Ha'azinu 5784 Turned around, in the wilderness again

ByRabbi Anita Josefa Barzman MD Founder, micro-mishkan.net

Could it be that we are in the wilderness today? Again, or still, in the wilderness?

(י) יִמְצָאֵ֙הוּ֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִדְבָּ֔ר וּבְתֹ֖הוּ יְלֵ֣ל יְשִׁמֹ֑ן יְסֹבְבֶ֙נְהוּ֙ יְב֣וֹנְנֵ֔הוּ יִצְּרֶ֖נְהוּ כְּאִישׁ֥וֹן עֵינֽוֹ׃(יא) כְּנֶ֙שֶׁר֙ יָעִ֣יר קִנּ֔וֹ עַל־גּוֹזָלָ֖יו יְרַחֵ֑ף יִפְרֹ֤שׂ כְּנָפָיו֙ יִקָּחֵ֔הוּ יִשָּׂאֵ֖הוּ עַל־אֶבְרָתֽוֹ׃

Deuteronomy 32:10-11

(10) [God] found them in a desert region,
In an empty howling waste.
[God] engirded them, watched over them,
Guarded them as the pupil of God’s eye.
(11) Like an eagle who rouses its nestlings,
Gliding down to its young,
So did [God] spread wings and take them,
Bear them along on pinions;

This season, this the turning of the year, as we approach Rosh Hashanah and move into 5785, this is surely one of the most momentous times for Jews, for the USA (my native country), for Israel, for the world, in many decades.

For many, it feels as if we are in a sort of wilderness now, an empty howling place, וּבְתֹ֖הוּ יְלֵ֣ל יְשִׁמֹ֑ן (Verse 32:10), where rather than feeling safe or guarded, it feels as if God's countenance is hidden from us (Verse 32:20):

דברים ל״ב:כ׳

(כ) וַיֹּ֗אמֶר אַסְתִּ֤ירָה פָנַי֙ מֵהֶ֔ם אֶרְאֶ֖ה מָ֣ה אַחֲרִיתָ֑ם כִּ֣י ד֤וֹר תַּהְפֻּכֹת֙ הֵ֔מָּהבָּנִ֖ים לֹא־אֵמֻ֥ן בָּֽם׃

Deuteronomy 32:20

(20) [God] said: I will hide My countenance from them,
And see how they fare in the end.
For they are a treacherous breed,Children with no loyalty in them.

ד֤וֹר תַּהְפֻּכֹת֙ בָּנִ֖ים לֹא־אֵמֻ֥ן בָּֽם a treacherous breed, children with no loyalty in them

I suggest an alternative translation/ interpretation:

"I will hide my countenance from them because they are a generation that is turned around / perverse / turned away .... because they are children who have no אֵמֻ֥ן in them, people without the capacity to have confidence or trust."

God's countenance is hidden because... we are... turned around? Because there is noאֵמֻ֥ן (eymun) in us?

Let's explore these two problematic qualities. First, תַּהְפֻּכֹת֙, which JPS translates as "treacherous" ["a treacherous generation"], but which I translate in a manner that more evocatively suggests that the generation is turned around [a meaning of "perverse"].

This word itself - תַּהְפֻּכֹת֙ - is rare in Tanakh; there are only ten occurrences, of which this is the only one in the Torah; the other nine occurrences are in Proverbs (nearly all of which refer to the speech of the righteous compared to "perverse utterances" - תַּהְפֻּכֹת֙).

The shoresh - the verbal root - for תַּהְפֻּכֽוֹת is √הָפַךְ

Strong's definition:
הָפַךְ hâphak, haw-fak'; a primitive root; to turn about or over; by implication, to change, overturn, return, pervert:—× become, change, come, be converted, give, make (a bed), overthrow (-turn), perverse, retire, tumble, turn (again, aside, back, to the contrary, every way).

