Of Songs and Shepherds

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov writes that the origin of music is the earth. Each blade of grass, he writes, plays a particular note, and somehow, the shepherd, who dwells in the fields as his sheep graze, subconsciously absorbs these notes and plays a unique tune, based on the notes of the grass of the area that he inhabits at any particular time.

Since discovering this idea, I "noted" the relationship between many words relating to plants and music. Some examples:

GaN = garden; niGuN = melody

ZeMuRah = vine; ZeMiRah = pruning, song

ShaRon = lush pasture (Metzudath Tziyon, Isaiah 35:2); ShiR = song

"Is God With You?"

Ruth 2:4:

"And behold, Boaz was coming from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, 'God be with you,' and they said to him, 'May God bless you.'

I translated the verse according to its usual understanding, that Boaz blessed his workers with the phrase, "God be with you," which was the traditional greeting, and they responded likewise with a traditional blessing, "May God bless you."

However, the Rabbi Eliyahu ("the Gaon") of Vilna (ad loc) explains differently:

The Zohar teaches that when two Jews unite, the Divine Presence joins them, but this so long as they engage in Torah matters, but if they do not that which pleases God, the Divine Presense abandons them, as is written in the Torah: 'Let no unseemly thing be seen among you lest [the Divine Presence] abandon you.' So too here when [Boaz] saw a maiden among [his reapers], he said: 'Is God with you?' In other words, 'Have you stumbled [in holy matters] because of her, causing the Divine Presence to abandon you?'

exile compared to night

Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 26:9:

My spirit desired You at night...

Rashi:

'My spirit desired You' -- in my exile, which is similar to night... 

Immortality in the Messianic Era?

Isaiah 25:8: "He will swallow up death forever, and Ha-Shem Elo-him will wipe away tears from upon all faces, and He will remove the degradation of his people from upon all the earth, for Ha-Shem has spoken."

Rashi: "'He will swallow up death' - He will cover it up and cause it to disappear forever from Israel."

The verse certainly lends itself to Rashi's understanding, which appears to be that Ha-Shem will cause all death to cease in the End of Days. However, Rambam famously writes in his Letter to Yemen regarding the Messianic Age, that the natural order of the world will not change, nor will people, including the messiah, be immortal. Rather, the messiah will re-establish the Kingdom of David over which he will rule, then die, and his son would reign after him and so forth. How does Rambam contend with this verse? The Radak illuminates this issue, as he is a follower of the Maimonidean school of thought.

Radak: "He will eliminate and nullify death, that is to say, premature death, but not natural death. In other words, that which the gentiles used to slaughter them in exile -- that death will be nullified then. And the tears that were upon all faces, that is, upon all the faces of the people of Israel, who would cry in the exile constantly because of the evils that the gentiles would perpetrate against them -- then G-d will wipe away those tears from upon their faces, for they will have no more sorrow."

G-d's "regret": Isaiah 23:13; Sukah 52B;

Isaiah 23:13:

Behold, the land of the Chaldeans, this people was not. Assyria founded it for ships, they set up their towers, they demolished its palaces, they made it a ruin.

Rashi (ad loc.):

"this people was not" -- They are not fitting to have been a people... They are an aberrant people among mankind, whose creation the Holy One Blessed is He regrets, as [our Sages] taught: "There are three [whose creation] the Holy One Blessed is He regrets," in Tractate Sukah (52B).

Sukah 52B:

Rav Chana bar Acha said, and some say it was taught in the Academy of Rav: There are four that the Holy One Blessed is He regrets having created, and they are: the Chaldeans, the Evil Inclination, Ishmael, Exile.

Iyun Yaakov (ad loc.):

"the Holy One Blessed is He regrets" -- Even though the Holy One Blessed is He knows the future and regret does not apply to Him, nevertheless we find [similarly stated] in the Torah, "G-d regretted that He made man on earth," for the Torah speaks in human terms. The meaning of this statement is that it would be fitting to regret [creating] these, were it not for the fact that He did so in order that Israel would return in repentance, and the Evil Inclination was created to increase the reward for the righteous who vanquish it.

Isaiah 22:1-2; Taanith 29A

Isaiah 22:1-2:

A prophecy concerning the Valley of Visions: For what reason is it, now, that you have all gone to the rooftops? [City that was] filled with the shouts [of masses of people], city of rabble, city of excited outcry, your dead are not the dead of the sword, nor the casualties of war."

