(יא) כְּנֶ֙שֶׁר֙ יָעִ֣יר קִנּ֔וֹ עַל־גּוֹזָלָ֖יו יְרַחֵ֑ף יִפְרֹ֤שׂ כְּנָפָיו֙ יִקָּחֵ֔הוּ יִשָּׂאֵ֖הוּ עַל־אֶבְרָתֽוֹ׃(יב) ה' בָּדָ֣ד יַנְחֶ֑נּוּ וְאֵ֥ין עִמּ֖וֹ אֵ֥ל נֵכָֽר׃
(11) As an eagle that stirs up her nest, hovers over her young, spreads her wings, takes them, bears them on her pinions — (12) Ad-nai alone lead this people, and there was no strange god with Him.
(ב) וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃
(2) Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters.
- Note the context of both verbs - in Bereshit we are seeing disorder and the creation of order, in Devarim there is disordering, stirring of the nest.
Another eagle shows up - Shemot.
(ד) אַתֶּ֣ם רְאִיתֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשִׂ֖יתִי לְמִצְרָ֑יִם וָאֶשָּׂ֤א אֶתְכֶם֙ עַל־כַּנְפֵ֣י נְשָׁרִ֔ים וָאָבִ֥א אֶתְכֶ֖ם אֵלָֽי׃
(4) You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself.
(ב) ואשא אתכם על כנפי נשרים דרך לא עבר בה איש, כמו הנשר המוליך את בניו ברום האויר, אשר לא ילך בו שום מין עוף אחר, וזה להבדיל אתכם מכל העמים ועסקיהם להיות לי:
And how I bore you on eagles' wings - a novel way, that no one had gone through before, just like the eagle that takes care of its young in the height of the sky, where there is no other type of bird, and this is to distinguish you from all the other peoples and their pursuits, to be for Me.
We are entering the promised land - in the "time" of our reading.
So how can we understand the metaphor of God as an eagle? Back in the Book of Exodus, God used the image of an eagle who carried us on its wings to freedom. And now that same image is used, but this eagle has returned to stir the nest, to send the fledglings on their - our - way. We are entering the promised land - we just did teshuvah, the promised land of our renewed soul opens itself before us. This is freedom. Moshe's words want to remind us of our potential: we are not limited to either Heaven or to Earth. We are blessed with the ability to soar between them.How? With words of Torah. The metaphor here will be water: dew and rain -
(1) Give ear, oh heavens, and I will speak; and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. (2) My doctrine shall drop as the rain, My speech shall distill as the dew; as the small rain upon the tender grass, and as the showers upon the herb.
כמטר - מה מטר חיים לעולם, אף דברי תורה חיים לעולם. אי מה מטר מקצת עולם שמחים ומקצת עולם עצבים בו, מי שבורו וגתו מלא יין וגתו וגורנו לפניו מצירים לו.
אף דברי תורה כן?! תלמוד לומר: תזל כטל אמרתי. מה טל כל העולם כולו שמחים בו,
אף דברי תורה כל העולם כולו שמחים בו.
Sifri Deuteronomy Perek 33 Piska 306
As rain - Even as rain gives life to the world, so words of Torah give life to the world. But while some people in the world rejoice in rain, others are grieved by it. For instance, he whose pit or vat is full of wine, or his threshing floor full of grain, is distressed by rain. Is the same true of words of Torah? [No], for Scripture goes on to say, “My speech shall distill as the dew”. As all people in the world rejoice in dew, so all people in the world, in all of it, rejoice in words of Torah.
Rabbi S. Z. Ulman: Everyone knows that there can be speaking words, which is hard, and talking, which is soft. Similarly we have occasional rain, which is a blessing for all vegetation. There are plants that thrive on rain and plants that would be injured by too much. And thus showers are good for the grass; these grasses require light rain. And corresponding to those who only need compassion while others need stern justice, this is the Scriptural lesson: “Give ear, O heavens, let me speak …” -- speaking here connotes “hard.” “Let the earth hear the words I utter …” connotes “soft.”Everyone knows that there can be speaking words, which is hard, and talking, which is soft. Some plants thrive on heavy rainfall while others thrive on occasional showers. And corresponding to them are people who only need compassion while others need stern justice. Some need gentle speaking; others require hard talk. Each one receives what is best according to his or her needs.
Rabbi Lawrence Kushner: Our teacher, R. Solomon Ulman, is intrigued by the kind of words that Moses describes in referring to his own speech. What is actually meant by such a description? The poetry works. Words, like rain, can be soft like morning dew that gently offers itself the earth's vegetation, tending to its growth. Or words can be like torrential rains that destroy and uproot. Just as plants need different rains to nurture their growth, people need different words as well. There are times when gentle speech is required and there are times when harsh words of rebuke are needed. Know well the kind of words needed and speak them well, warns our teacher. All words, when properly delivered, are of the living God.
- So as we are new "us" may learn to receive the words of Torah as we need them - as rain or dew, and may we find ourselves using our words for goodness, being attuned to the Other and his/her needs.
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Miberditchev: The Jewish people can be compared to an eagle. The feathers of the eagle fall off at the end of each year and are replaced by new feathers, thus the name Nesher from the Hebrew ‘to fall’. Hashem gave the Jewish people the characteristic of the eagle; we have the ability to renew ourselves, to change our ways, to become better. We have the ability to put the past behind us and strive towards the truth.
אבר מן החי על בראשית א:א
בראשית: אם מבלבלים את האותיות, מקבלים ברית אש. זו התורה, שנאמר, מימנו אש דת למו (דברים לג:ב). ואז הפסוק נקראית: ברית אש ברא א-לוקים את השמים ואת הארץ. שנאמר, האזינו השמים ואדברה, ותשמע הארץ אמרי פי (דברים לב:א).
Ever Min Hechai on Bereishit 1:1
Breishit: If you rearrange the letters, it becomes "a covenant of fire (Brit Aish)". [What is the covenant of fire?] It is the Torah, as it says: "From his right, the fire of law for him (Deuteronomy 33:2)." And so the verse reads, "A covenant of fire did G-d create with the heavens and the earth," like it says, "Hear, O heavens, and I shall speak; let the earth hear the sayings of my mouth (Deuteronomy 32:1)."
The Berditchever is doing an awesome connecting between the Yamim Noraim and this one-before-the-last reading. The eagle represents also renewal and hope for each individual.
The last source -I need to find who this is - is showing in a different way the connection we make in Chag Simchat Torah - LeV - Lamed from Israel and Bet that becomes Vet from Bereshit. The connection between the Universal and Eternal to the people, also universal and eternal, but in this plane of existence. May we know our greatness the same time we know our smallness - this is what this Shabbat is asking of us.