Nature's Song
An Elucidation of Perek Shirah, the Ancient Text that Lists the Philosophical and Ethical Lessons of the Natural World

Perek Shirah, literally "A Chapter of Song," is an ancient text that is at least a thousand years old; some ancient commentaries even attribute its authorship to King David! It takes the form of a list of eighty-four elements of the natural world, including elements of the sky and of the earth, plants, birds, animals, and insects, attaching a verse from the Bible to each.

Nature's Song is the first English explanation of Perek Shirah. It makes use of rare ancient commentaries on Perek Shirah, as well as contemporary insights from the fields of meteorology, zoology and so on. The result is a Biblical encyclopedia of the natural world, synthesizing the ancient with the modern, that enables one to perceive new depths of insight into the natural world that surrounds us.


A beautiful book dealing with all the aspects of the natural world in the Torah perspective of "How great are Your works, Hashem," accompanied with poignant black-and-white illustrations, Nature's Song is authoritative, factual, poetic, comprehensive, a brilliant work of art-and-science. A book to have and to give, to read repeatedly and to cherish… This book is a valuable addition to anyone's library. May Rabbi Slifkin merit to reap great blessing as his perspective is imbibed and incorporated into the daily conduct of his uplifted readers.

—Yated Ne'eman