The "semantic cloud" of this verbal root √הָפַךְ:

to turn, overthrow, overturn
(Hophal) to turn on someone
to turn this way and that, turn every way
to transform oneself
(Hithpael)
to be upturned
to be overturned, be overthrown
to be reversed
to be turned, be turned over, be changed, be turned against
to be perverse
to change oneself
to turn oneself, turn, turn back
(Niphal)
to change, transform
to turn, turn about, turn over, turn around
to overturn, overthrow
(Qal)

So we can consider that part of the reason that God's countenance is hidden from us is that we are somehow turned around, perverse, turned away.

If we are turned away or turned around, then - particularly at this season - we think of engaging in the process of teshuva, of returning.

Now let's consider the other problematic quality mentioned in Verse 32:20 to explain why God's countenance will be hidden: it is that "they" / we are

בָּנִ֖ים לֹא־אֵמֻ֥ן בָּֽם children with no loyalty in them (JPS translation)

or as I suggest:
"they are children who have no אֵמֻ֥ן in them, people without the capacity to have confidence or trust."

Here let us turn briefly into an exploration of אֵמֻ֥ן. We may be more familiar with the form of this word, emunah, which appears earlier in this parsha, in Verse 32:4:

דברים ל״ב:ד׳

(ד) הַצּוּר֙ תָּמִ֣ים פׇּֽעֳל֔וֹ כִּ֥י כׇל־דְּרָכָ֖יו מִשְׁפָּ֑ט אֵ֤לאֱמוּנָה֙ וְאֵ֣ין עָ֔וֶל צַדִּ֥יק וְיָשָׁ֖ר הֽוּא׃

Deuteronomy 32:4

(4) The Rock!—whose deeds are perfect,
Yea, all God’s ways are just;
A faithful God, never false,
True and upright indeed.

Emunah - אֱמוּנָה֙ : firmness, faithfulness, fidelity.

The shoresh - verbal root - of both אֱמוּנָה֙ and is √אָמַן; its "semantic cloud":

to support, confirm, be faithful
trust, believe
stand firm
to stand firm, to trust, to be certain, to believe in
(Hiphil)
reliable, faithful, trusty
verified, confirmed
confirmed, established, sure
made firm, sure, lasting
to be carried by a nurse
to be established, be faithful, be carried, make firm
(Niphal)
pillars, supporters of the door
foster-mother, nurse
foster-father (subst.)
to support, confirm, be faithful, uphold, nourish
(Qal)

Emunah is a quality of God's, and of humans as well; this phenomenon pervades the Tanakh. When we read in Verse 32:20 that the "turned around generation" has none of this quality in them, we understand that its absence has dire consequences: God's countenance is hidden from us. (I will return to the presence / absence of enumah, of "amen", below.)

In her Studies in Devarim, Nehama Leibowtiz points out a connection between Verse 32:10 and Hosea 9:10:

הושע ט׳:י׳

(י)כַּעֲנָבִ֣ים בַּמִּדְבָּ֗ר מָצָ֙אתִי֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל ...

Hosea 9:10

(10) I found Israel [as pleasing] As grapes in the wilderness...

"Our Sages' association of our verse with this statement of Hosea introduces a new idea. In Hosea the choice of Israel is not described merely as the work of God in the sense of being initiated from above only. The simile of the grapes in the wilderness suggests also a movement from below in which the Israelites are compared to fresh grapes that restore the soul of the wanderer who finds them in a place where he did not expect to find them, in the desert, and rejoices at his find. In other words, God had found them 'as the wanderer finds some precious thing in a place where he did not expect to find it at all' (Buber)."
Leibowtiz, Studies in Devarim (page 341)

There are hopefully a number of paths out of this wilderness, actions to take so that God's countenance will not be hidden with us.

Verse 32:20 suggests that we need to change our state of being turned around and not having the capacity for emunah.

It's difficult - if not impossible - to follow instructions, or a map, or your own inner compass, when you are turned around, inverted, in a perverted state.

The connection with Hosea 9:10 reminds us that we can dig down, deeply, into ourselves, into our texts and traditions, to find refreshing and sustaining sources of respite, even in the wilderness.

