THE SONG OF THE EGYPTIAN VULTURE
The Egyptian vulture sings of Hashem’s mercy upon His nation and His eventual in-gathering of their exiles.
[Song 49] Egyptian Vulture (Ch. 4)
צִפֹּרֶת כְּרָמ ִים אוֹמֶרֶת. אֶשָּׂא עֵינַי אֵל הֶהָרִים מֵאַיִן יָבֹא עֶזְרִי: (תהילים קכא א)
The Grasshopper is saying: “I lift my eyes up to the mountains, wherefrom shall my help come?”
Commentary
The Egyptian vulture has characteristic compassion upon its young. It lays its eggs
amongst high rocks, out of reach of predators, and it cares for its fledglings long
after they hatch. It is called “Rachama” because of this mercy ]רחמים ,]and it
therefore signifies similar Heavenly mercy upon us. We have a tradition that when
it calls in a certain way, it is a herald of coming rains, and in another way, it can
even herald the coming of the Mashiach. It therefore sings of Hashem calling the
Jewish exiles to ingather.
The Egyptian vulture teaches that our meagre acts of mercy below, even towards
our own children, can arouse Heavenly mercies of Godly proportion. Sympathy is
an important Mitzvah of its own. The sheer power of an actual act of charity is
inconceivable. If we hear the calls of others, Hashem will hear our call, too, and
the Egyptian vulture will sound its final herald.
LIVING WITH THE SONG
We don’t have to wait for the call of the Rachama bird in order to hear its song.
There are actually two separate Mitzvos that apply to charity. One is open one’s hand. The other is to open one’s
heart. Even if one cannot or chooses not to help somebody in need, we have a Mitzvah to exercise the divine trait
of compassion and feel the pain of another. Even upon animals we are to emulate our Creator and act mercifully.
This is all irrelevant to the actual giving. Thus, one can fulfill the precept of giving a coin before Shacharis and
before Minchah and arouse heavenly charity towards him even with a minute donation. Furthermore, the sages
teach that each penny accumulates to a great amount. The pennies are not looked upon as scrap metal as many
tend to look at them. In heaven, these are seen as part of a great sum and valued as such.
All the more so when we merit to truly perform a great act of charity and to give significant funds to one who
needs it greater than we. This full expression of mercy is a call to Hashem to grant relief and salvation. If the
whole nation would act in this way we will soon merit to hear the song of the Rachama in all of its splendor.
Inspirational commentary By Shmuel Ben-Tzion Kraines author of
The Song of Existence.