Perek Shira: The Song of The Gazelle
The Gazelle says: “I will sing of Your might, and I will praise Your kindness in the morning, for You have been a bastion for me, and a refuge on the day of my distress.” (Tehillim 59:17)
The gazelle symbolizes flight for survival. With a small body, graceful figure, and nimble legs, it is among the fastest of all animals, and it survives by outrunning the many predators that wish to feast on its tender flesh. When the night ends and the beasts of prey return to their dens, and the gazelle opens its eyes to another day of existence, its survival is a song to its Creator no less than that which King David sang when he was saved from his enemies: “I will sing of Your might, and I will praise Your kindness in the morning, for You have been a bastion for me, and a refuge on the day of my distress.”
On a deeper level of understanding, the Sages interpret this verse as an allusion to the Jewish nation’s song when their Egyptian oppressors drowned in the sea, as well as an allusion to their song at the dawn of the final redemption. We too have “nighttimes” of travail in our lives, during which we turn to Hashem and pray with all our hearts. When “morning” comes, we need to remember to thank Him and sing to Him with no less intensity. By doing so, may we soon merit to sing to Hashem for the final redemption, when the sun will rise and never set again.
- Sources: Perek B’Shir (by Rav Chaim Kanievsky); Shir HaChaim; Shemos Rabbah 23:6; Rabbi D. Orlofsky
*In loving memory of Harav Zeev Shlomo ben Zecharia Leib