It's difficult - if not impossible - to see clearly, to see that we are interconnected, when we can't say "Amen", when we cannot connect with emunah.

The broad popularity of Rabbi Sharon Brous' recent book The Amen Effect, Ancient Wisdom to Mend Our Broken Hearts and World indicates how hungry people are for finding ways to be more connected, to be able to say "Amen":

"Sharon Brous—a leading American rabbi—makes the case that the spiritual work of our time, as instinctual as it is counter-cultural, is to find our way to one other in celebration, in sorrow, and in solidarity. To show up for each other in moments of joy and pain, vulnerability and possibility, to invest in relationships of shared purpose and build communities of care.
Brous contends that it is through honoring our most basic human instinct– the yearning for real connection– that we reawaken our shared humanity and begin to heal. This kind of sacred presence is captured by the word amen, a powerful ancient idea that we affirm the fullness of one another’s experience by demonstrating, in body and word: “I see you. You are not alone.”

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/720048/the-amen-effect-by-sharon-brous/

I offer one final aspect to our turning ourselves around so that we can move out of our current wilderness. The following may be painful or difficult for some readers. I suggest that we need to consider that for 21st Century Judaism to emerge from its current wilderness, we must have the courage to engage with potentially harmful forces within ourselves (as well as outside of ourselves). I suggest that it could be healing to remind ourselves that when we dispossess others, we also may be dispossessing or impoverishing parts of ourselves.

We read repeatedly - particularly notably in the Book of Deuteronomy - that when we enter the land, we must dispossess those who are there. Dispossession - √יָרַשׁ ; this verbal root occurs 232 times in the Tanakh, proportionally most notably in the Book of Deuteronomy (71 times - ie nearly 31% of its occurrences). This verbal root not only means to dispossess others of something, it can also mean (even in binyan pa'al) to become poor, to be poor.

I've explored the relationship between dispossession of others and what we lose in the process elsewhere - for example, please see my recent recent Sefaria sheet about Parshat Devarim,

Devarim 5784 Virtual Inheritance / Nonfungibility
https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/580838?lang=en

A difficult question: could part of our current wilderness experience, our current turned-around-ness, our experience that God's countenance is hidden from us, result from the impoverishment we have caused to ourselves, in some ways, by dispossessing others?

As painful as it may be, I suggest that to emerge from our current wilderness state, a searching exploration of our Torah's elevation of dispossessing others could be healing.

As we approach Rosh Hashanah this week, as we hear the shofar rousing us and calling us to awaken, to engage with our deepest values, let us each connect to values of justice and the valuing of life, so that we may enter the year 5785 with renewed commitment and kavanah to pursue justice and live out our deepest Torah values, today, 5785, 2024. Let us search for the face of God in each person we encounter. Let us no longer be upside down. Let us find our way together out of our current wilderness.

As an addendum, I share the following Midrash (which includes our Verse 32:10) , which some readers may find of interest:

תנחומא בובר, במדבר י״ד:א׳

איש על דגלו באותות. זש"ה ימצאהו בארץ מדבר (דברים לב י), מציאה גדולה מצא הקב"ה את ישראל כאדם שהוא מהלך במדבר והוא מוצא שם ענבים, כך מצא הקב"ה את ישראל, שנאמר כענבים במדבר [מצאתי ישראל] (הושע ט י), לכך נאמר ימצאהו בארץ מדבר, מדבר היה העולם עד שלא יצאו ישראל ממצרים, ובתהו ילל ישימון (דברים שם), תוהו ויללה היה העולם עד שלא קיבלו ישראל את התורה, (לא עשה אלא) כיון שיצאו ישראל ממצרים וקיבלו את התורה האיר העולם, שנאמר כי נר מצוה ותורה אור (משלי ו כג), [יסובבנהו יבוננהו יצרנהו כאישון עינו] (דברים שם), מהו יסובבנהו, שהקיפן בענני כבוד, יבוננהו שהבינם דברי תורה, יצרנהו אשרי האזנים ששמעו, עד היכן חיבבן, עד היכן שמרן, עד היכן נצרן כביכול עד כאישון עינו, ראה היכן חיבבן ושמרן ונצרן, שאמר הקב"ה למשה אמור להם שיעשו משכן ואשכון ביניהם, [כביכול אני מניח את העליונים ויורד ושוכן ביניהם], ולא עוד אלא שאעשה אותם דגלים לשמי, למה שהם בני, שנאמר בנים אתם לה׳ אלקיכם (שם יד א), והם צבאותי, שנאמר והוצאתי את צבאותי [את עמי בני ישראל] מארץ מצרים (שמות ז ד), וכן הוא אומר דגל מחנה יהודה (תימנה) לצבאותם (במדבר ב ג), לפיכך עשה אותם דגלים לשמי, שנאמר איש על דגלו וגו'.

Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bamidbar 14:1

(Numb. 2:2:) EACH WITH HIS STANDARD, UNDER THE BANNERS. This text is related (to Deut. 32:10): HE FOUND HIM (i.e., Jacob) IN A DESERT LAND. a great find, the Holy One found Israel. like a person who, when traveling in the desert, finds grapes there. So did the Holy One find Israel, as stated (in Hos. 9:10): [I FOUND ISRAEL] LIKE GRAPES IN THE DESERT. It is therefore stated (in Deut. 32:10): HE FOUND HIM IN A DESERT LAND. The world was a desert, before Israel came forth from Egypt. (Ibid., cont.:) AND IN THE VOID WAS A WAILING DESOLATION. The world was void and wailing, before Israel received the Torah. {He did nothing, but when] [When] Israel came forth from Egypt and received the Torah, enlightened the world, as stated (in Prov. 6:23): FOR THE COMMANDMENT IS A LAMP, AND TORAH IS A LIGHT. [(Deut. 32:10, cont.:) HE ENCIRCLED HIM, HE WATCHED OVER HIM, AND HE PROTECTED HIM AS THE PUPIL OF HIS EYE.] What is the meaning of HE ENCIRCLED HIM? That he encompassed them with clouds of glory. HE WATCHED OVER (rt.: BYN) HIM in that he taught (rt.: BYN) them the words of Torah. HE PROTECTED HIM. Blessed are the ears that have heard. To what extent did he cherish them? To what extent did he keep them? To what extent did he protect them? As much, as it were, as the pupil of his eye. See how he cherished them, kept them, and protected them. It is as the Holy One said to Moses: Tell them to make a tabernacle, and I will dwell among them. [I am, as it were, leaving the heavenly beings and coming down to dwell among them.] And not only that, but I will make them standards for my name. Why? Because they are my children, as stated (in Deut. 14:1): YOU ARE CHILDREN OF THE LORD YOUR GOD. Also they are my hosts, as stated (in Exod. 7:4): AND I WILL BRING FORTH MY HOSTS, [MY PEOPLE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL,] FROM THE LAND OF EGYPT. And so it says (in Numb. 2:3): {YOU SHALL RECKON} THE STANDARD OF THE CAMP OF JUDAH BY THEIR HOSTS. Therefore, he made those standards for my name, as stated (in Numb. 2:2): EACH WITH HIS STANDARD,….

ישעיהו א׳:ד׳

ה֣וֹי ׀ גּ֣וֹי חֹטֵ֗א עַ֚ם כֶּ֣בֶד עָוֺ֔ן זֶ֣רַע מְרֵעִ֔ים בָּנִ֖ים מַשְׁחִיתִ֑ים עָזְב֣וּ אֶת־ה׳ נִֽאֲצ֛וּ אֶת־קְד֥וֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל נָזֹ֥רוּאָחֽוֹר׃

Isaiah 1:4

Ah, sinful nation!People laden with iniquity!Brood of evildoers!Depraved children!They have forsaken GOD,
Spurned the Holy One of Israel,Turned their backs.

Right at the start of Isaiah, we see that one aspect of the tragic fate of the people is that they have turned their backs on God - in other words, they /we are not headed in the right direction.