The Songs of the frogs

Ben Zoma said: "Who is wise? He who learns from every person." (Avot 4:1)

"The Maggid stopped by the pond to listen to the song of the frogs."

When the early mist of dawn would rise over the lakes of Mezritch, Rabbi Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezritch, would pass by and listen.

His students used to wonder, “What is it that he listens for?” The only sound to be heard from the edge of the lake is the croaking of the frogs! Who wants to listen to that horrid sound!

After the Maggid had passed away, his student, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, explained:

“Look in Perek Shirah, the 'Song of Praise,'” he said. “There we see how everything in creation — the heavens, the earth, the stars, the sun, lightning and thunder, and all the creatures, from the greatest to the smallest — praise G‑d with their own special song.

“Frogs also have their song, and a very special one at that.

“When our Rebbe stopped by the pond every morning, he would listen to the frogs praising G‑d, the Creator of all the world! It’s the same song they sang in Egypt when they leaped into the hot ovens of the Egyptians to fulfill the will of their Creator.”