Parashat
Ha’azinu, which consists almost entirely of the ”Song of Moshe” - Shirat Ha’azinu in Hebrew - is the crescendo that has been
building up in the Dvarim (Deuteronomy) account. It is a recitation which
summarizes the Israelites’ history predicting future situations, while at the
same time continually revolving around a central pivot - YHVH as the Almighty
and as the loving father of His people. Shirat Ha’azinu (the Ha’azinu song or
poem) was to bear testimony for future generations (ref. 30:19). Last week, and
the week before, heaven and earth were also summoned as “witnesses,” as they
are, indeed, here too: “Give ear, O heavens,
and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth” (32:1, italics
added). The imperative “ha’azinu” (“listen”) is a derivative of “ozen”
– “ear,” and would therefore be
best translated “give ear.” You will notice that many of the verses are
made up of couplets, where the same point is stated once and then repeated with
a slight variation. The first two verses of the poem serve as a good example of
this poetic device, which is so typical of biblical poetry:
Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;
And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
My doctrine shall drop as the rain;
My speech shall drop down as the dew,
As the small rain on the tender plant,
And as the showers on the grass;
(vv.1-2)
YHVH’s love and care for Yisrael
form the backdrop against which Yisrael’s past and future are respectively
described and cast. According to the poem, the people’s relationship with and
toward YHVH appears to be a primary cause of the events (past, present and
future) which befall them.
Verse
4 exclaims that YHVH is “the Rock whose work is perfect.” The word here for rock
is “tzur.” This word is repeated a number of times in our song, and thus
we read in verse 13, in
reference to YHVH’s benevolence toward Yisrael, “He
made him suck … oil out of the flinty rock.”
In response, Yeshurun (Jeshurun) – rooted in y.sh.r. “straight,”
acts more like a Ya’acov (which is “crookedness”), and
“scorned the Rock of their Salvation” (v. 15). Verse 18 reads thus: “You forgot the Rock who
birthed you.” The verb used here for “forgot” is “teshi,” of the
root n.sh.h (noon, shin, hey), which is also the root for the name Menashe
(Manasseh). The imagery of the “rock,” a substance that is definitely not
associated with tenderness, much less with motherhood, is juxtaposed with
metaphors related to birthing and suckling. This type of unusual imagery is
echoed in 1st Corinthians 10:4, where we read: “Our fathers….all
drank of the spiritual Rock that followed
them, and that Rock was Messiah.”
In verses 30 and 31 there are several more references to “tzur,”
while in verse 37 the “rock” is the one in whom “refuge is taken” (“chasayu”,
ch.s.h., chet, samech, hey – to “take refuge”), being a more
conventional usage of the rock metaphor. Because the idols of the peoples were
many a time made of stone, or carved into a rock, “tzur” is also used here in
relation to the gods of the pagans (e.g. verse 31), contrasting the term with Yisrael’s
Elohim, who is totally detached from the literal substance of the rock.
Other parts of our text appear to highlight different attributes
of Elohim, one in particular is found in verse 27. Let us include also verse
26. YHVH says about His treacherous people: “I will make an end of them, I will make their
memory cease from among men. Were it not that I dreaded the enemy’s
provocation, lest their adversaries should misconstrue, lest they should say,
‘our hand is exalted and not YHVH has performed all this’” (italics added). This
last verse [27] contains a very daring anthropomorphism
[personification-humanization of YHVH], “indeed attributing to Him the
sentiment of fear, as it were… and has no parallel in the Torah.” In this
commentary Nechama Leibowitz includes other instances where Moshe expresses
concern over the desecration of YHVH’s name among the nations and concludes:
“This concern over desecrating the Divine name… assumes a much more intense and
extreme form in our sidra [Parasha]. Here it is the Almighty Himself who is, as
it were, “concerned” over the world being misled and diverted from the path
leading mankind spiritually forward. He is filled with apprehension lest His
name be brought into disrepute instead of sanctified and His sovereignty
universally recognized and acknowledged, which is the ultimate goal of all
creation.”[1]
“I will make an end of them…” is couched here in a very
unique term, which appears nowhere else in the Tanach (O.T.), “af’ey’em.”
Several possible interpretations of this term have been extrapolated. Most
“have traced its meaning to the word pe’ah – “corner,” others to af (“anger”).” Rashi breaks up the word into its
three syllables, and comes up with: “af ey hem,” which is a question that reads
as follows: “In anger (“af”, meaning YHVH’s anger), where are they?” Thus
implying that YHVH’s anger has reduced them to non-existence.[2] Da’at Mikra
offers another interpretation, with the same “pe’ah” – “corner, edge” in mind:
“I will not leave of them as much as an edge.”[3]
Another
verse that requires some attention is verse 5 - where it says: “They have
corrupted themselves: they are not His sons; it is their blemish; they are a
crooked and perverse generation.” And although the Hebrew there is somewhat
obscure, according to Da’at Mikra it should read, “His sons’ blemish is theirs”
(literal translation), that is to say: “their perversion is of their own
making, and therefore they are “lo-banav,” “not-His-sons.” This is similar to
what was said of Ephraim “not-My-people” (“Lo-Ami”, Hos. 1:9). [4] In contradistinction, verse 6 names YHVH as
“your father, the One who purchases you” – “kone’cha.” Quite often the term “koneh”
(k.n.h, kof, noon, hey) – to “buy, or purchase” – is synonymous
with redeeming, and lends the latter act its graphic meaning, as the role of
the redeemer is primarily to pay for, and buy that which is lost (such as
freedom or property). Many years later, in 1st Corinthians 6:20 and
7:23, Shaul (Paul) reminds the redeemed community: “You are bought with a price.”
