Perek Shira - The Song of the Sun

[Music] [Applause] [Music] the sun says the sun and the moon each stood in its place by the light of your arrows they shall go forth by the glow of your spearhead the sun is a giant sphere of burning hydrogen and helium comprising more than 99 of the total mass of our solar system temperatures at its core can reach 15 million degrees celsius such heat would cause it to explode and scatter or it not for its immensive gravitational pull that holds it together allowing it to release only heat energy which is essential for all life on earth clearly this massive and brilliant server of god was created only in order to benefit the relatively diminutive dwellers on earth primarily mankind in fact sun in hebrew is shemesh a derivative of the word shamash servant referring to its role of serving mankind with its gravity it holds the earth in perpetual orbit and provides for it it nourishes all earthly life warms the atmosphere influences weather patterns and marks the passage of time it illuminates the darkness stimulates the spirit and gladdens the heart not surprisingly the sun was the chief object of idol worship in ancient times even kings would prostrate themselves before it each morning although idolatry contradicts the very purpose of creation to reveal hashem's presence in his world he nevertheless showers his kindness upon the world by allowing the sun to shine and in contrast to the sun worshipers the jewish people rise each morning some as early as dawn and bless hashem the fashioner of luminaries for shining his goodness daily upon his creations shortly after the exodus from egypt korach instigated a revolt against moshe's leadership the sages teach that in response to the disgrace of hashem's righteous servant and prophet the sun and the moon refused to shine demanding instead that hashem deal justice hashem admonished the sun and the moon sternly each day people throughout the world bow down to you yet you shine nonetheless and do not protest for the sake of my honor and now you protest for the sake of flesh and blood every day since the sun and moon hesitate to go forth and shine abiding that lesson they fear that mankind will become deluded by their light and thereby fail to discern the world's true benefactor choosing to hide his kindness within nature hashem summons forth these luminaries any way for the well-being of the world while still preserving the opportunity for those who honestly seek his presence to discover him it is this idea that the sun which is the primary luminary of the world sings about each day it declares that along with the moon they both wish to stand still in their places in protest of those who dishonor hashem by erroneously glorifying them but that in his largesse hashem overlooks his own honor and figuratively employs his arrows and spears to command them to come forth and shine at dawn the sun breaks through the darkness rising steadily crowning the heavens at its zenith but then it descends bowing westward to the direction of the divine presence as it gradually weakens and then disappears into the horizon it submits to hashem signifying that he is the one and only power of the universe the sun above us is a constant reminder that hashem is the ultimate light and the source of all goodness for all of its blazing lustre it is only expressing a minute measure of hashem's own divine magnanimous splendor it is also symbolic of hashem's torah which enlightens the world spiritually its very existence is a bold bright song testifying to hashem's unrivaled and everlasting grandeur and goodness he displays to his world the sun never misses a day a lesson we strive to emulate however at the time of yeshua's battle of giveon the sun was bidden to stand still so that the jewish army could complete the battle while it was still day and it did as it was commanded here too and ceasing to appear when hashem did not wish it to the son demonstrated that the sole purpose of its daily crossing of the sky is for the sake of its creator we are asked to do something similar on the day of shabbos we are enjoying to stand still from our business matters entirely to the point of not even discussing with this we have the divine opportunity to testify that our involvements during the rest of the week are also in service of hashem and ultimately for the sake of the creator our divine souls within us bear the light of hashem just as the sun's being radiate a joyful heavenly service we can conduct ourselves with a powerful and positive energy that is a daily source of warmth and uplift for those in our orbit at the same time we best remember not to allow our capabilities energies and successes to blind us from the source of them all we ought to be grateful for our god-given talents assets and accomplishments and not seek to glorify ourselves on their account the sun transforms night into day so too we have the capacity to illuminate our lives and the lives of those around us revealing hashem's glory in his world [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you