Tehillim 147 – Snow and Wool

Tehillim 147 – Snow and Wool

David HaMelech said in Tehillim (147:16):  - הַנֹּתֵן שֶׁלֶג כַּצָּמֶר – (the Almighty gives snow like wool). It would seem, why compare wool to snow? Every word in Tehillim is filled with mysteries. In this world, we will never understand all of its secrets, but the Sages reveal some of them. What is special about wool? Why do people wear wool in the cold season? People think that wool itself provides warmth. In fact, wool itself does not generate heat—if you measure a woolen fabric and a linen one with a thermometer, the temperature of both fabrics will be the same. Heat comes from the body, and wool fibers, made of twisted hairs, unlike straight linen fibers, create an insulating barrier that traps heat between the body and the woolen garment. It is this warm air that keeps the body from freezing. Therefore, when David HaMelech compares snow to wool, he is making an exact comparison. Snow has the same qualities as wool, because it does not fall in huge, dense chunks or blocks. Instead, it falls as light, airy snowflakes. Fluffy flakes made from a small amount of snow form a thick, air-filled covering on the ground. Snow falls and remains fluffy, like wool, and the air trapped between the snowflakes is an excellent insulator. We are reminded of scenes from war films in which partisans burrowed into snowdrifts so they would not freeze. That is why, when snow falls on the ground, it warms the earth like a woolen blanket. And the earth must be kept warm for the sake of the roots and seeds of plants—until spring, until the time when nature comes back to life, reminding us of techiyat hameitim (the resurrection of the dead). And HaKadosh Baruch Hu had precisely this in mind when He “gave snow like wool” - נֹּתֵן שֶׁלֶג כַּצָּמֶר.   More on snow in Judaism: The Mysteries of Snow – Segulot and Tikkunim Yom Ha-Sheleg (the Day of Snow) – Tikkun Ha-Sheleg 10 Tevet – Yom HaSheleg (the Day of Snow) 10 Tevet – Yom HaSheleg (Day of Snow)   (Rabbi Avigdor Miller - https://torasavigdor.org/parshas-beshalach/)