ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף משלי 30:4

זאת החיה אשר תאכלו מכל הבהמה אשר על הארץ, “these are the creatures which you may eat from among all the animals on earth:” If you will take a good look at this paragraph and at the paragraphs following them, you will realize that there is an overall pattern to the sequence in which they have been written. They correspond to the four basic elements of the universe which we explained in connection with Genesis 1,2. Here the Torah proceeds in an ascending manner. You are aware that in Genesis they appeared in a descending manner. The four basic materials of terrestrial earth are: fire, wind (atmosphere), water, earth. This is also the order in which Solomon arranged these four basic components of our terrestrial universe in Proverbs 30,4. He writes: “Who has ascended heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the wind in the hollows of his hand? Who has wrapped the waters in his garment? Who has established all the extremities of the earth?” In the paragraphs before us the order of these phenomena and allusions to them has been reversed, so that their identifying symbol instead of being ארמ'ע has been reversed to become עמר'א. Here the Torah commenced with the element earth, dust, when it wrote: “these are the creatures on earth that you may eat.” In the second paragraph the Torah speaks of the element water, telling us what creatures in the water we are allowed to eat. In the third paragraph the Torah speaks about the atmosphere, telling us which birds (categories) must not be eaten. The Torah tells us which birds or winged creatures we must abhor (11,13). In the fourth paragraph the Torah alludes to the element fire which is the fourth element, the least substantive of all. The paragraph (11,29) begins with the words: “these are the contaminated ones, (ritually impure) among the teeming animals that teem upon the earth.” Among the categories listed is the צב which consists of two groups including the salamander. it is alluded to in the word למינהו, “according to their kinds,” an expression not found with the other seven of these contaminated creatures. According to an ancient tradition this salamander has its origin in fire; it is the product of a furnace which has been heated for seven years consecutively both by day and by night. This enabled the salamander (dragon?) to mature during all this time. If it were to separate from the fire even for a moment it would die, just as fish die when they are removed from their element, i.e. water. [Our author bases himself on the Sifra of Talmudic times. Tosafot Chagigah 27, speak of such creatures which we think of as strictly belonging to mythology, Ed.] When Rabbi Akiva came to the verse והצב למינהו (verse 29), he exclaimed: “how great and marvelous are Your works o Lord, You have created them all with wisdom; You created huge monsters in the sea, huge animals on land, If the ones in the sea would be placed on land they would die at once, whereas if the huge land animals like elephants were to be placed in the sea they would drown at once. You created great creatures with fire and large creatures in the atmosphere. If the ones which thrive on fire would be placed in the atmosphere they would die immediately, whereas if the ones whose habitat is the atmosphere were to be put to the fire they would burn to death immediately. This then was what David had in mind in Psalms 104,24 when he wrote the words quoted above” (compare Sifra Shemini 8,7).

