PARSHAT HA’AZINU – MANY VOICES, ONE SONG

ב”ה

Parshat Ha’azinu is unlike almost every other parsha in the Torah. Moshe Rabbeinu is approaching the end of his life, and instead of another long address, he gives the Jewish people a song. Yet this song is not only about Israel. It begins with heaven and earth, reaches back to the earliest generations of mankind, speaks about the division of humanity into nations, proclaims Hashem’s perfect justice and absolute unity, and ends with the nations themselves joining in praise.

There is one Creator and one ultimate purpose for creation, but Hashem has not given every person or every nation the same role. Unity does not require uniformity.

Heaven and Earth Are Listening

Moshe begins:

“Listen, O heavens, and I will speak; and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.” (Devarim 32:1)

Rashi explains that Moshe calls upon heaven and earth as witnesses because Moshe will pass from this world, while heaven and earth endure.[1]

Ha’azinu therefore begins on the widest possible stage: creation itself. The G-d who gave the Torah at Sinai is the Creator of heaven and earth. Moshe then declares:

“The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice; a G-d of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He.” (Devarim 32:4)

Before Ha’azinu speaks about Israel’s destiny, it establishes a universal truth: history is governed by a just Creator. For Jews, this places our covenant within Hashem’s purpose for the world; for Bnei Noach, it establishes the foundation of human responsibility.

Remember the History of Humanity Moshe continues: “Remember the days of old; understand the years of generation after generation.” (Devarim 32:7)

Rashi directs us to Dor Enosh and the Generation of the Flood.[2] To understand Israel’s place in history, the Torah first asks us to remember human history. Before Sinai, humanity already knew Divine command, moral responsibility, judgment, covenant and the possibility of rebuilding.

Then comes the next verse:

“When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He separated the children of man, He established the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.” (Devarim 32:8)

Rashi connects this with the Dor Haflagah, the Generation of the Dispersion, when humanity was divided into nations.[3] The Sifrei similarly discusses the Flood, Bavel and Hashem’s establishment of the boundaries of the nations.[4]

Ha’azinu is therefore placing the story of Israel inside the larger story of mankind.

Every Nation Has a Place

Verse 8 is especially important for Bnei Noach. Human diversity is not presented as meaningless. Hashem oversees the development and division of mankind into peoples and nations.

Rashi connects the traditional seventy nations with the seventy members of Yaakov’s household who descended to Egypt.[3] Israel and the nations therefore exist within one Divine plan.

But one plan does not mean one identical mission. The Jewish people received the Torah and its mitzvot as the covenant of Israel. Humanity as a whole was given the universal obligations known as the Seven Mitzvot Bnei Noach.

The Rambam writes that one who accepts and fulfills these commandments because Hashem commanded them in the Torah and informed us through Moshe that the descendants of Noach had already been commanded in them is among the Chasidei Umot HaOlam, the righteous among the nations, and has a share in the World to Come.[5]

A Ben Noach therefore does not need to become Jewish to have a genuine Divine mission. The goal is not sameness, but faithfully fulfilling the responsibility Hashem has given each person.

One Rain, Different Fruit

Moshe uses a beautiful image:

“May my teaching drop like rain; may my words flow like dew.” (Devarim 32:2)

The Sifrei compares Torah to rain. One rain descends, yet the grapevine, olive and fig each bring forth their own distinctive quality.[6] The Sifrei itself is explaining the many dimensions contained within Torah, but the image also illustrates our theme:

The same rain falls from heaven, but not every tree produces the same fruit.

An olive tree does not fail because it does not produce grapes. There is one source above, yet diversity below. The Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, develops a related principle within the Jewish people in Likkutei Torah on Ha’azinu. He distinguishes between baalei Torah, those whose primary occupation is Torah learning, and baalei esek, those engaged in worldly affairs, mitzvot and acts of kindness. He associates the former with “heaven” and the latter with “earth.”[7]

This teaching concerns Jews specifically, not the nations. But its lesson is powerful: Do not measure your mission by someone else’s mission. Ask what Hashem expects from you.

A General in Hashem’s Army

A story involving the Lubavitcher Rebbe brings this idea into practical life. Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin was a rabbi, lawyer and U.S. Army chaplain who ultimately attained the rank of brigadier general. In 1986, he attended a farbrengen, a Chassidic gathering, wearing his military uniform. The Rebbe blessed him to be a “chaplain in G-d’s army.” Then the Rebbe gave him an unexpected mission: he should use his position to influence non-Jewish soldiers to observe the Seven Mitzvot Bnei Noach.[8]

Rabbi Drazin wondered how such a message would be received in the pluralistic military environment. Nevertheless, he developed talks about the Seven Mitzvot for non-Jewish audiences, and the response was positive.

Rabbi Drazin later reported this to the Rebbe. In his published account, he recalls that the Rebbe wrote that he too followed the Rambam and that the Rambam would certainly have approved of the effort. The Rebbe encouraged him to expand the work further and suggested publishing the talk so that it could serve as a source and inspiration for others.[9]

The Rebbe did not tell him to leave the army in order to serve Hashem. His uniform, profession, rank and access to people became instruments of his Divine mission. That gives every Jew and every Ben Noach an important question:

Why has Hashem placed me where I am?

Perhaps your profession, family, community and abilities are precisely where that purpose is meant to be fulfilled.

