שָׂדוֹת אוֹמְִים - Fields Say:
Mishlei 3:19
יְהוָה בְּחָכְמָה יָסַד-אָרֶץ כּוֹנֵן שָׁמַיִם בִּתְבוּנָה
HASHEM bechachma yasad-aretz konen shamayim bitvuna
HASHEM founded the earth by wisdom; He established the heavens by understanding.
The Sage begins in praise of wisdom. How great is her excellence! For behold: "HaShem founded the earth by wisdom," and He "established the heavens by understanding."
G-d called upon wisdom by imbuing it with the power to create heaven and earth. By understanding "He created the heavens," for, behold, the heavenly bodies have not strayed from their paths since the day they were created. When a man erects an edifice, after a time it is in need of repair. But their function remains unimpaired.
Wisdom is mentioned first, for it pertains to the beginning stage. Then comes understanding, which is set forth by inferring one thing from another. "Knowledge" (v3:20) is established through careful thought which involves holiness, the fear of G-d and familiarity with the knowledge taught by the Sages. Those three aspects go together. For when there is no knowledge, there is no understanding; and when there is no understanding, there is no knowledge.
Wisdom - compare it to a drowning man who is thrown a piece of wood to grab a hold of. The present verses pertain to people who have fallen down and require a "tree" to hold them up (cf. 3:18). Principally it means to repent and turn back to G-d through the power of the Torah that is called "a tree of life" (ibid.).
Just as a tree brings life into the world, so does the Torah. Just as a tree undergoes changes yet does not cease to live, so the person who devotes himself to Torah study is not cut off even after departing from this world. In the World to Come he continues to live an external life.
When G-d created the world, He first consulted the Torah; as it says, "HaShem founded the earth by wisdom." Accordingly, commenting on "In the beginning G-d created (Bereishit 1:11), the Targum Yerushalayim says: G-d created with wisdom.
The field is metaphor for man. If untapped, wisdom remains wasted potential. Our mission is to nurture the G-d-given spark of wisdom and to make of it a crop that will gladden the heavens.
