Today we study the song of the Fox
הוֹי בֹּנֶה בֵיתוֹ בְּלֹא צֶדֶק וַעֲלִיּוֹתָיו בְּלֹא מִשְׁפָּט בְּרֵעֵהוּ יַעֲבֹד חִנָּם וּפֹעֲלוֹ לֹא יִתֶּן לוֹ: (ירמיה כב יג) /Woe to the one who builds his house without righteousness, and his upper stories (or attics) without justice, and who works his fellow without payment, and does not give him his wages.
This is the Song of the Fox, talking about the man who's dishonest in his building and dishonest with his workers.
Why is this the song of the Fox? Because the fox is known as a sly creature. The Gemara mentions many parables of foxes and they're always sly.
The Sefer Lekutei Amarim quotes something fascinating from the Gemara, at the end of Masechet Makot: When the rabbis were going past Mount Scopus, they saw a fox coming out of the Holy of Holies and they started to cry, for how could it be that a fox entered a place where no human was allowed? Why was it so terrible about the fox, that the pasuk says, עַ֤ל הַר־צִיּוֹן֙ שֶׁשָּׁמֵ֔ם שׁוּעָלִ֖ים הִלְּכוּ־בֽוֹ׃ {פ}On the Temple Mount that is desolate, the foxes went in it (Eicha 5,18)? We cry over the foxes that went there. But what's so bad about foxes? The commentary Yefeh Anaf on Eicha tells us, because the fox symbolizes trickery and slyness and the Gemara tells us, Yerushalayim was destroyed because people are no longer honest in business (Terumah in Sotah 48B).
So if the foxes are coming out, it's symbolic of the fact that the Bet Hamikdash was destroyed because of the fox-like behavior of the people. That's why they cried. That's why the fox says, "Woe onto the one that builds his house without righteousness, referring to the Bet Hamikdash. If you build your house without righteousness, it's not going to last.
There's another beautiful lesson of a fox that has to do with dishonesty.
The Midrash Raba in Kohelet (5,25) tells of a fox that found a vineyard that was fenced on all sides. He saw a small hole in the fence and wanted to get in, but he couldn't because he was too big to fit through the small hole. So he fasted for three days, became very thin and weak and snuck through the hole. After he ate and became fat, he wanted to get out, but he couldn't because he was too big. So again, he fasted for three days, until he got thin and weak again, and he got out. Ultimately, he went in and came out the same way. Then he looked over at the vineyard and said, "Vineyard, vineyard, what are you worth? What are you worth? All beautiful fruit- But what did I gain from it?" That is man in this world.
Rav Matityahu Salomon says we tell the fox, "You should have thrown the grapes over and saved them for later, and not eaten them now." That's a message for man in this world. Sometimes we have to prepare and think about the long term, not just the pleasure of the moment. That's one of the mistakes that the fox, so to say, preaches about. He's sly.
Additionally, the Gemara in Sanhedrin 39A mentions stories of foxes. And it's elaborated more by Teshuvot Rav Chai Gaon who says there was a story of a fox who was attacked by a lion that wanted to eat it. So the fox said, "What do you want from me? I'm just a little, thin guy! I'll take you someplace where you'll see a nice, fat man and you can eat him instead, okay?"
The lion answered, "I'm afraid- what if the man prays? Maybe I'll stumble and I'll get into trouble."
But the fox said, "Don't worry. Your sin won't come to you, or to your son. It'll come to your grandson, so don't worry about it until then! Enjoy, enjoy!" The fox preached, and spoke until, finally, the lion agreed.
So, the lion approached the man. But it seems the man's prayers helped, because there was a hole in the ground, with a mat on top of it, and the lion fell right in. The lion looked up at the fox and said, "Fox, what happened? Didn't you tell me that it's not going to come onto me, it's going to come onto my grandson"
The fox answered, "Yes, that's true, but your grandfather also sinned, and you are the grandson." So the lion said, "That's not fair! Why should I get punished for his sins?" To which the the fox said, "Why didn't you think about that when you attacked?"
The Baaleh Mussar, say, What exactly is the message here? The message is that we live life and we get stuck in the moment, and we don't realize it. When we see something enticing, our brains shut off. We say, "Yeah, of course what the fox says makes a lot of sense. They're not going to get me, they're not going to get my kids…"
But then when you are full, you say, Hey, that doesn't make any sense. It made sense when you were blinded, but when you start thinking straight, it doesn't make sense.