THE SONG OF THE CAMEL
The camel sings of the deep relationship between Hashem and His people, even they are exiled far away.
[Song 62] Camel (Ch. 5)
גַּמַּל אוֹמֵר. יי מִמָּרוֹם יִשְׁאָג וּמִמְּ עוֹן קָדְשׁוֹ יִתֵּן קוֹלוֹ שָׁאֹג יִשְׁאַג עַל נָוֵהוּ: (ירמיה כה ל)
The Camel is saying: “…Hashem shall roar from upon high and cause his voice to sound forth from his holy place, his shout echoes profoundly over his dwelling place….”
Commentary
The camel is incredibly resilient to the intense heat of the desert and can go for nine
days without water. It does not need refined food and can eat even thorns. The
sages teach that the camel symbolizes the Babylonian exile, which is describe as a
"גמול – "a payment of punishment – which has the same word-root as "גמל– "
camel. Then, the Jewish nation was exiled from Hashem’s chosen land to the
spiritual desert of Babylon, with only a hump-ful of water-like Torah: the few
hundred master Torah scholars who joined them in exile. To this day, the camel
sings of Hashem’s roars of anguish over His banished children, since we have not
yet fully recovered from that exile. Since the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash, it has been harder to relate to Hashem,
but the rules of our relationship remain the same. Hashem treats small mitzvos in
our generation like great feats of faith in bygone days. Even sins are treated with
consideration with the times that we live in. We should not forget that He loves us
still beyond our comprehension and yearns mightily for our return. In the
meantime, even if the spiritual music is on low volume, we must sing with it.
LIVING WITH THE SONG
Jewish life in exile can be at times shadowed with gloom and loneliness but it too sings its own song. Those that
dance to its tune can find happiness in every situation.
We must realize the nature of exile and not be disheartened. If it is harder to feel Hashem and spirituality it is not
a reason not to try to do so. The rules of life have not changed and the Torah remained identical. Small Mitzvos
perpetrated in our generation are worth in Heaven as much as great feats of faith in bygone days.6 Even sins are
treated with consideration with the times that we live in. If the spiritual music is on low volume, sing with it.
Yes, we can live through the heat and the thirst and whatever our Shepherd leads us through. Our exile is not less
a song to our Creator than our redemption.
Inspirational commentary By Shmuel Ben-Tzion Kraines author of
The Song of Existence.