Haazinu in a Nutshell
Deuteronomy 32:1-52
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The greater part of the Torah reading of Haazinu ("Listen In")
consists of a 70-line "song" delivered by Moses to the people of Israel on the
last day of his earthly life.
Calling heaven and earth as witnesses, Moses exhorts the people to "Remember the days of old / Consider the years of many generations / Ask your father, and he will recount it to you / Your elders, and they will tell you" how G-d "found them in a desert land," made them a people, chose them as His own, and bequeathed them a bountiful land. The Song also warns against the pitfalls of plenty -- "Yeshurun grew fat and kicked / You have grown fat, thick and rotund / He forsook G-d who made him / And spurned the Rock of his salvation" -- and the terrible calamities that would result, which Moses describes as G-d "hiding His face." Yet in the end, he promises, G-d will avenge the blood of His servants and be reconciled with His people and land. The Parshah concludes with G-d's instruction to Moses to ascend the summit of Mount Nebo, from which he will behold the Promised Land before dying on the mountain. "For you shall see the land opposite you; but you shall not go there, into the land which I give to the children of Israel." |
Monday, September 24, 2012
September 29, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
September 22, 2012
Vayelech,
Deuteronomy 31:1–30
Parshat Vayelech includes the commandment for every
Jew to write a song for themselves (31:19), which Rashi says is referring the
following Parsha, Haazinu. The sages derive from this rule the final of the 613
commandments that each Jew has to take part in the writing of a Torah scroll.
Why would we be required to write our own song, and then be given the song to
sing? Also, how is the requirement to write our own song the same as the
requirement to take part in scribing our own Torah?
If we apply the concept of this weekly Dvar Email,
we can easily understand the Torah's final commandment: If we take any
commandment in the Torah and personalize it, although its source is the Torah,
its ownership is very personal. Songs, too, sound different when sung by
different people. In fact, music becomes even more personal because it's a more
emotional medium. That's exactly why the Torah chose music as the metaphor to
teach us about personalizing the Torah to make it special for ourselves. The
Torah wants us to internalize it so much that we sing about it! If we accomplish
this, we've fulfilled the final commandment of writing our own Torah - with all
the harmonies that accompany it!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
September 15, 2012
Parashat Nitzavim, Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20
The Parshah of Nitzavim includes some of the most fundamental principles of the Jewish faith:
The unity of Israel: “You stand today, all of you, before the L‑rd your G‑d: your heads, your tribes, your elders, your officers, and every Israelite man; your young ones, your wives, the stranger in your gate; from your wood-hewer to your water-drawer.”
The future redemption: Moses warns of the exile and desolation of the Land that will result if Israel abandons G‑d’s laws, but then he prophesies that in the end, “You will return to the L‑rd your G‑d . . . If your outcasts shall be at the ends of the heavens, from there will the L‑rd your G‑d gather you . . . and bring you into the Land which your fathers have possessed.”
The practicality of Torah: “For the mitzvah which I command you this day, it is not beyond you, nor is it remote from you. It is not in heaven . . . It is not across the sea . . . Rather, it is very close to you, in your mouth, in your heart, that you may do it.”
Freedom of choice: “I have set before you life and goodness, and death and evil: in that I command you this day to love G‑d, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments . . . Life and death I have set before you, blessing and curse. And you shall choose life.”
September 8, 2012
Ki Tavo, Deuteronomy 26:1–29:8
Of the many sub-topics in Parshat Ki Tavo, one especially noteworthy expression is when the Torah says, "G-d has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear until this day" (Deuteronomy 29:3). Tradition (and Rashi) has it that Moshe gave Shevet Levi (the tribe of Levi) a Torah scroll, and the rest of the nation justifiably complained that they didn't get one. But their complaint wasn't that they didn't get a scroll, but that future generations might have a problem with it. Upon hearing this complaint Moshe rejoiced! As Rabbi Liebowitz explains, he was actually HAPPY about a complaint because it showed how much they valued the Torah and their bond with G-d so much, that they even thought about the future of that bond.
BUT, if we look closer at the Passuk (verse) we'll see it even clearer.. G-d gave us eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to feel. Why does the Torah say that our hearts will KNOW? The answer is that if we feel something strongly enough, in our hearts we KNOW it to be true! The Jews knew in their hearts that they had to protect the future of the Torah by safeguarding against potential diversions. The Torah is telling us that we must look into our hearts, and do whatever it takes to preserve, maintain and grow as Jews, until our hearts KNOW what's right. And if we don't know exactly what we need to do, we must always use our eyes to look at customs of the past, our ears to listen to the existing rules, and our minds to develop our own Jewish niche. until our heart knows we've found it!
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| Quotation of the Week (thanks to Bodie) - Torah is compared to water also!: |
| "Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water. You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle... Water can flow or it can crash! Be water my friend." - Bruce Lee |
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