Ilustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
In This Week’s Parashah: מָה בַּפָּרָשָׁה
Full Parashah Reading: Devarim 32:1-52
- Ha’azinu is a שִׁירָה (shira, song or poem) with features like parallelism and metaphor.
- Parallelism means saying the same idea twice, with different words:
הַאֲזִינוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וַאֲדַבֵּרָה
Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak
וְתִשְׁמַע הָאָרֶץ אִמְרֵי־פִי
Let the earth hear the words of my mouth
- Metaphors often describe things that are difficult to understand, using images or demonstrations that are more familiar. For example, God is compared to a נֶשֶׁר (nesher, eagle) caring for its young.
- The shira tells a story. God finds Benei Yisrael in wild lands and cares for all their needs with kindness and affection.
- But Benei Yisrael forget about God, and they worship idols.
- God punishes Benei Yisrael with many bad things: famine, plague, beasts, and war.
- But God will also punish the enemies of Benei Yisrael and ultimately save Benei Yisrael.
- The Torah is the lifeforce of Bnei Yisrael.
- God tells Moshe to go to the top of Har Nevo so he can look at Eretz Yisrael before he dies.
