the near. Says Hashem, I will heal him.
What is this double peace, peace?
Rashi says in Yeshaya, that it's for the one who kept the Torah and My service from long ago and for the one who has kept My Torah and My service from recent times, even though he had been a sinner and repented only recently. Both are equal before Me. I'll heal each of them from his sickness and from his sins.
This is a fascinating concept. The fly says, "Don't worry, I create the speech of lips, I create new speech patterns. You might have been talking and wasting your time on frivolous matters, but you can change. You can turn around and I will heal. you."
How fascinating is this song of the fly!
The Chida, in Chomat Ana on Yehoshua perek 13,1 says, וִיהוֹשֻׁ֣עַ זָקֵ֔ן בָּ֖א בַּיָּמִ֑י /And Yehoshua was an older man
But if you rescramble the Rashei Tevot of this phrase, ו,ז,ב, ב it spells זובב
Since Yehoshua was an older man, and he spent his whole life learning Torah, he overcame this negative force called Zevuv.
Similarly, the Pasuk says ואברהם זקן בא בימים
And the Chida in his sefer Pene David on Parashat Chayeh Sara says the same thing: That Avraham Avinu was so dedicated to Torah that he came overcame this force of Zevuv.