The View From the Mountain
D’var Torah for Parashat Ha’azinu: Deuteronomy Chapter 32
By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman
Though two chapters are still left in the book of Deuteronomy, this week’s portion (Ha’azinu, meaning “listen,” or “pay heed”), is the last parashah to be read at a Shabbat morning service before the whole cycle begins again. Chapters 34 and 35 (comprising the very last parashah) are read on the holiday of Simchat Torah, immediately followed by the first few verses of the book of Genesis.
With Ha’azinu, Moses nears the end of his own life’s journey. He is commanded by God to ascend the heights of Mount Nebo, from where he will be granted one final vision—the Land of Israel.
Moses is old and tired, but his vision is as clear as ever. Yet, at this moment, one that should be filled with breathtaking exultation, what he can see from the top of the mountain is not as rosy and positive as one would hope. Yes, he can see that God has indeed led the Israelites in the right direction. Moses is also confident that Joshua, his follower, will lead them on into the Land and continue guiding them by God’s light and direction. Yet, farther down the route, Moses can see also more distant days, when the Israelites will abandon God’s paths and veer toward idolatry.
Moses’s frustration at not being allowed to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land is coupled with sadness and disappointment as he realizes that history is bound to repeat itself. The previous forty years were not easy. In retrospect it seems that the Israelites rebelled against God’s commandments at every opportunity. It was lack of faith, in fact, that kept them from reaching the goal of their journey for these 40 years. The future, too, will contain rebellions and lapses in faith.
Ha’azinu, containing some of the Bible’s most powerful poetry, is filled with intense imagery. Moses calls upon the heaven and the earth to bear witness to God’s word and constancy. All Creation is God’s doing; it is God’s law that makes the rain fall and the dew appear. Just so, too, is Israel God’s creation. Set aside from other nations, watched over and protected as an eagle protects its young, Israel is nourished from the yield of the earth, given honey from the rock, fed with “The cream of cattle and the milk of sheep, with the fat of lambs and rams…” (32:13-14).
Yet—Moses sees further—Israel is bound to forget the true source of its bounty and security. At such times, Moses warns, God’s anger will flare, and Israel will be punished. But the Covenant between Israel and God cannot be broken. At the very moment that the Israelites repent, God will take them back, roll back their enemies and restore the People to their Land.
As Moses concludes his prophetic message, he warns the people to “Take to heart all the words with which I have warned you this day. Enjoin them upon your children, that they may observe faithfully all the terms of this Teaching. For this is not a trifling thing for you: It is your very life; through it you shall long endure on the land that you are to possess…” (Deut. 32:47-48).
This message, read every year on the Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (called Shabbat Shuva, the Sabbath of Repentance) contains the entire message of these Days of Awe. With this glorious and awesome prophecy, Moses reminds us that existence is meaningless if it is not filled with God’s purpose. The heaven and the earth are God’s creation, but their purpose is limited to two functions: to provide light and to set the seasons. They can do nothing other than follow their charted course through the universe. Yet what we human beings can do is so much greater: We can actually carry on God’s sacred work of creation. Created of the earth, humanity can transcend its lowly beginnings and achieve nearly divine heights.
It is an awesome responsibility, yet one we often fail to carry out—to disastrous results.
Each New Year, standing on the bridge between the past and the future, we gage how far we have come and what yet remains to be done. Still hanging on the wall of our kitchen is last year’s calendar. It’s all filled out now. The new calendar, set to replace the old one, is yet fresh and clean. How will its days be filled? Yes, there will be regular appointments, reminders of holidays and birthdays, perhaps even some vacation days to pencil in. But there’s something more important than any of these. Each day of the new year has to be filled with purpose and meaning. That’s how we infuse holiness into our lives. The choices we make will determine the quality of our life, for better or for worse.
It is an awesome view from the mountain. It fills us with hope, but also with trepidation. It makes our hearts soar with eagles, yet gravity pulls our gaze downwards. While longing for the green pastures ahead, we also see that the path there will not be smooth or easy. But in each generation we have a Joshua, a Samuel or a David to lead us onwards. Holding the Torah in our hearts and minds, we are filled with courage and faith. It truly is our life, filling our days and nights with light, direction and purpose.
One parashah or page at a time, one letter at a time, we are truly carried onwards as though on the wings of eagles.
