With the butterflies already beginning to appear, let’s present different Torah insights connected to this unique creature.
Shu”t Avnei Yashfei. He was originally from Cleveland and learned in Telz. A renowned Posek, he was a Rav in Romema in Yerushalayim. He published eleven Sefarim. R’ Yisrael Pesach Feinhandler was asked concerning a butterfly that got caught in a spider web, if it was a Mitzva to take the butterfly out because of Tzaar Baalei Chaim? He answered for various reasons that there was no Mitzva to save the butterfly. Among the reasons is that the nature of animals is that there are predators and prey. So just as if a lion attacks a deer, Tzaar Baalei Chaim doesn’t mandate a person to save the deer, so too one doesn’t need to save the butterfly in this case, since it is the nature of the world.
What are some lessons we can learn from butterflies? We know that a caterpillar begins its existence on the ground with its feet, incapable of flying, but later transforms into a flying butterfly, after undergoing a series of natural events where it decomposes completely and then regenerates itself. This metamorphosis hints to what will transpire at Techias Hamaisim where a decayed and decomposed body will spring back to life in a more glorious form.
Another lesson from butterflies can be drawn from the following account. A man who saw a cocoon noticed the butterfly inside trying to make its way out of the tiny hole. The butterfly struggled and tinkered, to no avail. Feeling sorry for the butterfly, the man cut a large opening through which the butterfly could leave. The butterfly exited but the man noticed that his body was contorted and its wings were shriveled. This is how the butterfly lived its entire life — small, shriveled and unable to fly. It is the struggle to exit the cocoon that has the effect of transforming fluid from the butterfly’s body to its wings which is how they develop. Although he thought he was doing a favor by ending the struggle, really he thwarted its growth. Struggles we go through can enable us to develop wings so that we have the ability to reach great heights.
We must realize that just over the hill is a beautiful valley, but we must climb the hill to see it.
