Questions & Commentary on Parashat Ha'azinu

1. The first letter of the first four words in Deuteronomy 29:17 in Hebrew - shoresh poreh rosh vela‘ana "a root that bears gall and wormwood" - form the word shofar. This teaches us that the sound of the shofar is capable of uprooting from the heart the roots of evil that "bear" gall and wormwood (Sefer HaQedoshim as quoted by Me‘eina shel Torah). How does the hearing of the shofar uproot evil from our hearts? Of what does the blowing of the shofar remind us?

Rabbi Jason Sobel

In Jewish tradition, Yom Teru‘a (the Feast of Trumpets, i.e. Rosh Hashana) is also known as Yom Haddin, the Day of Judgment; for on this day God begins the yearly divine judgment of the world. This view is derived from the book of Zephaniah that connects God's future judgment with the sounding of the shofar:

The great day of the LORD is near; It is near and hastens quickly . . . That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, day of trumpet and alarm.

            Zephaniah 1:14-16

One of reasons that the shofar is blown during the month of Elul and on Rosh Hashana is to remind us to prepare ourselves for Yom Haddin, the Day of Judgment. When we hear the sound of shofar, it should instill the fear of the Lord in us and inspire us to repent. As the Prophet Amos states, "Can a shofar be blown in a city and the people not tremble?" (Amos 3:6). Therefore, one way the shofar uproots evil from our hearts is by reminding us of the sobering reality of God's judgment. Ultimately every human being, even followers of Messiah, will have to give an account of their lives before the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:10).

A second reason that we blow the shofar is to mark Rosh Hashana as the anniversary of God's creation. According to tradition, God began the work of creation on the 25th day Elul, five days before Rosh Hashana. Six days later, on the first of Tishri, which is the day of Rosh Hashana, the Lord created the first man and women (b. Rosh 11b-12a). The reason we remember God's act on Creation on Rosh Hashana and not on the 25th of Elul is that humanity is not only God's final act of creation, but the reason for creation. God created the world so that humankind could enter into an intimate loving relationship and bring God glory by proclaiming divine kingship. As we say in the words of Adon Olam, "At that time when God made everything according to his will then God's name was proclaimed as King." Biblically, the connection between Rosh Hashana and creation is based on Psalms 98:6 in which the God's kingship and the blowing of the shofar are linked, as it is written, "with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn - shout for joy before the LORD, the King." By blowing the shofar we announce that the Lord is the sovereign ruler of all. This is analogous to the trumpets that are blown at the coronation of a new king.

What, however, is the connection between Rosh Hashana as the time of judgment and creation? Commenting on this one rabbi writes,

Since it was God's desire that man proclaim Him King, He chose the anniversary of the day when it all began to review the results of the previous year and determine how to proceed in the next . . . Rosh Hashana is the reason of God's Kingship, the time when God brings man to judgment on how well has carried out the mission of proclaiming Hashem melekh, the Lord is King.

Rabbi Scherman, Artscroll on Yom Kippur, p. 20-21

This mission is underscored in Genesis by the reason given for humanity's placement in the Garden of Eden: 

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Genesis 2:15

A better way of translating the second clause of this verse is "to worship and obey." God did not create man to be a farmer or gardener but rather created man and woman to worship him as Creator and King and to obey God's Commandments. Thus the writer of Genesis portrays Adam and Chava as performing the divine service (worship of God) in much the same way as the kohanim are latter appointed to do. Worship itself is woven into the very fabric of creation and is one of the basic reasons for humanity's existence. 

We must therefore examine our lives and ask ourselves several tough questions. "Who truly is the King of my Life, me or God?" "Do I primarily seek to do His will or my own?" "Have I added to the sovereignty of God or diminished it?" "Have I influenced others this year to draw closer to God through King Messiah Yeshua?" "What has been the quality of my spiritual service?" As we listen to the sound of the shofar, evil begins to be uprooted from our hearts as we begin to prepare ourselves for the Day of Judgment by answering these tough questions and by ensuring that King Yeshua is the Lord of our lives.

2. Parashat Ha'azinu begins, "Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; listen, O earth, to the words of my mouth" (Deuteronomy 32:1). According to Rashi, the reason Moses begins his song by mentioning heaven and earth is because he is calling them to bear witness.  Why do they serve as the most appropriate and best-suited witnesses? To what are they meant to bear witness? 

Rabbi Jonathan Kaplan

At the end of last week's parasha, Moses and Joshua were commanded by God to assemble before God "all the elders of your tribes and your officials that I [God] may speak these words [the words of Ha'azinu] into their ears and I [God] may call heaven and earth as witnesses" (Deuteronomy 31:28). So God begins the song Ha'azinu by calling heaven and earth as witnesses to Israel's future infidelity, "Give ear, O heavens and I will speak; listen, O earth, to the words of my mouth" (Deuteronomy 32:1). The question remains however, why heaven and earth?  Why not Moses or Joshua? 

Rashi answers this question by borrowing from a tradition recorded in Sifre to Deuteronomy where Moses says,

I am flesh and blood. Tomorrow, I will be dead. If Israel says, "We did not assume responsibility for the covenant," who will come and contradict them? Therefore, [God] established heaven and earth for witnesses against them because they endure forever.

Ibn Ezra and Nachmanides, find other examples of heaven and earth being called as witnesses in God's covenant lawsuits against Israel for its infidelity. They both cite Micah 6:2 where the mountains are called to testify in God's case against Israel, "Hear, O mountains, the case [riv] of the LORD." Like the heavens and the earth, mountains have an enduring quality to them. But the heavens and the earth endure even longer than the mountains. For ancient Israel, the heavens and the earth represented the totality of creation. They were the first to be created, the object of God's first creative act (Genesis 1:1), and, as we saw above in Rashi, they will endure until the end of time. They serve as apt witness precisely because they outlive all the generations of Israel. They can give a completely unbiased accounting of her successes and her failures from beginning to end. Truly they are the best witnesses for God to call in Ha'azinu.

But to what are they meant to bear witness? The song Ha'azinu first enumerates God's perfection and faithfulness (32:3). It then goes on to describe Israel's infidelity to God in face of God's perpetual fidelity to them (32:4-18). Next, it details God's forsaking of his unfaithful children (32:19-25). It culminates with a description of God's pity upon them and his destruction of their enemies for their assault on Israel in their time of desolation (32:26-43). Ha'azinu ultimately bears witness to God's loving faithfulness and challenges us to live a life worthy of the Rock whose deeds are perfect (32:3). We read this passage most years on Shabbat Shuva ("the sabbath of repentance"; the sabbath between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur) or on the sabbath preceding Rosh Hashana because it challenges the Jewish people to renew our commitment to God's covenant during the season when we celebrate the birthday of the world and exalt the God of Israel as king over all the earth. For non-Jews, who are grafted into Israel through Messiah Yeshua, it serves to challenge them to deeper levels of faithfulness as gentiles to God the Father through Messiah Yeshua.