©2010 by Boaz D. Heilman
D’var Torah for Parashat Ha’azinu: Deuteronomy Chapter 32
By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman
Though two chapters are still left in the book of Deuteronomy, this week’s portion (Ha’azinu, meaning “listen,” or “pay heed”), is the last parashah to be read at a Shabbat morning service before the whole cycle begins again. Chapters 34 and 35 (comprising the very last parashah) are read on the holiday of Simchat Torah, immediately followed by the first few verses of the book of Genesis.
With Ha’azinu, Moses nears the end of his own life’s journey. He is commanded by God to ascend the heights of Mount Nebo, from where he will be granted one final vision—the Land of Israel.
Moses is old and tired, but his vision is as clear as ever. Yet, at this moment, one that should be filled with breathtaking exultation, what he can see from the top of the mountain is not as rosy and positive as one would hope. Yes, he can see that God has indeed led the Israelites in the right direction. Moses is also confident that Joshua, his follower, will lead them on into the Land and continue guiding them by God’s light and direction. Yet, farther down the route, Moses can see also more distant days, when the Israelites will abandon God’s paths and veer toward idolatry.
Moses’s frustration at not being allowed to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land is coupled with sadness and disappointment as he realizes that history is bound to repeat itself. The previous forty years were not easy. In retrospect it seems that the Israelites rebelled against God’s commandments at every opportunity. It was lack of faith, in fact, that kept them from reaching the goal of their journey for these 40 years. The future, too, will contain rebellions and lapses in faith.
Ha’azinu, containing some of the Bible’s most powerful poetry, is filled with intense imagery. Moses calls upon the heaven and the earth to bear witness to God’s word and constancy. All Creation is God’s doing; it is God’s law that makes the rain fall and the dew appear. Just so, too, is Israel God’s creation. Set aside from other nations, watched over and protected as an eagle protects its young, Israel is nourished from the yield of the earth, given honey from the rock, fed with “The cream of cattle and the milk of sheep, with the fat of lambs and rams…” (32:13-14).
Yet—Moses sees further—Israel is bound to forget the true source of its bounty and security. At such times, Moses warns, God’s anger will flare, and Israel will be punished. But the Covenant between Israel and God cannot be broken. At the very moment that the Israelites repent, God will take them back, roll back their enemies and restore the People to their Land.
As Moses concludes his prophetic message, he warns the people to “Take to heart all the words with which I have warned you this day. Enjoin them upon your children, that they may observe faithfully all the terms of this Teaching. For this is not a trifling thing for you: It is your very life; through it you shall long endure on the land that you are to possess…” (Deut. 32:47-48).
This message, read every year on the Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (called Shabbat Shuva, the Sabbath of Repentance) contains the entire message of these Days of Awe. With this glorious and awesome prophecy, Moses reminds us that existence is meaningless if it is not filled with God’s purpose. The heaven and the earth are God’s creation, but their purpose is limited to two functions: to provide light and to set the seasons. They can do nothing other than follow their charted course through the universe. Yet what we human beings can do is so much greater: We can actually carry on God’s sacred work of creation. Created of the earth, humanity can transcend its lowly beginnings and achieve nearly divine heights.
It is an awesome responsibility, yet one we often fail to carry out—to disastrous results.
Each New Year, standing on the bridge between the past and the future, we gage how far we have come and what yet remains to be done. Still hanging on the wall of our kitchen is last year’s calendar. It’s all filled out now. The new calendar, set to replace the old one, is yet fresh and clean. How will its days be filled? Yes, there will be regular appointments, reminders of holidays and birthdays, perhaps even some vacation days to pencil in. But there’s something more important than any of these. Each day of the new year has to be filled with purpose and meaning. That’s how we infuse holiness into our lives. The choices we make will determine the quality of our life, for better or for worse.
It is an awesome view from the mountain. It fills us with hope, but also with trepidation. It makes our hearts soar with eagles, yet gravity pulls our gaze downwards. While longing for the green pastures ahead, we also see that the path there will not be smooth or easy. But in each generation we have a Joshua, a Samuel or a David to lead us onwards. Holding the Torah in our hearts and minds, we are filled with courage and faith. It truly is our life, filling our days and nights with light, direction and purpose.
One parashah or page at a time, one letter at a time, we are truly carried onwards as though on the wings of eagles.
©2010 by Boaz D. Heilman
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