The word “hills” immediately produces all kinds of associations, from the hills surrounding Jerusalem (that recently went viral on Miami Boys Choir TikTok) to the opening line of “The Sound of Music”. Hills can indicate vibrancy (“the hills are alive…”), yearning (“I lift my eyes to the mountains…”), and refuge (“head for the hills”).
But I’m a sucker for songs that see hills and mountains as obstacles to be overcome – “Still Haven’t Found what I’m Looking For,” “Climb Every Mountain,” and “The Climb” to name a few.
The idea of hills as impediments to overcome already finds expression in our classical commentators. Yeshayahu 40:4, from the haftarah of Nachamu, states: “Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the rugged shall be made level, and the rough places smooth.” The pesukim here talk about paving a path for God through the wilderness. To pave a highway, anything along its route must be straightened, smoothed, and leveled.
Radak understands this metaphorically: all of us are on a path to God in some way or another. And we all face obstacles along those paths. The hills and valleys and rough spots symbolize the things that impede us and exhaust us along the way. In the future, according to the navi, those obstacles will be removed and the path to God will be made straight, flat, and smooth. But until then, we have to keep climbing those mountains and running up those hills.
