|
 |
Haazinu
Deuteronomy 32:1 - 52
The greater
part of the Torah reading of Haazinu ("Listen In")
consists of a 70-line "song" delivered by Moses to the
people of Israel on the last day of his earthly life.
Calling heaven and earth as witnesses, Moses exhorts the
people to "Remember the days of old / Consider the years
of many generations / Ask your father, and he will
recount it to you / Your elders, and they will tell you"
how G-d "found them in a desert land," made them a
people, chose them as His own, and bequeathed them a
bountiful land. The Song also warns against the pitfalls
of plenty -- "Yeshurun grew fat and kicked / You have
grown fat, thick and rotund / He forsook G-d who made
him / And spurned the Rock of his salvation" -- and the
terrible calamities that would result, which Moses
describes as G-d "hiding His face." Yet in the end, he
promises, G-d will avenge the blood of His servants and
be reconciled with His people and land.
|
 |
|
The Parshah concludes
with G-d's instruction to Moses to ascend the summit of
Mount Nebo, from which he will behold the Promised Land
before dying on the mountain. "For you shall see the
land opposite you; but you shall not go there, into the
land which I give to the children of Israel."
|
|
The content in this page is reprinted
with permission by Chabad.org, and is copyrighted by the
author and/or Chabad.org. If you enjoyed this article,
we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that
you do not revise any part of it, and you include this
note, credit the author, and link to
www.chabad.org. If you
wish to republish this article in a periodical, book, or
website, please email permissions@chabad.org. |
|
|