“Kone’cha,” with its similarity to “ken” (a “bird’s nest”), inspired Rashi to
suggest that this is a reference to the nest that YHVH is making for Yisrael
(see also verse 11).
At
this point, starting with verse 6 and through 14, the poem expounds very
tenderly on the establishing of the Israelite nation, and on the care and love
bestowed on it by its Maker. Of the fact that Yisrael had a major role in
global affairs, much before it even came into being, we learn from verse 8: “When the Most High divided to the nations their
inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the
people according to the number of the sons of Israel” (italics added).
When one takes into consideration the fact that the above separation took place
after the Flood, and more particularly that YHVH scattered the people
during the Tower of Ba’vel (Babel) era (Gen. 10:25, 11:8), this statement
becomes all the more momentous.
A string of verbs, which follow one another in progressive
intensity and describe YHVH’s involvement with Yisrael, is introduced in verses
10 & 11. “He found him…He compassed him about … He cared for him…. Like an
eagle that stirs up His nest… He hovers… He spreads his wings… He takes him…
lifts him….” The “desert land,” the
“waste” and the “howling wilderness” mentioned here (v. 10), conjure up in the
mind a lost entity wondering around, and thus these verbs appear as the
solution and answer to the dire condition of the people. These verbs are
replete with activity: “vay’vone’nehu” (root b.n.h, bet/vet, noon, hey),
translated “cared,” in actual fact could relate to “bina” – “wisdom” and
thus may read: “endowed him with wisdom.” Another possibility is that the above
verb stems from “hitbonen,” which is to “look closely, watch,”
or to “boneh,” “build, build up, or edify.” “Guarded
him” is a translation of “yitz’renhu,” which is of the root n.tz.r,
(noon, tzadi, resh), meaning to “keep, guard, watch, hide,
protect.” It is from this root that “netzer,” the “branch” of Yishayahu
(Isaiah) 11:1 is derived, and the “watchmen” – “notzrim” – of Yirmiyahu
(Jeremiah) 31:6. “Hovers” is particularly interesting, as it is “ye’ra’chef,”
of the root r.ch.f (resh, chet, pey/fey), which is found in B’resheet (Genesis)
1:2 (in reference to the Spirit of Elohim). We also recall Parashat Va’era, in
Shmot (Exodus) 6:7, 8 where we read YHVH’s promise: “And I will take
you…. to the land concerning which I lifted up My hand…” (italics
added). In Sh’mot (Exodus) 19:4, we also
read YHVH’s address to Yisrael: “I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to
Myself.” Parashat Ha’azinu, therefore, echoes promises of the past,
transferring them to the Israelites’ present reality on the threshold of the
Promised Land.
Next is the enumeration of the goodness and plenty that was
conferred upon Yisrael, and with which she shall be blessed in the future (v.
13-14). Verse 15 witnesses a transition, and once again there is an inventory,
if you will, of densely listed verbs. Unfortunately, not all of them can be
translated into verb form in English: “Yeshurun grew fat… kicked… put on
weight… became thick… covered in layers… forsook Elohim his maker….” In Hebrew
all these are in verb form and follow one another thusly: “va’yishman…
va’yiv’at… shamanta, avita, kasita, va’yitosh… va’y’na’bel,” almost in stampede
fashion. Just as before, where YHVH’s intense activities around His people were
depicted in verb form, so too here - the Israelites’ intent on turning away
from their Creator is described in a chain reaction of fast moves.
The excerpt of verses 28-35 presents a controversy, which has been
engaging the commentators for generations. Who is the subject of verses 28-29?
Is it Yisrael, or is it the enemies? In verse 30, again, who is being chased,
is it Yisrael, or the enemies? Verse 36: “For YHVH will bring His people
justice; and He shall have compassion on His servants…” seems to indicate that
the former section would have referred to the enemy. However, according to 30
and 31, it would appear that Yisrael is the subject of the section: “How shall
one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had
sold them and YHVH had shut them up? For
their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.” Who
is it that YHVH is “selling”? (Remember verse 6, where He was depicted as the
Father and the “buyer”?) Does He not sell that which belongs to Him? And in
verse 31, in
the references to “their rock” and to “our rock,” is there not a distinction
made between Yisrael and the other nations?
Verses 37 and 38 present a similar dilemma. Again, is it Yisrael or is
it the nations that are the subject of this brief portion? Having just read
that YHVH will have compassion on His people, this could possibly refer to the
enemies, whose rock and god (the rock being the "god" and not a mere
metaphor for strength, unlike the Elohim of Yisrael who is symbolized by the
rock, but is not the rock itself) is unable to help them. Conversely, this
could also be talking to Yisrael, who had been leaning on false gods whom they
trusted to no avail. What do you think?
“And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel Jordan
[1] New
Studies in Devarim, Nechama Leibowitz, trans. Aryeh Newman. Eliner
Library, Department
for Torah Education and Culture in the Diaspora. Hemed Books Inc.,
[2] Ibid
[3] Da’at Mikra,
A’ahron Mirski, Rav Kook Inst., Jerusalem
[4] Ibid.
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