The word ארץ here is a generic term applying to each of these four components our terrestrial earth is made of, collectively as well as separately, such as in Genesis 1,10 ויקרא אלקים ליבשה ארץ. In view of this [ארץ without the letters וה in front, Ed.], the word והארץ refers to Earth, i.e. all its four elements combined. The words תהו ובהו on the other hand, refer to the element alone. The Torah tells us that at that stage this element could not be defined as it could not be isolated.
You should know that the number of planets is 955, corresponding to numerical value of the word השמים. [The final letter ם is considered as equivalent to 600. Ed.] You will find this idea in a book called מעשה מרכבה, where we are told that at the time G'd descends from the celestial regions, i.e. from 955 רקיעים, heavens, and He seats Himself on the throne commensurate with His glory, all these heavens as well as the gateways to the regions called ערבות, recite the verse שאו שערים ראשיכם, "lift up you gates your heads, etc." (Psalms 24,9).
We also find in Derech Eretz Rabbah, that "G'd is the solitary Ruler in the celestial regions, His name is One, and He resides in 390 heavens [the numerical equivalent of the word שמים, Rabbi Chavell.]. Each one of these "heavens" has been stamped with His name, a name which has been alluded to in the Torah (Deut. 32,1) האזינו ה-שמים, "hearken the Heavens." When I shall explain that verse in due course, I will quote that Midrash in detail. At any rate, it is impossible to reduce this number of heavens.
According to our sages in the Talmud (Kabbalists), there are only seven heavens and they are enumerated in Chagigah 12. We quote: "Rav Yehudah said that there are two kinds of heaven seeing that the Torah wrote in Deut. 10,14: השמים ושמי השמים, 'the heaven and the heaven of the heavens.' Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said that there are seven heavens and they are called: וילון, רקיע, שחקים, זבול, מעון, מכון, ערבות. According to researchers, i.e. the philosophers, there are nine heavens. They are: גלגל המקיף (compare Maimonides hilchot Yesodey Ha-Torah), גלגל המזלות the zodiac, i.e. the horoscopes, and the seven "heavens" dominated by the seven fixed stars [an antiquated astronomical concept believed in by all astronomers until exploded by Copernicus about 1540. Ed.] According to these "philosophers," the four elements of our terrestrial universe rank below these regions dominated by what is known as שבעה כוכבי לכת, the 7 fixed planets.
King Solomon already listed these four elements in the same order in a single verse in Proverbs 30,4 where he wrote: מי עלה שמים וירד, מי אסף רוח בחפניו, מי צרר מים בשמלה? מי הקים כל אפסי ארץ? "Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind (spirit) in his hand? Who has wrapped the water in his garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? According to the philosophers the element of fire receives its heat from the planet moon which is immediately above it and closest to it. This is due to the constant motion of that planet. It is a well known fact that every body which is in motion generates heat by its motion. The larger the body in question and the closer to earth, the greater the heat it generates and its ability to warm other bodies which are close to it. Seeing that it is the nature of fire to rise constantly, it is the first element to receive warmth from the moon. The fact that fire rises must certainly have a purpose. The moon itself, however is not warm nor does it inflame. Nor does fire rise indefinitely. Both the earth and the moon have been assigned definitive orbits separated from each other by an atmosphere which neither can break out of. Just as water, which has a tendency to descend, cannot descend to the extent of flooding the earth, so fire cannot ascend beyond certain limits and inflame what is beyond those limits. These philosophers use Job 37,18 חזק כראי מוצק ועדו , "strong like a mirror which has been cast," as proof that the atmosphere separating planets and their respective orbits from one another is impenetrable.
I have already pointed out that the universe was created in the month of Tishrey, a month under the influence of the zodiac sign מאזנים, "scales." This is also the meaning of the second verse in Genesis, that the wind of the Lord was hovering above the deep." We know that the zodiac sign governing the wind is "scales," whereas the zodiac sign governing water is עקרב, "scorpion." The correct interpretation of our verse is therefore: "When did G'd create heaven and earth? At a time when the רוח אלוקים rises develops and rises in the morning, i.e. at the time when the zodiac sign "scales" which is the zodiac sign pertaining to the רוח, "wind" hovers "above the face of the waters" which is close to the zodiac sign "scales," the sign pertaining to the waters.
The reason why these respective zodiac signs are called "scales" and "scorpion" as well as the reason for the names of the remainder of the zodiac signs is because a cluster of stars form a shape reminiscent of such objects or animals in the sky. According to tradition, at the time the deluge occurred the constellations of the seven fixed stars was as follows: There was a cluster of stars resembling the shape of a lamb; there was a similar cluster of stars resembling the shape of an ox; the same was the case with the zodiac signs "twins," both of whom resembled human beings. There was a constellation resembling a lobster (cancer), a constellation resembling "scales," a constellation resembling a scorpion, a constellation resembling a bucket, i.e. a human being drawing water; All these horoscopes or zodiac signs were named after their appearance in the sky at the time of the deluge.
It may be true that the reason these signs appeared in that fashion in the sky at the time of the deluge was meant to remind man of Divine supervision of his fate by his recalling the names of the horoscopes. Our sages in Pessikta Rabbati 2,9 as well as in Tanchuma have explained this in the manner we have outlined.

Another interpretation: son of Yaqeh — a son of peoples' obedience (yiqhat 'amim). For regarding David it was said of his son, Shlomo, son of Yaqeh, and Qohelet, and Agur — that is, the saying of the man to Itiel — about the matter of women and horses (Deuteronomy 17:16-17), as he said: "I will increase, but my heart will not stray, and I am capable,"¹Punning on the names Itiel = God is with me, and Ukhal = I am capable which was foolish. Itiel repented after that and said, "I acted as one who had not learned wisdom nor known heavenly knowledge." And Qohelet sought knowledge in judgment to acquit and convict without witnesses, but the Torah says only with witnesses. And about this it is said Qohelet sought (Eccl. 12:10) — i.e. that he be answered from heaven, but it was not so. Or the verse says upright words of truth (ibid.) for the Torah: every word of God is forged, do not add etc. (Prov. 30:5-6). "But I did not ask the right thing, for I asked what was not mine to ask." What was he compared to Moses who went up to heaven and went down (Prov. 30:4), or Aaron who gathered the winds (ibid.), as it is said, and he stood between the living and the dead (Num. 17:13), or Elijah who bound the water with a cloak, or Joshua who established all the earth's ceasings — Sun be still in Gibeon (Joshua 10:12)!? What is his name — for their sons did not reach their name and their knowledge, even I, as I am one of them! and now I ask two things of you.