Shirat Ha'asavim in Rebbe Nachman

(1) One of the Rebbe’s followers from Zlatipolia related the following:

(2) One summer day in Zlatipolia, the Rebbe prayed very early. He sent his daughter, Sarah, to call me. When I came to him, he suggested that we take a stroll together. We soon left the city and found ourselves walking in a grassy meadow.

(3) The Rebbe spoke. “If only you could be worthy to hear the song of this grass. Each blade sings out to God without any ulterior motive, not expecting any reward. It is most wonderful to hear their song and serve God in their midst. Es is zehr gut frum tzu zein tzivishen zei – It is very good to be religious among them.”

(1) Know! when our forefather Yaakov sent his sons, the ten tribes, to Yosef, he sent with them a melody of the Land of Israel. This is the deeper meaning of “Take from the ZiMRot (choice products) of the Land in your pouches…”—the concept of ZeMeR (song) and melody, which he sent through them to Yosef. This is as Rashi comments: me’zimrat—it connotes zemer …., For know! each and every shepherd has his own special melody, according to the grasses and specific location where he is grazing. This is because each and every animal has a specific grass which it needs to eat. He also does not always pasture in the same place. Thus, his melody is dictated by the grasses and place he pastures. For each and every grass has a song which it sings. This is the concept of Perek Shirah. And from the grass’s song, the shepherd’s melody is created.

This is the deeper meaning of the verse “And Adah bore Yaval; he was the father of tent dwellers with cattle. His brother’s name was Yuval; he was the father of all who play harp and flute” (Genesis 4:20-21). As soon as the world had a shepherd of cattle, there were musical instruments. Therefore, because King David, may peace be upon him, was “a skilled musician” (1 Samuel 16:18), he was “a shepherd” (ibid. :11). {We find, too, that the patriarchs were all shepherds.},And this is the concept of “From the end of the earth we heard song” (Isaiah 24:16)—i.e., songs and melodies emerge from the end of the earth, because melody is produced through the grasses which grow in the earth, as mentioned above. And because the shepherd knows the melody, he instills the grasses with energy, and so the animals have what to eat.,And this is the concept of “The first blossoms have appeared in the Land, the time of ZaMiR (singing) has arrived” (Song of Songs 2:12). In other words, the “first blossoms” grow in the Land as a result of their particular ZeMeR and melody, as mentioned above. It follows, that through the song and melody which the shepherd knows, he instills the grasses with energy and there is pasture for the animals.,

The melody is also beneficial for the shepherd himself. Because the shepherd is constantly in the company of animals, it could happen that they draw and drag him down from the category of human-spirit to animal-spirit. The shepherd might end up grazing himself, as in “they went to pasture their father’s flock…” (Genesis 37:12), which Rashi explains as: they went to pasture themselves.,But through the melody he is saved from this. For melody is the refinement of the spirit, separating human-spirit from animal-spirit, as in “Who knows that it is the spirit of the human being which ascends on high and the spirit of the animal which descends below” (Ecclesiastes 3:21). This is the essence of melody—gathering and selecting the good ruach, as explained elsewhere. The melody therefore saves him from animal- ruach, because through the melody the human- ruach is separated from animal- ruach .

(2) 2. And there are many distinctions with regard to melody. There is a whole melody. And there is a melody of various sections, which can be separated into sections and themes.,And know! the king has all the melody, in its entirety. But the ministers have only a part of the melody, each according to his station. Therefore, Daniel said to Nevuchadnezzar: “The tree—it is you! … there was food for all in it” (cf. Daniel 4:17-19). Nevuchadnezzar was a king and had the entire melody, and so all the food was drawn through him, because the food is drawn via the melody, as mentioned above.

(3) 3. Thus, our forefather Yaakov—not knowing then that it was Yosef, but only what the tribes told him about Yosef’s conduct—sent him a melody suitable for such a minister, based on what he heard from his sons about his ways and conduct. Through the melody Yaakov wanted to get from him what he needed. He therefore sent him that melody of the Land of Israel.,This is the meaning of what he said to his sons: “Take from the zimrot of the Land in your pouches”—i.e., they should take the aforementioned concept of melody, which is the concept of “zimrot of the Land,” in their pouches. “And bring down to the man as tribute some balsam and some honey, and gum, resin, pistachio nuts and almonds.” These are the concepts of the melody’s scale and rhythm, because the melody is created out of what grows in the Land, as mentioned above.

(11) Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, do this: take some of the choice products of the land in your baggage, and carry them down as a gift for the man—some balm and some honey, gum, ladanum, pistachio nuts, and almonds.

(12) The blossoms have appeared in the land,
The time of pruning has come;
The song of the turtledove
Is heard in our land.

(1) Know! when a person prays in the fields, all the flora enters into the prayer, helping him and strengthening his prayer. This is the reason prayer is called SiChah (conversation), the concept of “SiaCh (shrub) of the field” (Genesis 2:5). All the shrubs of the field empower and assist his prayer.

(2) This is the concept of “And Yitzchak went out laSuaCh (to converse) in the field” (ibid. 24:63)—his prayer was with the help and power of the field. All the flora of the field empowered and assisted his prayer, on account of which prayer is called SiChah.

(3) Therefore, the Curse includes the statement: “and the soil will not yield its produce (yevul)” (Deuteronomy 11:17). For all the earth’s produce must empower and assist the prayer. But when this is impeded or delayed, it thus states: “and the soil will not yield its produce.”

(4) Now, even when a person does not pray in the fields, the earth’s produce—i.e., whatever is near the person, such as his food and drink and the like—aids his prayer. But when he is in the field, because he is particularly close to these things, all the flora and all the soil’s yevul (produce) empower his prayer.

(5) And this is YeVUL—the first letters of Vayeitzei Yitzchak Lasuach Basadeh (“And Yitzchak went out to converse in the field”). All the produce of the field prayed together with him.

(6) (This matter is thoroughly explained in Likutey Moharan II, 1:11, “Sound the Shofar at the New Moon”; see there.)

(63) And Isaac went out walking/talking/meditating/praying in the field toward evening and, looking up, he saw camels approaching.