1. A song of ascents. Of David. Had it not been for the Lord Who was with us, let Israel declare now.
א. שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת לְדָוִד לוּלֵי ה' שֶׁהָיָה לָנוּ יֹאמַר נָא יִשְׂרָאֵל
2. Had it not been for the Lord Who was with us when men rose up against us,
ב. לוּלֵי ה' שֶׁהָיָה לָנוּ בְּקוּם עָלֵינוּ אָדָם
3. Then they would have swallowed us raw when their anger was kindled against us.
ג. אֲזַי חַיִּים בְּלָעוּנוּ בַּחֲרוֹת אַפָּם בָּנוּ
4. Then the waters would have washed us away; illness would have passed over our soul.
ד. אֲזַי הַמַּיִם שְׁטָפוּנוּ נַחְלָה עָבַר עַל נַפְשֵׁנוּ
5. Then the wicked waters would have passed over our soul.
ה. אֲזַי עָבַר עַל נַפְשֵׁנוּ הַמַּיִם הַזֵּידוֹנִים
6. Blessed is the Lord, Who did not give us as prey for their teeth.
ו. בָּרוּךְ ה' שֶׁלֹּא נְתָנָנוּ טֶרֶף לְשִׁנֵּיהֶם
7. Our soul escaped like a bird from the hunters' snare; the snare broke, and we escaped.
ז. נַפְשֵׁנוּ כְּצִפּוֹר נִמְלְטָה מִפַּח יוֹקְשִׁים הַפַּח נִשְׁבָּר וַאֲנַחְנוּ נִמְלָטְנוּ
8. Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
ח. עֶזְרֵנוּ בְּשֵׁם ה' עֹשֵׂה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ
In Psalm 124 King David
exhorts the nation of Israel to enthusiastically recount how, if G-d was not
with them, they would have certainly been swept away in a flood of malevolence by
the mass of humanity. The intensity of a deluge of evil is built up by four of
the psalm’s eight verses. It starts with mankind rising up against Israel. The
hostility becomes angry and threatens to swallow up the nation alive. This
becomes a flooding river about to drown the soul of the people. In its
culmination the war against Israel becomes brazen and wanton.
The Mechilta explains this
psalm as the day that Hashem delivered Israel from the hand of Egypt. This is
because Israel was like a bird in the hand of a man, and if he squeezed just a
little, it would be strangled. The Tikkunei HaZohar views psalms like this as
King David seeing the exile by means of divine inspiration. The Sforno comments
that the psalm is talking about the shield and help that G-d gave to Israel at
the time of the destruction of the Temple in order that the nation should not
be annihilated.
The most conventional
interpretation is like the Metsudas David that it was at a time all man rose in
anger to kill and destroy. There was no desire to humiliate or wait; rather it
was a flood of brazenness and evil in which there was an all-consuming lust to
rapidly swallow us up even while still alive. The language is repeated to
emphasize that it was coming from all directions. The Meiri sees the flood of
waters as a simile for a flood of troubles. The commentaries generally
understand the word נחלה as a river, Rashi,
though, interprets it as the language of being ill (חולה).
The Malbim sees this as two
types of enemies. One is an enemy of the body and the other an enemy of the
soul. The line about a bird being trapped in a snare, he sees as a metaphor. He
explains that when the enemies wanted to agitate rebellion against the faith,
Israel was like a bird before which all types of food are spread in a trap.
However they were able to withstand the test and instead the enemies themselves
were broken and destroyed.
The Malbim comments on the
term “a song of ascents” that the nation should recount how it was through the
kindness of Hashem that we were rescued. He continues that the psalm expresses
the idea that the way we trust in the name of Hashem is by believing that our
help ultimately came from Him. The addition that, “He is the maker of heaven
and earth”, means that he directs nature and is above it therefore our help is
really miraculous providence and not of the natural order. The Meiri has a
similar rational and explains that we escape because of our great longing for
the redemption and this resembles a marvel. The Zohar brings a homily in the
name of Rabbi Yehuda that it is on the merit of Jacob that Israel is shielded
as it written, “If Hashem had not been with us, say please ‘Yisrael’”. This
means grandpa Yisrael.
When I lived in Manhattan I
was a member of Lincoln Square Synagogue. There Rabbi Shlomo Riskin would give
sermons about Amalek. He explained in some situations Hashem would defend us
against Amalek and other times we would need to defend ourselves. He continued
that sometimes Amalek appears like a lion and other times like a fly. When
Amalek comes like a lion then Hashem fights our war. When Amalek comes like a
fly we must defend ourselves. However, a fly is attracted to filth, therefore
when a Jew is dirty they will be buzzed by flies. The solution is to clean
yourself up.
Similarly there are times the
Jews are righteous and are attacked because they are properly teaching others
about Hashem. In that case a prayer is enough for Hashem to fight their war. Other
times the Jews are attacked by the nations because they have neglected
religion. In that case they must say Shma Yisrael and remember that there is
only one G-d and His name is the name that is written in the Five Books of
Moses. And with that miracles will come to rescue us and this is being rescued
by the name of Hashem.
לע"נ
הסבתא טויבע בת יואל לייב ז"ל נלב"ע כה בשבט תשכ"ג
העלון ניתן לקבל בדואר אלקטרוני וגם באתר
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