Why Zebra?
Is a Zebra white on black or black on white? It is the only animal that is so utterly confusing! Why is it that Zebras are called ‘Zebra’ in all languages?...
Chiddush Torah from Yael Dworkin on the topic of:
ZEBRA – What is his song in Perek Shira? Or Why Meah Shearim Breslevers prefer the Zebra-Striped Bekeshes (long coats)?
Is a Zebra white on black or black on white? It is the only animal that is so utterly confusing!
And furthermore – why is it that Zebras are called ‘Zebra’ in all languages? It’s such a curiosity.
Upon a closer look at the word Zebra we may be able to get to the bottom of this. Two Hebrew words can be heard in the word Zebra: Zeh Bara– this He created, this Hashem created.
What did Hashem create? Both the white and the black, both the day and the night, both the good and the bad, namely- everything!
When did Hashem create Light/Day and Dark/Night? On the first day of Creation.
But don’t stop there- the Zebra is beckoning us to look closer yet- it’s telling us something of utmost importance:
Z’Bra: Zayin Bara – Seven He Created. Hashem created the entire world in zayin yamim- seven days! (Zayin is the seventh letter of the alphabet, and has a numerical value of seven).
What the Zebra is revealing to us is a fundamental Truth of Torah regarding Creation with all its inherent implications to mankind. Creation is not some random act of a random Big Bang from which things randomly yet brilliantly evolved. Rather from the very first day of Creation when Hashem differentiated between the light and the dark, day and night, the Zebra is revealing to us that the entire creation was in the aspect of sof maaseh bemachshava techilla –that everything was and is rooted in a Thought and a Will that brought it, and is still bringing it about! The Zebra is truly and entirely sourcing back everything to the Rosh Bayit of Breishit*, thereby teaching us that everything ultimately has infinite meaning and purpose! Everything!
We must simply look and reflect and we will truly be able to see how we can come closer to Hashem through everything that exists (Likutey Moharan 1).
This brings us to the next lesson the Zebra comes to teach us through both his name and his perplexing white and black perpetual dilemma. After all, do we not identify with the Zebra’s confounding state in both our private and national lives? Are we not constantly going back and forth between good and bad moments, from dark to light situations, from galut to geula- exile to redemption?
Well, while the gematria of Zebra spelled with a ‘heh’ can be reduced to 7 (7+2+200+5= 214, 2+1+4=7) bringing us back to the 7 days of Creation**, the gematria of Zebra spelled with an aleph adds up to 210- the same number of years after which we were redeemed from the dark Egyptian exile***.
And so we see that by its very essence the Zebra is actually giving us tremendous encouragement and hope. It is screaming to us, through his dizzying stripes, to pay attention and to finally realize that both the exile and the redemption are both from the One and Good Creator! So don’t despair! Never give up hope because just as Hashem redeemed us from Egypt then- so too He does now and He is always Present! HaGeula krova lavo, the redemption is imminent, again and again- until the Final Redemption that will happen- God willing speedily in our days -Amen!
So don’t let the ups and downs get you to a point of despair. The world, including our private lives, has a purpose. Just watch how the Zebra manages to remain a Zebra all situations- so too we must hold on fast to our emuna no matter what. “Gevalt! Never give up Hope!” says Rebbe Nachman: “Eyn ye-ush ba-olam klall” “There is no such thing as despair!”
And apparently the Zebra has been trying to tell us this for the past 5767 plus years…
* * *
* The Tikuney Zohar points out that the same letters that spell out the word Bereishit (In the Beginning) spell out the words Rosh Bayit (Head of the House)
** This calculation was pointed out to me by my brother Yaacov Haimovici.
*** This calculation was offered by our friend Ari Hochstadter.
12/22/2022
Hi,
I recommend that you contact Rabbi Shmuel Kraines of the Song of Existence Project.
We have his Perek Shirah articles: https://breslev.com/author_post/rabbi-shmuel-kraines/
May you and your loved ones have a blessed Chanukah!
12/21/2022
Looking to form or find an existing study group of Perek Shira origins of verses in each of the 84 segments. Please let me know how to accomplish this? Thanks. Happy Hannuka
Blessings
Hana Liora