The Cycles of Nature
讜讬拽专讗 专讘讛 (讜讬诇谞讗) 驻专砖讛 讻讜
讜讬讗诪专 讛’ 讗诇 诪砖讛 讗诪讜专 讗诇 讛讻讛谞讬诐 讝砖”讛 (转讛诇讬诐 讬讟) 讬讜诐 诇讬讜诐 讬讘讬注 讗讜诪专 转谞讬讗 讘讗’ 讘转拽讜驻转 谞讬住谉 讜讘讗’ 讘转拽讜驻转 转砖专讬 讛讬讜诐 讜讛诇讬诇讛 砖讜讬谉 诪讻讗谉 讜讗讬诇讱 讛讬讜诐 诇讜讜讛 诪谉 讛诇讬诇讛 讜讛诇讬诇讛 诪谉 讛讬讜诐 讜驻讜专注讬谉 讝讛 诇讝讛 讘驻讬讜住讬谉 讛讻诇 讘诇讬 砖讟专 讜讘诇讬 讙讝专 讚讬谉 讛讜讬 讬讜诐 诇讬讜诐 讜讙讜’ 讗讘诇 诇诪讟讛 讻诪讛 砖讟专讜转 讜讻诪讛 讙讝专 讚讬谉 讘讻诇 讛讗专抓 讬爪讗 拽讜诐.
Leviticus Rabbah 26:4
“And the Lord said to Moses: Speak to the priests . . . ” This bears on what Scripture says: “Day unto day utters speech” (Psalm 19:3). It was taught: on the day of the tekufah of Nisan and on the first day of the tekufah of Tishrei the day and the night are equal. From then onwards the day borrows from the night and the night from the day, and they repay each other amicably, everything being done without legal document or judicial verdict. This explains “day unto day utters speech.” Here below, however, what a multitude of legal documents and what a multitude of judicial verdicts are required!
A midrash for any attorney or accountant to love, the last line of which already rings with the oy vey iz mir tone which has come down to us via Tevye and Seinfeld as a quintessentially Jewish mode of wry humor.
If ever one needed evidence that Judaism idealizes nature, here it is. We “down below” on earth are stuck with mounds of paperwork every time we need to lend or borrow from anyone, but in nature things are not so complicated. The spring and fall equinoxes (two of four astronomical tekufot, circuits, as designated by the rabbis) are seen as moments of natural balance, where night and day share equally. The rest of the year is an “amicable” give-and-take, a conversation in which day and night lend to and borrow from one another. Psalm 19 鈥� which we recite on Shabbat and festival mornings 鈥� alludes to this peaceful state of nature, the turning from one day to the next, via a night that does not complain or harass itself into the Psalm and that gives freely to its daytime partner, knowing it will receive with equal generosity when winter comes.
The midrash is playful and wise, and as we enjoy the lengthening of days as we move from the budding spring of Nisan toward the summer solstice some weeks from now, we can carry with us the ancient wish of the rabbis: that we spend less time inventing paperwork for ourselves and more time appreciating and learning from the natural world of God’s creation.
