A thought on Parshas Hazinu
"...va'tishkach El me'cholelecha..."
"...and you forgot G-d who delivered you..." (32:18)
Moshe levels stern warnings to his nation as he forecasts the consequences of spiritual straying. He talks about the abominations and the decadence which would come about as the people forsook their religion in times to come. In this verse, he admonishes that "you will come to forget the G-d who created and delivered you", using birth and labor as a metaphor. This metaphor is introduced by the classic commentaries such as Rashi and Ibn Ezra.
A difficulty which one might have with this interpretation is that while it is easy to see how we must appreciate the L-rd who "conceived and bore and delivered" us, it is hard to feel guilty over something which we had nothing to do with. I know that we all have heard from our children, or said as children to our parents, "I didn't ask to be born!" during moments of defiance. Giving admonition over forsaking HaShem "who delivered us" might seem like such a message. Hard to relate to. Besides, the metaphor of G-d birthing us might seem uncomfortable along theological grounds, albeit just a mashal.
Perhaps for these reasons or others the Chezkuni offers another spin on this novel word me'cholelecha. Rather than seeing the root word chil which refers to labor pain and contractions, he sees the root word machol here, which means to dance! HaShem took us out of Egypt with songs and dancing! (Exodus 15:20). He will bring us back to Israel amidst joyous dancing (Jeremiah 31:3, 12)! Our times of glory have been animated and elevated by a reflex of unity and celebration in song and dancing. This is embedded in our soul and in our collective memory. (While in high school, one of my rebbeim, R' Pinchas Katz n'y told us that he had heard from one of his teachers that as the Nazis y's closed in on the shul in one of the large German cities, the men in the congregation broke from their typical stately, composed style and spontaneously clutched hands and danced gracefully, slowly in a circle. No one planned it and no one seemed to know what had motivated it, other than some deeply embedded sense that this was the way to give honor to G-d in that final moment before capture, torture and deportation.) This is the archetype of the Jewish dance.
And you forgot the G-d who caused you to dance! With this interpretation and the picture which it creates, we can feel both the extent of our straying and the gravity of that desertion. We have a G-d and Savior who took us out of bondage to the degree that we were able to exult in song and dancing. Our bodies swayed as one entity in that gesture to the One Above. It was a reflex, it came naturally and it signaled the intense reverberation of the soul and the spirit within in our yearning to reach up and give homage. To forsake such a Master, to obscure such a holy experience constitutes forgetting Heaven in the gravest extreme.
They tell a story of Rav Shach zt'l who was seen late one night dancing alone in the snowy streets of Jerusalem. He was later questioned about this and he said that he had traveled from Benei Berak to ask the Brisker Rov zt'l a question on a gemara and the Rov's explanation had been so brilliant and inspiring that he, Rav Shach, felt impelled to dance with joy. So he did so, alone, in the heart of the night, on a snowy street in old Jerusalem.
As Yom Kippur and the Days of Awe climb to their zenith, may we feel within ourselves a transition from "ne'hepach l'evel mecholainu" - "our dance has turned to sorrow" (Lamentations 5:15) to "ha'fachta mispedi l'machol li" - "You have turned our sorrow into dancing" (Psalms 30:12).
Wishing you a good Shabbos, and thanks again to the Chezkuni. D Fox
"...and you forgot G-d who delivered you..." (32:18)
Moshe levels stern warnings to his nation as he forecasts the consequences of spiritual straying. He talks about the abominations and the decadence which would come about as the people forsook their religion in times to come. In this verse, he admonishes that "you will come to forget the G-d who created and delivered you", using birth and labor as a metaphor. This metaphor is introduced by the classic commentaries such as Rashi and Ibn Ezra.
A difficulty which one might have with this interpretation is that while it is easy to see how we must appreciate the L-rd who "conceived and bore and delivered" us, it is hard to feel guilty over something which we had nothing to do with. I know that we all have heard from our children, or said as children to our parents, "I didn't ask to be born!" during moments of defiance. Giving admonition over forsaking HaShem "who delivered us" might seem like such a message. Hard to relate to. Besides, the metaphor of G-d birthing us might seem uncomfortable along theological grounds, albeit just a mashal.
Perhaps for these reasons or others the Chezkuni offers another spin on this novel word me'cholelecha. Rather than seeing the root word chil which refers to labor pain and contractions, he sees the root word machol here, which means to dance! HaShem took us out of Egypt with songs and dancing! (Exodus 15:20). He will bring us back to Israel amidst joyous dancing (Jeremiah 31:3, 12)! Our times of glory have been animated and elevated by a reflex of unity and celebration in song and dancing. This is embedded in our soul and in our collective memory. (While in high school, one of my rebbeim, R' Pinchas Katz n'y told us that he had heard from one of his teachers that as the Nazis y's closed in on the shul in one of the large German cities, the men in the congregation broke from their typical stately, composed style and spontaneously clutched hands and danced gracefully, slowly in a circle. No one planned it and no one seemed to know what had motivated it, other than some deeply embedded sense that this was the way to give honor to G-d in that final moment before capture, torture and deportation.) This is the archetype of the Jewish dance.
And you forgot the G-d who caused you to dance! With this interpretation and the picture which it creates, we can feel both the extent of our straying and the gravity of that desertion. We have a G-d and Savior who took us out of bondage to the degree that we were able to exult in song and dancing. Our bodies swayed as one entity in that gesture to the One Above. It was a reflex, it came naturally and it signaled the intense reverberation of the soul and the spirit within in our yearning to reach up and give homage. To forsake such a Master, to obscure such a holy experience constitutes forgetting Heaven in the gravest extreme.
They tell a story of Rav Shach zt'l who was seen late one night dancing alone in the snowy streets of Jerusalem. He was later questioned about this and he said that he had traveled from Benei Berak to ask the Brisker Rov zt'l a question on a gemara and the Rov's explanation had been so brilliant and inspiring that he, Rav Shach, felt impelled to dance with joy. So he did so, alone, in the heart of the night, on a snowy street in old Jerusalem.
As Yom Kippur and the Days of Awe climb to their zenith, may we feel within ourselves a transition from "ne'hepach l'evel mecholainu" - "our dance has turned to sorrow" (Lamentations 5:15) to "ha'fachta mispedi l'machol li" - "You have turned our sorrow into dancing" (Psalms 30:12).
Wishing you a good Shabbos, and thanks again to the Chezkuni. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 9:16 PM
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