Parashat HaShavua: Ha'azinu

(7) Remember the days of old, Consider the years of ages past; Ask your father, he will inform you, Your elders, they will tell you:(8) When the Most High gave nations their homes And set the divisions of man, He fixed the boundaries of peoples In relation to Israel’s numbers.(9) For the LORD’s portion is His people, Jacob His own allotment.(10) He found him in a desert region, In an empty howling waste. He engirded him, watched over him, Guarded him as the pupil of His eye.(11) Like an eagle who rouses his nestlings, Gliding down to his young, So did He spread His wings and take him, Bear him along on His pinions;(12) The LORD alone did guide him and there was no strange god against them.

(1) (Devarim 32:12) "The L-rd led him, alone": The L-rd said to Israel: Just as you sat alone in the world and derived no benefit whatsoever from the nations, so I am destined to seat you in the world to come, the nations deriving no benefit whatsoever from you.
(2) "and there was no strange god against them": None of the nations will be permitted to come and rule over you, as it is written (Daniel 10:20) "Then I will depart. And, behold, the (tutelary) power of Greece approaches" (Ibid. 10) "But the power of Persia stood opposed to me," (Ibid. 21) "But I will tell you what is inscribed in truthful writing, etc."

(3) Variantly: "The L-rd alone will lead him": The L-rd is destined to cause you to inherit from one end of the world to the other, as it is written (Ezekiel 48:2-4) "Next to Dan's border, from the eastern side to the western side — Asher, one portion. Next to Asher's border, from the eastern side to the western side — Naftali, one (portion)." What is the intent of "Yehudah, one (portion)," "Asher, one (portion)," "Dan, one (portion)"? That Israel is destined to take from east to west until the length of twenty-five thousand kanim, the extent of seventy-five mil.
(4) "and there will not be with him a strange god": There will be none among you who serve idolatry. And thus is it written (Isaiah 27:9) "With this shall Jacob's sin be atoned for … and asherah trees and sun idols shall arise no more."

(5) Variantly: "The L-rd shall lead him alone": I am destined to settle you at peace in the world.
(6) "and there shall not be with him a strange god": There shall be none among you engaging in any kind of commerce whatsoever, (but all shall be free for Torah study). As it is written (Psalms 72:16) "There will be an abundance (pisath) of grain in the land": The wheat will bring forth gluskaoth (delicacies) the fulness of the palm ("pas," as in "pisath") of a hand. (Ibid.) "Its fruit will rustle like (the trees of) Levanon.": The wheat (stalks) will rub against each other and shed their meal on the ground, and you will come and take of it a full palmful, sufficient for your livelihood.

§ The Gemara further asks: When it came to the additional offerings of Shabbat, what would the Levites recite? Rav Anan bar Rava said that Rav said: They would recite in accordance with the mnemonic hei, zayin, yod, vav, lamed, kaf. They would divide the song of Ha’azinu into six sections, each of which began with a letter of the mnemonic: “Give ear [ha’azinu], you heavens” (Deuteronomy 32:1); “Remember [zekhor] the days of old” (Deuteronomy 32:7); “He made him ride [yarkivehu] on the high places of the earth” (Deuteronomy 32:13); “The Lord saw it [vayar] and spurned” (Deuteronomy 32:19); “Were it not [lulei] that I dread the enemy’s provocation” (Deuteronomy 32:27); “For [ki] the Lord will judge His people” (Deuteronomy 32:36).And Rav Ḥanan bar Rava said that Rav said: In the manner that the verses of the song of Ha’azinuare divided here for the recitation of the additional offerings of Shabbat in the Temple, so too are they divided when they are read in the synagogue on Shabbat.The Gemara asks another question: When it came to the daily afternoon offering on Shabbat, what would the Levites recite? Rabbi Yoḥanan said: “Then sang Moses” (Exodus 15:1), and: “Who is like You” (Exodus 15:11), the two halves of the Song of the Sea, and: “Then Israel sang this song” (Numbers 21:17), the entire Song of the Well.A dilemma was raised before the Sages: Does one recite all these sections of the song of Ha’azinuon each Shabbat, or perhaps on each and every Shabbat they would recite one section? The Gemara suggests: Come and hear, as it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yosei said: By the time that those who recite the first set, i.e., the verses for the additional offerings brought on Shabbat, recite it once, those who recite the second set, for the daily afternoon offering, would repeat their cycle twice, as the first set was comprised of six sections, whereas the second set included only three sections. Learn from here that each and every Shabbat they would recite only one section. The Gemara concludes: Indeed, learn from here that this is correct.

מחטב עציך FROM THE WOODCUTTER [UNTO THE DRAWER OF THE WATER] — This teaches that some of the Canaanites came in Moses' days to become proselytes just as the Gibeonites came in the days of Joshua, — and this is the meaning of what is stated of the Gibeonites, (Joshua 9:4) “And they also acted cunningly”; — and Moses made them woodcutters and drawers of water (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Nitzavim 2).