THE SONGS OF THE FIELDS
Fields sing of the Godly wisdom behind the heavens, the earth, and their interrelationship.
[Song 6] Fields (Ch. 1)
שָׂדוֹת אוֹמְרִים. יי בְּחָכְמָה יָסַד אָרֶץ כּוֹנֵן שָׁמַיִם בִּתְבוּנָה: (משלי ג יט)
The Fields are saying: “Hashem founded the land with wisdom; He established the heavens with understanding.”
Commentary
Hashem fashioned soil with Godly wisdom, infusing it with nutrients necessary
to grow all types of vegetation. He hung the heavens above with intuition such
that they would continuously bring rains upon the soil and the sun would shine
appropriately for each season.
Man is a miniature world. The soul corresponds to the heavens and the body
represents the earth. Just as the earth is tiny compared to the astronomically vast
heavens, the body is incomparably smaller than the soul. And just as the soil is
dependent upon the sky for its life-giving rains, so too the body needs spiritual
sustenance in order to actualize its potential.
LIVING WITH THE SONG
The earth is rich in potential. All plants can find nutrition within it. Hashem founded it with wisdom so that it
could grow life. However, the Earth needs rain in order for it to grow. With intuition, the heavens were created
above functioning in a wondrous endless process of precipitation to continuously bring rains upon the soil.
The Beis Elokim points out that each soil is fitting to grow a different kind of plant. There were nations in history
called the Chori and the Chivi who could determine through taste and smell of the soil what its particular nature
was and what should be planted there. This variety of minerals displays Hashem’s wisdom in creating the earth.
Hashem desired to bring life to the vegetation through rains as opposed to permanent moisturizing of the soil in
order that we would always be dependent upon Him to grant us our livelihood. For this reason, the land of Israel
is almost wholly dependent upon its annual rainfall. Egypt, on the other hand, has all that it needs from the Nile
River. The dependency that we have is a blessing for us because it makes us always have to behave as we should
in order to be granted needed rains.
Inspirational commentary By Shmuel Ben-Tzion Kraines author of
The Song of Existence.