THE SONG OF THE LARGE NON-KOSHER LIVESTOCK
Large non-Kosher livestock sing of the beautiful system of Hashem’s world, that hard workers eat the fruits of their labor.
[Song 61] Large Non-Kosher Livestock (Ch. 5)
בְּהֵמָה גַּסָּה טְמֵאָה אוֹמֶרֶת. יְגִיעַ כַּפֶּיךָ כִּי תֹאכֵל אַשְׁרֶיךָ וְטוֹב לָךְ: (תהילים קכח ב)
The Working Animal is saying: “When you eat the fruit of your labors, happy are you and good is your lot.”
Commentary
Large non-Kosher livestock are kept solely for the benefit of their labor. They work
hard and without complaint, and their efforts pay off at the end of the day when
they calmly go to their sheds where fodder waits in their troughs. They sing that
humble laborers who do not seek wealth by easy illicit means are “praiseworthy”
in their contentment in this world, and “it is good” for them when their painstaking
honesty is rewarded in the World to Come.
By maintaining healthy and holy hard work habits, in addition to being doubly
blessed, we are joining in this song of the Creator’s righteous fairness.
LIVING WITH THE SONG
“Man was created to labor.” There are no shortcuts in life and there is no such thing as a free lunch. Hard work
pays off. This is the way of the world and one of the ingredients of natural happiness. One who wishes to dress
like a gentleman while at heart is depraved, seeking only enjoyment and honor, fools nobody, including himself.
He cannot be successful as he is going against the very nature of man: to labor. True accomplishment and honor
can only come from healthy work ethics.
However, the splendor of such living is not to work hard without a worthwhile reason but rather as a means of
serving the Living God. This is the greatest of earthly fulfillment. Even the non-Kosher beasts sing of earnest
living and hard work, yet they remain beasts. When man devotes himself to the One God and serves Him
wholeheartedly, giving all that he has, his life rings with angelic song.
Inspirational commentary By Shmuel Ben-Tzion Kraines author of
The Song of Existence.