We are now doing Perek Shira. Today is the song of the
sun from Habakuk, 3,11
שֶׁ֥מֶשׁ יָרֵ֖חַ עָ֣מַד
זְבֻ֑לָה לְא֤וֹר חִצֶּ֙יךָ֙ יְהַלֵּ֔כוּ לְנֹ֖גַהּ בְּרַ֥ק חֲנִיתֶֽךָ
The sun and the moon stood in the heaven Zevulah, the light of Your
arrows they will go, to the shining that comes from the lightning, which is Your
shield.
Rashi quotes the Targum Yonatan which says that this refers to the war in Givon,
when Yehoshua stopped the sun and moon from moving. The Radak adds that when we
say they traveled to the light of your lightning, it refers
to the Jewish people who were traveling at night when the Egyptians were
chasing them. It says Barad/Hail came down while they were running, and
with that hail came lightning which lit up the night.
The Ibn Ezra says that the
sun and the moon stopped because we don't need the sun,
and we don't need the moon. We can use God's lightning to travel with. So
according to this, the song of the sun is You don't need me. It looks like
I'm giving light. It looks like you need me, but you don't. It's really God
that lights up the world, and He could light it up as He likes. That's the simple explanation of this pasuk: the
traveling refers to the people traveling. The people don't need the sun
to travel. The people can travel by the light of the lightning.
But the Midrash has different explanations.
Midrash Raba in Vayikra 31,9
says that every morning the sun and the moon go to God to ask permission to
light up the world. They can't just do
it on their own, they have to ask permission. And
when they go to God to ask permission, God's presence is so bright that their
eyes become dim and they can't travel because they can't see. So what does God
do? God sends lightning, which gives additional light to the sun and the moon,
so that they'll be able to travel. Whatever this means, metaphorically, is not
our issue. But the message is the same- we look at the sun and the moon and we
think the sun and the moon are the luminaries; we think that the sun and the
moon are the source for the light. But no, the sun and the moon themselves
don't have light. They're blinded. They need God to light up the way for them
to be able to travel, to give us light. This
is really the song of the sun.
People worship the sun, and but they miss the mark by thinking that
the sun and the moon are their own independent sources of light.
This is the sun's disclaimer, "If you were behind the scenes,
you would see what's going on. I'm not the source of light. I can't even see
myself," says the sun and the moon. "I need to have God's lightning to
direct me."
Another Midrash, the Yalkut Shimoni on Tehilim 19
Siman, 673, says that every morning the sun says, I don't want to leave. I'm
embarrassed to leave because all of creation is bowing to me and getting You
upset. I don't want to come out. So Hashem forces him with His arrows. This is a new way to read the
pasuk, לְא֤וֹר חִצֶּ֙יךָ֙
יְהַלֵּ֔כוּ/God shoots arrows at
them, which is the lightning, and that causes them to go against
their will and give the light. Again, the sun's song is "Please, creation,
don't be fooled. Don't attribute the light to me. I'm embarrassed that you're bowing to me as if I have
my own source. God is the source of light." That is the true light. The sun
is called shemesh, because, like shamosh, it's only a servant.
It serves God.
There is a famous Gemara
that says, The bartender pours the drink, and the thank you goes the
bartender, although the wine is really
owned by the host. So too, we get all excited by the rain and the sun and
the weather, without really going above it all and realizing that God is
the source of all light.
