Birdsong and the symphony of the Torah
I firmly do believe that I have never heard
a symphony as lovely as the early bird-
song that I heard this morning in a springtime shower,
nor have I seen a painting lovelier than the flower
that I saw only yesterday within my garden.
From great composers and great artists I beg pardon.
Arukh HaShulhan, straight, decisively, declared
that he regarded as a symphony the Torah,
perhaps implying that its words might be compared
to sounds of music that don’t flourish in mere flora,
where beauty, like that of the Torah, can bring joy
to beings that have brains providing them this power.
To generate such joy all beings must employ
these instruments which are not present in a flower.
Arukh HaShulhan, meaning “laid table,” is the title of work of halacha written by Yechiel Michel Epstein (1829–1908), a rabbi who is widely known by the name of this book, which is a well-organized summary of the sources for each chapter of the main code of Jewish law, the Shulhan Arukh, and its commentaries, with special emphasis on the positions of the Jerusalem Talmud and Maimonides.