A Thought On Parshas Ha'azinu
A Thought On Parshas Ha'azinu
"...ha'azinu ha'shomayim..."
"...heed this, heavens..." (32:1)
In Moshe Rabbeinu's final song, he addresses the entire universe to serve witness to the Divine pact with the Jewish people. He forewarns us of the risks of forsaking our faith, and the world events which we will encounter throughout the centuries.
There seem to be two obvious omissions in the song of Ha'azinu. One is that Moshe's name is never mentioned. It is his salutation and farewell to his world and his people, yet he does little to personalize his message. The second mystery is that in addressing the heaven and the earth and the rain, dew, deserts and hills, it is quite a long while before we hear mention of HaShem. In fact, the song goes on for twenty-one words before we finally read the verse (3) ki shem HaShem ekra havu godel l'Elokeinu - when I praise G-d's name, praise Him for His greatness. That verse has become familiar to us because it prefaces our afternoon (mincha) prayer as well as our special mussaf (additional) prayers. It seems almost out of character for Moshe Rabbeinu, whose intimate connection with HaShem was unparalleled by any other human being ever, to speak with prophetic fervor yet to tarry before acknowledging the Al-mighty.
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel addresses both observations. He notes that the first mystery, that Moshe's name is missing, troubled RabbeinuYitzchak bar Baruch, who found that every other Biblical song mentions the singer/author (I hesitate to say singer/songwriter). Az Yashir mentions Moshe and Israel, the Song of Devorah (Shoftim 5:1) mentions her, yet Ha'azinu does not mention Moshe. He finds an allusion in the form of an acrostic which adds up, in gematria form, to the numerical equivalent of Moshe. He suggests that the reason that his name is not written explicitly is because so much of this song is harsh in rebuking the Jews. Perhaps Moshe wanted to gently dissociate his name from that confrontation.
The second mystery, the delay before mentioning HaShem, is resolved by Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel somewhat mystically. A song can be a casual jingle or it can be a sacred code of binding the soul and the mind so that the latter's words blend with the former's chant in offering a hymn of praise and glory. Such was Ha'azinu - Moshe chose words and images which would build up as a sacred hymn to culminate in coronating HaShem with majesty and honor. For our own prayers, we select his crescendo line of Ki shem HaShem ekra as our starting place!
However, observes Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel, there is something else significant within the verses: that 21-word build up is instructive for us in our own sacred prayers. In the musaf tefillos which we say on special days, we chant a long and mystical "Kedusha." It begins with the words na'aritzcha v'nak'dishcha k'sod siach sarfei kodesh -
we will revere and sanctify You as do the cadre of holy angels who sanctify
your Name in the Sacred Abode, as it is written by Your prophet,
"One calls out to another saying Holy! Holy! Holy! is HaShem..."
Our master Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel counts the words from the opening through the third "Holy" and counts that same number, 21 words! Before we mention the holy name of HaShem, we too say a "21-word salute" just as Moshe did in his song. He then mentions that in the rite of German Jewry (which he labels Malchus Ashkenaz), they are accustomed to say a different 21-word hymnal preface: nakdishcha v'naritzcha Malkeinu ksod siach sarfei kodesh ha'makdishim es shimcha ba'kodesh kakosuv al yad neviecha v'kara zeh el zeh v'amar Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh. In their nusach, the trio of "Holy!"s constitutes a single word and makes a total of 21.
Now I note that in nusach Sfard, the wording is different. Their mussaf is altogether a different prayer, and their Shacharis for Shabbos and holidays begins with nakdishach but contains more than 21 prefatory words. I can only conclude that this was not one of the forms which Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel was familiar with, and in fact, many believe that it originated over time much later in our exile history. That is for another discussion, however.
The lesson for this week seems to be that we can pray to HaShem very directly yet when we seek to chant and sing, there must be a hallowed and reverent preparation. Our sages saw the 21-word preparation employed by Moshe, and incorporated it into our own prayer effort. Perhaps our own focus and concentration from now on can be on this concept of needing to build up our spiritual energy so that we can eventually sing to Him with fervor and focus.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
"...ha'azinu ha'shomayim..."