Taanith 29A:

When the Temple was destroyed the first time, groups of the priestly youth gathered, with the keys to the Sanctuary in their hands, and they ascended to the roof of the Sanctuary and said before Him: 'Master of the Universe, since we did not merit to be faithful treasurers before You, behold, the keys are given over to You." [With that,] they threw them upward. A sort of hand emerged and took them, and they (the priests) jumped and fell into the fire. Upon them Isaiah lamented, "A prophecy concerning the Valley of Visions: For what reason, now, has all of you ascended to the rooftops? [City that was] filled with the shouts [of masses of people], city of rabble, city of excited outcry, your dead are not the dead of the sword, nor the casualties of war" (Isaiah 22:1-2).

Yerushalmi Shekalim 6:2:

At the time Nebuchadnezzar ascended to here (Israel), he came and settled in Daphne near Antioch. The Great Sanhedrin came out toward him and said to him: "Has the time come for this Temple to be destroyed?" He said to them: "Give to me the one whom I appointed king over you and I shall go." They came and said to Yehoyachin, King of Judah: "Nebuchadnezzar wants you." When he heard this from them, he took the keys of the Holy Temple and ascended to the roof of the Sanctuary. He said before Him: "Master of the Universe, in the past we were faithful to You and Your keys were given over to us. Now that we are not faithful, behold, Your keys are given over to You." Two amoraim (Talmudic teachers) [disputed what happened next]. One said [Yehoyachin] threw [the keys upwards] and they have not yet descended, and one said a sort of hand came and took them from his hand. When all the noblemen of Judah saw this, they ascended to the tops of their roofs, fell and died. So it is written (Isaiah 22:1): "A prophecy concerning the Valley of Visions: For what reason is it, now, that you have all gone to the rooftops?"

Va-Yikra Rabah 19:6:

When Nebuchadnezzar killed [King Yehoyakim], he appointed [Yehoyakim's] son Yechonyah (Yehoyachin) in his stead and descended to Babylon. All of the people of Babylon came forth to praise him. They said to him, "What have you done?" He said to them, "Yehoyakim rebelled against me. I killed him and appointed Yechonyah his son in his stead." They said to him, "There is a parable: Don't raise a good puppy from a bad dog. A bad puppy from a bad dog -- how much more so!" Immediately he hearkened to them  and ascended and settled in Daphne of Antioch. The Great Sanhedrin descended toward him and said to him: "Has the time come for this Temple to be destroyed?" He said to them: "No, however the one whom I have appointed king over you -- give him to me and I shall go on my way." They went and said to Yechonyah: "Nebuchadnezzar wants you." What did he do? He stood up and gathered all the keys of Holy Temple and ascended to the top of the roof and said: "Master of the Universe, since we have not merited to be treasurers before You, until now we were faithful masters of households before You; from now on, behold, Your keys are before You." Two amoraim [disputed what happened next]. One said a sort of hand of fire descended and took them from him, and one said from the time he threw them they have not yet descended. What did the distinguished men of Israel do? They ascended to the tops of their roofs and fell and died. So it is written (Isaiah 22:1): "A prophecy concerning the Valley of Visions: For what reason, now, have you all ascended to the rooftops?" What did Nebuchadnezzar do? He seized [Yechonyah] and incarcerated him in prison, and anyone who was incarcerated in [Nebuchadnezzar]'s days would never leave there... Yehoyachin was exiled and the Great Sanhedrin was exiled with him...

Jerusalem called "Valley of Visions"; Jerusalem is Gate of Heaven

Isaiah 22:1:

A prophecy concerning the Valley of Visions...

 Rashi:

"the Valley of Visions" - This is  Jerusalem, the valley about which most prophecies were prophesied.

Rashi to Taanith 29A:

"Valley of Visions" -- the valley in which they would prophesy... Alternatively, Jerusalem, for all would gaze at her.

Etz Yoseph to Taanith 29A:

In Pethichta 24 of Echah Rabatha it states: "'A prophecy concerning the Valley of Visions' -- the valley about which all the prophets prophesy." (The meaning is that this prophecy was said concerning Jerusalem. She is called "the Valley of Visions" for all the visionaries, i.e. the prophets, prophecy concerning the return of her inhabitants. [The prophet] called her a valley even though it is a mountain to connote derisively, for her inhabitants cast her down with their evil, making her from a mountain into a valley, for she is no longer worthy to be called a mountain, rather, a valley.) "The valley from which all the prophets derive." According to this interpretation, the term "valley" connotes the high quality of the city and its praise, for just as the valley receives rainwater, so is Jerusalem fit to receive the flow of prophecy, for there is the Gate of Heaven and from there comes prophecy to the prophets, for "all the prophets" (i.e. most) derive from her, as R' Yochanan said: "Any prophet whose city's name was not specified was a Jerusalemite."