The Singing Cedars and the Acacia That Heals Shittim

Our masters said: The center bar came down to Egypt by the hand of Jacob, the one that served from end to end. Not only that, but the cedars uttered song. This is what David says, "Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy" (Psalms 96:12). "Then" (az) means nothing but a song that one utters to the Holy One, blessed be He, and it says: When will the Tabernacle be made? And when the Holy One, blessed be He, said [to Moses] that he should make the Tabernacle, what did He say to him? "And you shall make the boards for the Tabernacle" (Exodus 26:15) — those same boards that their father had prepared for them. Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani said: There were twenty-four kinds of cedar, and of all of them only seven were chosen, as it is said, "I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane tree, and the box tree together" (Isaiah 41:19). Cypress is altin; plane tree is ispandamon; box tree (te'ashur) is paksinon, which is the most approved (me'ushar) of all kinds of cedar. And of all of them, only the acacia (shittah) alone was chosen, [as it is said,] "acacia wood" (Exodus 26:15). And why did He call it shittim? Only in order to heal what Israel did at Shittim. Another interpretation: "acacia (shittim) wood" — they sinned at Shittim and they were stricken at Shittim. They sinned at Shittim: "And Israel dwelt at Shittim" (Numbers 25:1). And they were stricken at Shittim: "And those that died in the plague were [twenty-four thousand]" (Numbers 25:9). And they did not stir from there until they were healed. Phinehas arose and turned back the wrath from them, as it is said, "Phinehas the son of Eleazar" (Numbers 25:11). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: In the world to come I will heal the Shittim, as it is said, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the watercourses of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim" (Joel 4:18).