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מִי-אֵלֶּה, כָּעָב תְּעוּפֶינָה וְכַיּוֹנִים, אֶל-אֲרֻבֹּתֵיהֶם There will be those who will [return] flying like clouds, and like doves to their nests The Tora predicted that the Jewish people would be exiled to all corners of the planet (Deut. 29) and also anticipated that, eventually, Jews would return to the land of Israel (Deut. 30). The prophet Isaiah (Yesha’yahu) described with prophetic and poetic words how this would take place. Addressing the Land of Israel, Yesha’yahu said, “Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the shoulders [of their fathers]…”. In that context, he also said (60:8), There will be those who will [return] flying like clouds, and like doves to their nests The Rabbi of Rehovot, Rabbi Simcha Kook, explained why Yesha’yahu used these metaphors, “clouds” and “doves”, in his prophecy. Because clouds and doves represent two opposite extremes in terms of movement. Clouds are moved by the winds, they do not control their movements. If the wind blows from the north, the clouds will move south, and vice versa. And when the wind does not blow, the clouds would stay where they are. Doves, on the other hand, have an extraordinary sense of location. Unique! A biological GPS that is still a mystery to science. No other bird possesses a similar orientation sense. It is an instinct that virtually forces them to return to their nest, flying back from anywhere in the world, even thousands of kilometers away. For thousands of years, pigeons were used to send messages from one place to another. When someone traveled from point A to point B, they carried pigeons that were born and raised in A. And then, when they wanted to send a note to A, they would just release that pigeon. And regardless of how far B was from A, the pigeons always found their way back to point A, their nest, and deliver the notes. Now we can better understand what the prophet Yesha’yahu was saying…and seeing! in this extraordinary prophecy. When the people of Israel return to their land, there will be Jews who, like clouds, will “fly” (that was the verb incredibly used by Yesha’yahu!) to Israel moved by “winds”, all kinds of winds: political winds, financial winds, winds of anti-Semitism, etc. For Yesha’yahu, all these are “divine” winds that will bring the Jewish people, albeit somewhat ‘by force’, back to their land. On the other hand, there will always be Jews who, like doves, will come to Israel guided by their internal GPS; they will fly to Israel like someone returning home to their nest. And while clouds are pushed by the winds, doves, in order to reach their nest, sometimes have to fly against the wind. Eventually, God will help all of us — or inspire us– to return to Israel. If we don’t do it, our children or grandchildren will. Some will be driven by the winds of history, while others will return “to their nest” guided by a strong sense of internal direction. However, regardless of how we arrive, what is important is that we work together to make Yesha’ayahu’s prophecy come true and build a bright future for the Jewish people in our ancestral land. |
