GC#86 - Put Your Hands Together - Perek Shira 17 - The Rivers' Song Part 1

L'havdil, there is a famous philosophical question - 'What is the sound of one hand clapping?' (Sometimes associated with a koan, or paradoxical riddle - perhaps sometime we will look at the gifts of wisdom that Avraham Avinu gave to the children of the East - not necessarily unconnected, albeit distorted somewhat.) Amongst the answers, we hear:

'The sound of one hand clapping is the sound of the other hand, the absent or invisible hand that claps because one hand cannot clap, there can only be two hands clapping. One hand cannot clap without the other. The one hand is made complete only by the other, so that even in its individuality, the one hand claps with the other.' Or...

'The sound of one hand clapping cannot be heard. We do not have the physical capacity to hear it. Therefore, we have to recognize our human limitations...'

In the third installment of water-based songs, we hear from the rivers. The eternal cycle of sea to cloud to mountain to river, is witness to G-d's mastery and majesty in the world. They work together in perfect harmony. 

The song is just perfect too. The rivers clap in appreciation of all the elements working together like this. Here is the reason that the question we began with does not actually begin*...the clap is redolent of elements working together. Together - not alone. The appreciation, the recognition, the spontaneous applause...the song...bursts out when the hands are put together. And together they exult in seeing G-d's plan in full flow...

By the way, perhaps a more insightful answer to the question: "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"  "Nothing."

*(I know that for students of zen, they may point out that the ultimate resolution is the realisation that the two become one - in essence, not far off what we are trying to say - but this is not the point of our podcast)