Haazinu
Deut. 32:1-52
Précis: The parasha, the shortest in the Five Books,
containing only 52 verses, begins with the “Song of Moses,” a hymn sung by
Moses within sight of the Promised Land. The song contrasts God’s fidelity with
the faithlessness of the People, and the need of the People to learn from their
history under God’s care. Moses predicts that Israel’s enemies will be
overcome. He is told to climb a mountain to see the Promised Land he will not
to enter, as he prepares for his death. This is the last parasha read on
Shabbat in the annual cycle: the final parasha (V’zot Habracha) is read
traditionally on Simchat Torah.
Deut. 32:49-50. “Ascend
these heights of Abiram to Mount Nebo… and view the land of Canaan…. You shall
die on that mountain.”
Writing
in Covenant and Conversation
(9/19/17), Rabbi Jonathon Sacks provides a capsule review of Moses.
Moses
is to die in view of his ultimate goal. He has been the quintessential “leader, the liberator, the lawgiver, the man
who brought a group of slaves to freedom, turned a fractious collection of
individuals into a nation, and so transformed them that they became the people of
eternity.”
Moses,
Sacks reminds us, performed miracles, gave us our laws, fought against the
people when they sinned, sought forgiveness from God on their behalf, and
suffered repeatedly because of their failures.
Moses
has been viewed differently through the ages. Some thought of him as one who
ascended to heaven to argue with angels. For much of Jewish history, he was
simply “Rabbenu" (“our Rabbi).” He was not a king or political
leader, but a teacher and scholar. The Jewish Egyptian philosopher Philo, under
the influence of Greek thought, saw in Moses an exemplar of Plato’s philosopher
king. Maimonides, saw him as a unique prophet, who received instruction while
fully awake (not in dreams), and spoke directly with God, at times “face to
face.”
But
to more modern readers, Moses is unquestionably human. He despairs, he craves
death, he shows anger, he loses faith in the people he leads. He begs to
achieve a final goal, and is denied. He is not worshipped, but is a role model.
Sacks
reminds us that his status as a role model remains strong, even among non-Jews.
The night before his death, Martin Luther King Jr. recalled Moses’ own
struggle, saying that God “allowed me to
go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I
may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a
people, will get to the promised land.”
What are we to
make of this hero Moses? Sacks suggests an answer: “That it is right to fight for justice even against regimes that seem
indestructible. That God is with us when we take our stand against
oppression... That change, though slow, is real, and that people are
transformed by high ideals even though it may take centuries.”
Our
text tells us that Moses was 120 years old when he died, “yet his eyes were
undimmed and is strength undimished.” The first explains the second: because he
never lost his ideals, his strength remained.
Moses
remains a role model for us all: despite bitter disappointments, his belief in
a better future remained. So may it be with us.
