Perek Shira - nature as text

It is early March, and, though I am mindful of all the countervailing arguments, I am still hoping for one more whopping, traffic-stopping, history-making, child-delighting, society-slowing, sofa-cuddling, awe-inspiring snowstorm.

But I hold this admittedly minority view all the more desperately because to step outside these days is to feel Spring stirring in its chambers, pacing outside the door, waiting to be let in.

The birds are more active, too, more present and more vocal. The buds are pushing their way up and out. The air has lost its sting.

It is at this time of year that the remarkable and mysterious book called Perek Shira, the Book of Song, comes to mind. It is of unknown date and origin, but is a lilting celebration of God's creation, arrayed in 84 short sections of praise to the natural world. It focuses on the different elements, species, aspects of the natural world from light and darkness to rain and dew, cats and lions and wilderness and seas.

What makes this short, enigmatic book unique in all of Jewish literary history is that it weaves the worlds of nature and Torah together. Indeed even more, it treats nature like Torah, as a text to be studied, loved and mined for all the moral, theological and spiritual meanings it will yield.

To the modern mind, Perek Shira is likely to be seen as more charming than substantive, more delightful than instructive, more a curiosity than a text for study. But it is nonetheless a captivating and remarkable book. For we need to imagine this book being written in a culture that kept nature at arm's length, fearing the possible pagan seduction of nature, fearing that the confusion of Creator with creation would bring Jews to worship the created instead of the Creator.

And yet, in spite of all that, this book was written. True, it was almost lost. It is not part of the canon of mandatory texts that are taught in yeshivas or seminaries; not part of the standard curriculum of congregational schools. But it is making a come-back. A true sign of the times. ("Google" Perek Shira and see all the hits you will get.)

It is not properly about nature itself. Nor is it about nature as resource or commodity. Rather it is about nature as a messenger from God, a tool of the Divine, a call, a prod, an inspiration to a dispirited people. The book seems to have been written in a dark time for the Jews. In response, the book seems to be saying, Do not despair! The answer to your needs, the cure for your despondency, is all around you. See and listen. Nature, that is, God's messenger, offers you hope and guidance, fortitude and promise.

Embedded in its short passages are these fundamental messages:

1) praise God the Creator of all
2) celebrate nature for it is God's creation
3) learn from nature for it possesses unique lessons for the Jewish people when read through the lens of Torah
4) the bleakness around you will not endure
5) if you do good, you will merit goodness in return
6) work hard
7) be moral

That is Perek Shira on one foot. Now we must go and study.