Today we will study the song of the Siporet Karamim, which may sound
like bird of the vineyard, but it's actually
a type of grasshopper, as it says in Hulin 65A. The Gemara in Masechet Shabbat
90B details many medicinal purposes of this grasshopper, as does the Yerushalmi in Masechet Shabbat.
Rav Chaim Kanievsky and others say this grasshopper was hunted down for its medicinal
purposes, and therefore we can call it an endangered species. What
is the song of this grasshopper?
. אֶשָּׂא עֵינַי אֵל הֶהָרִים מֵאַיִן יָבֹא
עֶזְרִי: I lift up my eyes to heaven. Where will my help come from?
The endangered species being hunted down is singing Me'ayin Yavo
Ezri, which is a very famous pasuk.
And there's a famous explanation: Me'ayin Yavo Ezri means, I
can't figure it out. I don't know how it's going to happen. Ultimately, the
answer is, I don't have to know how
it's going to happen. Hashem knows how to work it out.
The Sefer Pi Eliyahu shares
a beautiful thought based on this medicinal aspect of the grasshopper, citing
the Gemara in Masechet Shabbat
which says, It helps with wisdom; when eaten, it causes you to remember
things, and you won't forget your learning. This reminds of when
people would take ginseng, or a certain
type of stimulant to stay awake, and
things like that. Yeshiva boys would take these things to help their learning.
So in the days of old, the learning people wanted to eat from this grasshopper to remember their learning. But
there's a Gemara in Masechet Hagiga 9B that says that if you review your learning
101 times, you won't forget it. And
a famous Gemara says you can't compare someone that reviews a 100 times to
someone who reviews 101 times. So
there's something special about reviewing 101 times. When give101 when we go up
to the sefer Torah, and numerical value
of Michael, the angel, is 101. There is something special about 101. Therefore,
says the Pi Eliyahu, this grasshopper says, I lift my eyes up
to the hareem, which can also be interpreted
as the midrash tells us, as guiders, or Moreh/teacher. Torah
means they guide hora'ahrah as a guidance. So, I lift
up my eyes to the guides, to those teachers, to those rabbis, and I say Me'Ayina
-The numerical value of MeAyin is 101.
So the grasshopper is saying Meayin/if only people reviewed 101 times, they wouldn't
need to eat me and then, Yavo Ezri/I would be saved.
What a beautiful pshat
in understanding why the grasshopper doesn't just
look up to God, but says, 'Hey, there are other ways than taking the shortcut of eating
me. Go and take the long road and review 101 times.'
The Sefer Zimrat HaAretz V'Shamayim offers an unbelievable explanation of the connection between the
grasshopper's song and what it does. Grasshoppers normally destroy vegetation, like
locusts. They destroy vineyards and therefore the farmers usually set up all kinds of traps to catch them. But the
grasshopper has a tremendous desire to eat those grapes, so he puts himself in
danger, even though he knows it's dangerous. He just ignores everything, to do
what he has to do.
But the Gemara in Masechet Berachot 63A says that even
a thief, when he's entering the tunnel, calls out to God. Some people think
that's a good thing, he's calling out
to God. Even he relies on Hashem. That's one way to look at it. But this sefer
is saying, it is really a complaint against him. It's like a thief saying B'Ezrat
Hashem when he's about to steal.
He's so blinded by his desire to steal that
it blinds him. He actually thinks Hashem is going to help me.
People do all kinds of conniving things and think, Hashem is
going to help me.
Therefore, we say, learn the lesson. Don't be like that
grasshopper that just wants to do what he wants to do, and be blind to all the
reality.
He just goes in, despite the traps and the dangers, because he
wants what he wants. Don't be blind by using your bitachon in a wrong way.
The Chazon Ish talks a lot about counterfeit, falsified bitachon
whereby people misuse their bitachon.
That's the message of this grasshopper. Don't misuse bitachon to
get what you want.
There are certain words for something
that's meant to be. In the Syrian community they say nisib, and it's
bashert in the Ashkenazi
world.
I once heard of someone who did something very crooked in a shidduch to
get the girl and then said, "It's nisib,
it's from Hashem."
Really? What if I shoot you and say it's from Hashem? Don't misuse bitachon. That's the message
of the grasshopper.
