למנצח בנגינות. מזמור זה יסד דוד שיאמרוהו בני לוי המנצחין בנגינות בשיר על הדוכן, לשון נצוח נופל במתחזקים בעבודה כענין שנא' (עזרא ג׳:ח׳) יעמדו הלוים מבן עשרים שנה ומעלה לנצח על מלאכת בית ה':
Lamnatzeach from lashon of victorious (netzach)- it is to be strong and overcome a difficulty in service to Hashem. Overcoming the Tevah and bring world from prosaic to Kodesh so you sing shirah.
לַמְנַצֵּ֗חַ מַשְׂכִּ֥יל לִבְנֵי־קֹֽרַח׃ כְּאַיָּ֗ל תַּעֲרֹ֥ג עַל־אֲפִֽיקֵי־מָ֑יִם כֵּ֤ן נַפְשִׁ֨י תַעֲרֹ֖ג אֵלֶ֣יךָ אֱלֹהִֽים׃ צָמְאָ֬ה נַפְשִׁ֨י ׀ לֵאלֹהִים֮ לְאֵ֪ל חָ֥י מָתַ֥י אָב֑וֹא וְ֝אֵרָאֶ֗ה פְּנֵ֣י אֱלֹהִֽים׃ הָֽיְתָה־לִּ֬י דִמְעָתִ֣י לֶ֭חֶם יוֹמָ֣ם וָלָ֑יְלָה בֶּאֱמֹ֥ר אֵלַ֥י כָּל־הַ֝יּ֗וֹם אַיֵּ֥ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃
For the leader. A maskil of the Korahites. Like a hind crying for water, my soul cries for You, O God; my soul thirsts for God, the living God; O when will I come to appear before God! My tears have been my food day and night; I am ever taunted with, “Where is your God?”
B'nei Korach symbolize Levi which symbolize the Gevurah to overcome the lower levels of the world and turn the flow upwards. Korach from word to become cold/ice bc water flows from world of Chesed down to our world of Din so it lack warmth and Korach had biggest Yetzer Hara of feeling distant and cold towards Hashem so to overcome that the Bnei Korach made the ice warm by singing Shirah to Hashem.
Tanya- Your soul is thirsty bc nothing but Hashem can quench your thirst. This world is cold but with the heat of love you can go back up- thats why heat rises. Theres so little love in world bc its not easy- you have to fight for it. It is only an experiential feeling and no words can describe it- find in your soul the deep part that wants to connect to HKB"H, bc everyone has a piece of a lover inside of them.
Zohar- Why an Ayal? Ayal=strong animal and to have love you have to be a Gibor and fight to overcome boundaries. Only someone who's committed with power to give love will receive love. Love takes energy (Minatzeach) to get to a deeper level, you're breaking out from world of Din (Bnei Korach). It takes a lot of energy to love somebody. How do you get Hashem to love you? you have to have both the masculine and feminine aspects in the relationship- both needing Hashem and recognizing how much you can do and achieve if He loves you and gives His help.
What is Ta'arog? Rashi learns its the special noise a ram makes. Why does every animal make a different noise? bc every animal expresses different Middos of Hashem in the world. Etymological root of Arog is Eiyn Reish- Eyr= to awaken passionately and give over. The Zohar says the word comes from Arugos Ha'bosem which is something that causes another to grow.
Afikei Mayim is the fight to bring out the flow of love from Din. When it comes out it comes with a gush. The greater the desire you have to do something, the greater your potential therein.
I am fighting to break out of the dry and prosaic world around me so I can live a passionately connected life with You.
לבני קרח. אסיר ואלקנה ואביאסף הם היו תחלה בעצת אביהם ובשעת המחלוקת פרשו וכשנבלעו כל סביבותיה' ופתתה הארץ את פיה נשאר מקומם בתוך פי הארץ כענין שנאמר ובני קרח לא מתו ושם אמרו שירה ושם יסדו המזמורי' הללו ועלו משם ושרת' עליהם רוח הקודש ונתנבאו על הגליות ועל חרבן הבית ועל מלכות בית דוד:
They sang shirah out of their love for Hashem for not letting them be swallowed up.
יסוד החסידות ושרש העבודה התמימה הוא שיתברר ויתאמת אצל האדם מה חובתו בעולמו ולמה צריך שישים מבטו ומגמתו בכל אשר הוא עמל כל ימי חייו.
The foundation of piety and the root of perfect service [of G-d] is for a man to clarify and come to realize as truth what is his obligation in his world and to what he needs to direct his gaze and his aspiration in all that he toils all the days of his life.