{"id":80117,"date":"2020-09-20T19:02:40","date_gmt":"2020-09-20T16:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=80117"},"modified":"2020-09-20T19:02:40","modified_gmt":"2020-09-20T16:02:40","slug":"on-the-nechilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/on-the-nechilot\/","title":{"rendered":"On The Nechilot"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"80117","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":62571,"related_cahpter":"572","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A beautiful, blooming buzzing of bees\r\n\r\n","content":"

The psalmist invokes a theme that is repeated in much of Psalms: an appeal to God to defeat those who are evil, and simultaneously protect individuals who seek to serve the Divine and do what is proper in the eyes of God and their fellow human beings.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is unique about Psalm 5 is the instrument that the Psalmist chooses to be played in the Temple by the Levites when this Psalm is sung: \u201cFor the leader; on <\/span>\u201c<\/b>Nec\u1e25ilot<\/strong>\u201d<\/b> A psalm of David.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only have commentators encountered difficulty attempting to identify which musical instrument is being referred to, the word itself is a \u201chapax legomenon,\u201d occurring only once in the Tanach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One cognate mentioned in passing by Rashi, is that this mysterious instrument could be associated with a \u201c<\/span>nachil shel devorim<\/span><\/em>,\u201d \u201ca swarm of bees\u201d: \u201d<\/span>ve-nachalei<\/span><\/em>\u201d (swarms, torrents) of Belial terrified me\u201d (Ps. 18:5); \u201cThey have beset me like bees\u2026\u201d (Ps. 118:12). The coining of the instrument\u2019s name apparently due to the similarity of its sound to the \u201cbuzz\u201d made by a swarm of bees.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rabbi Shimshon Dovid Pincus invokes natural history and metaphysical belief to offer an insight into the symbolism implied by the use of \u201cNechilot,\u201d assuming the association of the instrument with\u00a0 the sound of \u201cbees\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026<\/span>The Holy One, Blessed Be He, never created two things that were identical. He makes every individual different from the next. He has no need for two creatures that are exactly the same, since He Himself is One and also Unique, so too when He creates something, His creation is also unique.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the special quality of the song of the bees, i.e., that each bee has its own \u201cbuzz\u201d that is unique to itself, and the joining of all the \u201cbuzzes\u201d together engenders perfect musical harmony\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Pincus\u2019 intriguing interpretation calls to mind a passage in the Talmud where we are told that aspects of the natural creation have a great deal to teach us regarding human behavior: \u201cRabbi Yo\u1e25anan said: Even if the Torah had not been given, we would have learned modesty from the cat, and that stealing is objectionable from the ant, and forbidden intimacy from the dove\u2026\u201d (Eruvin 100b).<\/span><\/p>\n

Assuming the examples listed above do not constitute an exhaustive list but are merely examples from the myriad possibilities extent in the natural world, the psalmist would certainly add the buzzing of bees to the Talmud\u2019s illustrations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Applying such an idea to the contents of Psalm 5, one is left with the impression that even if the psalmist is stating that God should support those who are righteous, there isn\u2019t a single way by which God is to be worshipped. Therefore, we should all be prepared to acknowledge that proper Divine Service is a harmony of many voices rather than a monotone where all is singularly the same.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":80118,"id":80118,"title":"ps5-bees","filename":"ps5-bees.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps5-bees.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/on-the-nechilot\/ps5-bees\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps5-bees","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":80117,"date":"2020-09-20 16:01:35","modified":"2021-02-24 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