Welcome to Perek Shira. We
are now in the pasuk said by the bird called the Retsifi. It's a famous pasuk of Nechama that we read after Tisha B'Av:
רְצִפִי אוֹמֵר. נַחֲמוּ נַחֲמוּ עַמִּי אֱלֹהֵיכֶם: (ישעיה מ א) יאמר
We have to first find out what this Retsifi bird is, and then we can
understand why it says this.
The sefer Kenaf Renanim tells
us something fascinating -that this bird is what we know today as the penguin,
which is different than other birds in that most birds fly away for the winter,
to warmer lands. But the penguin stays
right where it is. So how does the penguin save himself? What natural instinct
and wisdom did Hashem give it? If you see penguins, they all stay together. Ratsuf means to
connect. They all put their heads under each other's heads and gather
together. That's how they survive the bitter winter. That's the bird called the Retsifi.
What's the message of the Retsifi for us? Every bird's song
is really his natural instinctive message. The penguin's message to every
individual, and especially to people that are going through galut, is to
be wise like the penguin and understand that sometimes what's best for you is
to go through a difficult situation. Even if you are in the South Pole, don't complain
about Hashem's ways. Just stick through
and accept it, and you will become what you're supposed to be (which is a
penguin in this case).
Furthermore, if each person helps their brother, we'll make it
through. That's why the penguin says נַחֲמוּ
נַחֲמוּ עַמִּי יֹאמַר אֱלֹהֵיכֶםbecause when we learn from the
penguin, that will bring us our ultimate comfort, because the redemption will
come. He adds that the reason it says יֹאמַר אֱלֹהֵיכֶםwhich represents Middat HaDin is that even when the Middat
HaDin occurs, the suffering or the wind blowing in your face, you're able
to accept it.
The Mabit adds a beautiful thought on the words נַחֲמוּ נַחֲמוּ עַמִּיComfort,
you'll be comforted.
Why the double wording?
The Midrash says that since we got double the sins (as it says Chet Chatat Yerushalayim) and double the
punishment, we need a double nechama.
Nachamu Nachamu (Midrash Raba on Eicha
1,57).
But he offers an explanation
based on the simple pshat. He says, normally nechama is
when, lo alenu, something terrible happens to somebody, and the person
gets words of comfort or appeasement. But as we have said in the past, in Bereshit
6,6 where it says Vayenachem Hashem,
Rashi says it means Hashem changed His mind.
Rashi explains there that although we normally translate yenachem as comfort, it really
means to change your mind. When someone is comforted, they actually
change their mind. They look at things differently. It's what we call, in modern terms, a reframe. They're
looking at things differently. That's the term nechama- it means to look
at things differently. His words are, anytime it says the word Nichum,
it means changing your mind.
So there is nechama, but
the problem is still there, as with nichum avelim- comforting a mourner- when
someone passes away, he is not coming back to life. But it's a different way of looking at things, it's a reframe.
The Jewish people are in galut. And yes, we have a certain amount of comfort in galut- It's
going to help us, it's better for us,
we're growing from it…But the problem is still there. Then comes the second nechama
and says The ultimate nechama is when we actually get back what we
lost. We're going back to Eretz Yisrael. That is the true nechama and that's the second nechama.
Finally, it says, יֹאמַר אֱלֹהֵיכֶם:in the future tense, not He said, but He will say because
there will be that full comfort that will come.
That is the message of the penguin. Unbelievable. We might think
the penguin is an animal unknown to
David Hamelech, who wrote Perek Shira, but of course, our Chachamim know
everything.
David Hamelech knew about
the penguin; and that's the song of the
Penguin.
נַחֲמוּ עַמִּי נַחֲמוּ
We should try to remember this around Tisha B'Av time. It's a nice thought for then, but B'Ezrat Hashem we
will have Mashiach and we won't need it.