“There Is No G-d With Me”

Later Hashem declares:

“See now that I, I am He, and there is no god with Me; I put to death and I bring to life; I wounded and I will heal.” (Devarim 32:39)

Ha’azinu moves from the existence of many nations to the absolute unity of Hashem. There may be many peoples. There are not many ultimate powers.

The Gemara, the Talmud, also cites this verse in its discussion of Techiyat HaMeitim, the resurrection of the dead. [10]

The Nations Recognize Israel’s Faithfulness

Then comes the extraordinary conclusion:

“Sing praise, O nations, of His people…” (Devarim 32:43)

Following Rashi’s reading, the nations praise Israel for remaining attached to Hashem through all the troubles that passed over them and never abandoning Him.[11]

The Sifrei likewise says that in the future the nations will praise Israel.[12]

The point is not only victory. It is faithfulness. This leads naturally into the shortest chapter of Tehillim:

הַלְלוּ אֶת־יְהוָה כָּל־גּוֹיִם שַׁבְּחוּהוּ כָּל־הָאֻמִּים׃
כִּי גָבַר עָלֵינוּ חַסְדּוֹ וֶאֱמֶת־יְהוָה לְעוֹלָם הַלְלוּ־יָהּ׃

“Praise Hashem, all nations; laud Him, all peoples. For His kindness has prevailed over us, and the truth of Hashem is forever. Hallelujah.” (Tehillim 117)[13]

Why are the nations called upon to praise Hashem for kindness shown to “us”? The Gemara explains that the nations praise Hashem for the mighty acts and wonders performed before their eyes; how much more must Israel praise Him for the kindness that has prevailed over us.[14]

The Rebbe takes this a step further and explains that Tehillim 117 also points toward the future redemption, when the nations themselves will openly recognize G-dliness and call upon the Name of Hashem.[15]

Ha’azinu on Shabbat Shuva

This year, 5787, Ha’azinu is read on Shabbat Shuva, 8 Tishrei 5787, immediately before Yom Kippur.[16]

That makes its universal message especially timely. On Yom Kippur afternoon we read the Book of Yonah, where an entire non-Jewish city, Nineveh, receives a Divine warning. Its people believe the warning, repent and change their behavior. Hashem sees what they have done and withholds the threatened destruction.[17] Yonah reinforces an important message: teshuvah, moral responsibility and returning to Hashem have meaning for all humanity. Every human being can choose differently and turn toward the Creator.

From Ha’azinu to Sukkot

Only a few days later comes Sukkot. Rabbi Elazar teaches in Sukkah 55b that the seventy bulls offered during Sukkot corresponded to the seventy nations of the world. Rabbi Yochanan then says that the nations lost something when the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, because while it stood, the altar brought atonement for them.[18] The picture is remarkable: Ha’azinu speaks of the nations; Yom Kippur shows Nineveh doing teshuvah; Sukkot includes the seventy nations in the Temple service; and Tehillim calls upon all nations to praise Hashem. And the prophet Tzephaniah looks toward the future:

“Then I will transform the peoples to a pure language, that they may all call upon the Name of Hashem, to serve Him with one accord.” (Tzephaniah 3:9)[19]

Not one people. One purpose.

Our Part in the Song

For a Jew, Ha’azinu teaches that our covenant with Hashem does not make us indifferent to humanity. We have a responsibility to live Torah faithfully and to help bring awareness of the One Creator and the Seven Mitzvot Bnei Noach into the world in a respectful and positive way. For a Ben Noach, the message is equally powerful:

You are not standing outside Hashem’s story. You are already part of it.

Hashem placed you in particular circumstances and gave humanity a Divine path. The question is what fruit you will produce with the life He has given you. One rain falls from heaven. Different trees produce different fruit. Different peoples have different responsibilities. Yet all stand beneath the same heaven and before the same Creator. And ultimately, those different voices do not disappear. They become part of one song:

“Praise Hashem, all nations; laud Him, all peoples.”

Shabbat Shalom.

A cura del rabbino Avriel Rabenou, Laurea magistrale (MSc) e Master in Business Administration (MBA).

Fonti

1. Devarim 32:1; Rashi ad loc.

2. Devarim 32:7; Rashi ad loc.

3. Devarim 32:8; Rashi ad loc.

4. Sifrei Devarim 311.

5. Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Melachim uMilchamot 8:11.

6. Sifrei Devarim 306, on Devarim 32:2.

7. Alter Rebbe, Likkutei Torah, Parshat Ha’azinu, maamar Ha’azinu HaShamayim, discussion of baalei Torah and baalei esek.

8. Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin, JEM, Here’s My Story, “Extended Family,” account of his 1986 encounter with the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

9. Ibid., including Rabbi Drazin’s account of the Rebbe’s written follow-up encouraging expansion and publication of his Seven Mitzvot Bnei Noach talks. 3Parshat Ha’azinu 5787: Many Voices, One Song

10. Devarim 32:39; Sanhedrin 91b.

11. Devarim 32:43; Rashi ad loc.

12. Sifrei Devarim 333 (section numbering varies by edition).

13. Tehillim 117:1–2.

14. Pesachim 118b.

15. Lubavitcher Rebbe, maamar Ulekachtem Lachem, 13 Tishrei 5734, sec. 6; maamar Hallelu es Hashem Kol Goyim, second day of Sukkot 5731; see also Tzephaniah 3:9.

16. Luach for 5787: Ha’azinu, Shabbat Shuva, 8 Tishrei 5787.

17. Yonah 3:4–10; Haftarah of Mincha on Yom Kippur.

18. Sukkah 55b.

19. Tzephaniah 3:9.

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