I will plant it in Yisrael’s lofty highlands, and it shall bring forth boughs and produce branches and grow into a noble cedar. Every bird of every feather shall take shelter under it, shelter in the shade of its boughsEzekiel 17:23 (The Israel Bible™)בְּהַר מְרוֹם יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶשְׁתֳּלֶנּוּ וְנָשָׂא עָנָף וְעָשָׂה פֶרִי וְהָיָה לְאֶרֶז אַדִּיר וְשָׁכְנוּ תַחְתָּיו כֹּל צִפּוֹר כָּל־כָּנָף בְּצֵל דָּלִיּוֹתָיו תִּשְׁכֹּנָּהHear the verse in Hebrewb’-HAR m’-ROM yis-ra-AYL esh-to-LE-nu v’-na-SA a-NAF v’-A-sah FE-ree v’-ha-YAH l’-E-rez a-DEER v’-sha-kh’-NU takh-TAV KOL tzi-POR kol ka-NAF b’-TZAYL da-li-yo-TAV tish-KO-nah
Seeking Divine Shelter
Yechezkel (Ezekiel) includes a vision of hope in his negative prophecies. Referring to Mashiach (Messiah), Yechezkel describes a small cedar shoot that will be restored to the high mountain of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem). This tree will grow, bare fruit, and provide shelter for all those who seek it. Birds, such as the flock pictured above in Israel’s Northern Hula Valley, are used by Yechezkel as a metaphor for the Jewish People seeking shelter under Hashem’s (God) cedar tree.
|