"...heed this, heavens..." (32:1)
In Moshe Rabbeinu's final song, he addresses the entire universe to serve witness to the Divine pact with the Jewish people. He forewarns us of the risks of forsaking our faith, and the world events which we will encounter throughout the centuries.
There seem to be two obvious omissions in the song of Ha'azinu. One is that Moshe's name is never mentioned. It is his salutation and farewell to his world and his people, yet he does little to personalize his message. The second mystery is that in addressing the heaven and the earth and the rain, dew, deserts and hills, it is quite a long while before we hear mention of HaShem. In fact, the song goes on for twenty-one words before we finally read the verse (3) ki shem HaShem ekra havu godel l'Elokeinu - when I praise G-d's name, praise Him for His greatness. That verse has become familiar to us because it prefaces our afternoon (mincha) prayer as well as our special mussaf (additional) prayers. It seems almost out of character for Moshe Rabbeinu, whose intimate connection with HaShem was unparalleled by any other human being ever, to speak with prophetic fervor yet to tarry before acknowledging the Al-mighty.
Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel addresses both observations. He notes that the first mystery, that Moshe's name is missing, troubled RabbeinuYitzchak bar Baruch, who found that every other Biblical song mentions the singer/author (I hesitate to say singer/songwriter). Az Yashir mentions Moshe and Israel, the Song of Devorah (Shoftim 5:1) mentions her, yet Ha'azinu does not mention Moshe. He finds an allusion in the form of an acrostic which adds up, in gematria form, to the numerical equivalent of Moshe. He suggests that the reason that his name is not written explicitly is because so much of this song is harsh in rebuking the Jews. Perhaps Moshe wanted to gently dissociate his name from that confrontation.
The second mystery, the delay before mentioning HaShem, is resolved by Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel somewhat mystically. A song can be a casual jingle or it can be a sacred code of binding the soul and the mind so that the latter's words blend with the former's chant in offering a hymn of praise and glory. Such was Ha'azinu - Moshe chose words and images which would build up as a sacred hymn to culminate in coronating HaShem with majesty and honor. For our own prayers, we select his crescendo line of Ki shem HaShem ekra as our starting place!
However, observes Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel, there is something else significant within the verses: that 21-word build up is instructive for us in our own sacred prayers. In the musaf tefillos which we say on special days, we chant a long and mystical "Kedusha." It begins with the words na'aritzcha v'nak'dishcha k'sod siach sarfei kodesh -
we will revere and sanctify You as do the cadre of holy angels who sanctify
your Name in the Sacred Abode, as it is written by Your prophet,
"One calls out to another saying Holy! Holy! Holy! is HaShem..."
Our master Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel counts the words from the opening through the third "Holy" and counts that same number, 21 words! Before we mention the holy name of HaShem, we too say a "21-word salute" just as Moshe did in his song. He then mentions that in the rite of German Jewry (which he labels Malchus Ashkenaz), they are accustomed to say a different 21-word hymnal preface: nakdishcha v'naritzcha Malkeinu ksod siach sarfei kodesh ha'makdishim es shimcha ba'kodesh kakosuv al yad neviecha v'kara zeh el zeh v'amar Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh. In their nusach, the trio of "Holy!"s constitutes a single word and makes a total of 21.
Now I note that in nusach Sfard, the wording is different. Their mussaf is altogether a different prayer, and their Shacharis for Shabbos and holidays begins with nakdishach but contains more than 21 prefatory words. I can only conclude that this was not one of the forms which Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel was familiar with, and in fact, many believe that it originated over time much later in our exile history. That is for another discussion, however.
The lesson for this week seems to be that we can pray to HaShem very directly yet when we seek to chant and sing, there must be a hallowed and reverent preparation. Our sages saw the 21-word preparation employed by Moshe, and incorporated it into our own prayer effort. Perhaps our own focus and concentration from now on can be on this concept of needing to build up our spiritual energy so that we can eventually sing to Him with fervor and focus.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 7:53 AM
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