Haazinu
Encyclopedia
Haazinu, Ha'azinu, or Ha'Azinu (הַאֲזִינוּ — Hebrew
for "listen" when directed to more than one person, the first word
in the parshah) is the 53rd weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish
cycle of Torah reading
and the 10th in the book of Deuteronomy. It constitutes Jews in the Diaspora
read it on a Sabbath
between the holy days
of Rosh Hashanah
and Sukkot
, generally in September or October.
The parshah sets out the Song of Moses
— an indictment of the Israelites’ sins, a prophecy of their punishment, and a promise of God’s
ultimate redemption of them.
The bulk of the parshah, the song of appears in the Torah scroll in a distinctive two-column format, reflecting the poetic structure of the text, where in each line, an opening colon
is matched by a second, parallel thought unit.
called on heaven and earth to hear
his word
s, and asked that his speech be like rain
and dew
for the grass
. Moses proclaimed that God was perfect
in deed, just
, faithful, true
, and upright. God’s child
ren were unworthy, a crooked generation
that played God false
, ill requiting the Creator
. Moses exhorted the Israelites to remember that in ages past, God assigned the nation
s their homes and their due, but chose the Israelites as God’s own people. God found the Israelites in the desert
, watched over them, guarded them, like an eagle
who rouses his nestlings, gliding down to his young, God spread God’s wings and took Israel, bearing Israel along on God’s pinions, God alone guided Israel. God set the Israelites atop the highlands
to feast on the yield of the earth and fed them honey
, oil
, curd
s, milk
, lamb, wheat
, and wine
. So Israel grew fat
and kicked and forsook God, incensed God with alien things, and sacrifice
d to demon
s and no-gods.
; thus God would incense them with a no-folk and vex them with a nation of fools. A fire flared in God’s wrath and burned down to the base of the hills. God would sweep misfortunes on them, use God’s arrows on them — famine, plague, pestilence, and fanged beasts — and with the sword would deal death and terror to young and old alike.
and their wine was the venom of asps
. God stored it away to be the basis for God’s vengeance and recompense when they should trip, for their day of disaster was near. God would vindicate God’s people and take revenge for God’s servants, when their might was gone. God would ask where the enemies’ gods were — they who ate the fat of their offerings and drank their libation wine — let them rise up to help! There was no god beside God, who dealt death and gave life, wounded and healed. God swore that when God would whet God’s flashing blade, and lay hand on judgment, God would wreak vengeance on God’s foes. God would make God’s arrows drunk with blood
, as God’s sword devoured flesh, blood of the slain and the captive from the long-haired enemy chiefs. God would avenge the blood of God’s servants, wreak vengeance on God’s foes, and cleanse the land
of God’s people.
, and recited all this poem
to the people. And when Moses finished reciting, he told them to take his warnings to heart and enjoin them upon their children, for it was not a trifling thing but their very life at stake.
That day God told Moses to ascend Mount Nebo
and view the land of Canaan
, for he was to die on the mountain, as his brother Aaron
had died on Mount Hor
, for they both broke faith with God when they struck the rock to produce water in the wilderness of Zin
, failing to uphold God’s sanctity among the Israelite people.
reports that God “summoned the heavens above, and the earth, for the trial of His people,” saying “Bring in My devotees, who made a covenant with Me over sacrifice!” continues: “Then the heavens proclaimed His righteousness, for He is a God who judges.” And in Isaiah
the prophet similarly begins his vision, "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord has spoken."
In and Moses calls God a "Rock." The Psalmist does so as well in and analogizes God's role as a Rock to a "fortress" and a "high tower."
Deuteronomy compares God's relationship with Israel to that of a parent and child in and For similar comparisons, see Exodus and Hosea
In God finds Israel in the wilderness, much as in God says, "I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the first-ripe in the fig tree at her first season."
interprets the role of God as an eagle expressed in explains, “He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you take refuge,” and explains, “You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day.”
counted 10 songs in the Hebrew Bible
: (1) the one that the Israelites recited at the first Passover
in Egypt
, as says, “You shall have a song as in the night when a feast is hallowed”; (2) the Song of the sea
in (3) the one that the Israelites sang at the well in the wilderness, as Numbers
reports, “Then sang Israel this song: ‘Spring up, O well’”; (4) the one that Moses spoke in his last days, as reports, “Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song”; (5) the one that Joshua recited, as Joshua
reports, “Then spoke Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorite
s”; (6) the one that Deborah
and Barak
sang, as Judges
reports, “Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam
”; (7) the one that David
spoke, as 2 Samuel
reports, “David spoke to the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul
”; (8) the one that Solomon
recited, as reports, “a song at the Dedication of the House of David
”; (9) the one that Jehoshaphat
recited, as 2 Chronicles
reports: “when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed them that should sing to the Lord, and praise in the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and say, ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for His mercy endures for ever’”; and (10) the song that will be sung in the time to come, as says, “Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise from the end of the earth,” and says, “Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise in the assembly of the saints.” (Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael Shirata 1:5.)
The Gemara
instructs that when writing a Torah scroll, a scribe needs to write the song of in a special two-column form, with extra spaces. (See the image at the top of this article.) If a scribe writes the song as plain text, then the scroll is invalid. (Babylonian Talmud
Shabbat 103b.)
Rabbi Samuel ben Nahman
asked why Moses called upon both the heavens and the earth in Rabbi Samuel compared Moses to a general who held office in two provinces and was about to hold a feast. He needed to invite people from both provinces, so that neither would fell offended for having been overlooked. Moses was born on earth, but became great in heaven. (Deuteronomy Rabbah
10:4.)
The Sifre
taught that Israel would come before God and acknowledge that heaven and earth, the witnesses that God designated in were present to testify against her, but God would say that God would remove them, as reports that God would "create a new heaven and a new earth." Israel would say to God that her bad name endured, but God would say that God would remove her bad name as well, as reports that Israel "shall be called by a new name." Israel would ask God whether God had not prohibited her reconciliation with God when Jeremiah
says, "If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return to her again?" But God would reply in the words of "I am God, and not man." (And thus God would forgive Israel and restore her original relationship with God.) (Sifre to Deuteronomy 306:2–3.)
Rav Judah and Rava
inferred from the great value of rain. Rava also inferred from the comparison in of Torah to both rain and dew that Torah can affect a worthy scholar as beneficially as dew, and an unworthy one like a crushing rainstorm. (Babylonian Talmud Taanit 7a.)
Rabbi Abbahu
cited to support the proposition of Mishnah
Berakhot 7:1 that three who have eaten together publicly should say the Grace after Meals (Birkat Hamazon
) together as well. In Moses says, “When I (who am one) proclaim the name of the Lord, you (in the plural, who are thus at least two more) ascribe greatness to our God.” Thus by using the plural to for “you,” Moses implies that at least three are present, and should ascribe greatness to God. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 45a.)
Rabbi Jose
found support in the words “ascribe greatness to our God” in for the proposition that when standing in the house of assembly saying, “Blessed is the Lord who is to be blessed,” people are to respond, “Blessed is the Lord who is to be blessed forever and ever.” Rabbi Jose also found support in those words for the proposition that Grace after Meals is said only when three are present; that one must say “Amen
” after the one who says the blessing; that one must say, “Blessed is the Name of the Glory of His Kingdom forever and ever”; and that when people say, “May His great name be blessed,” one must answer, “Forever and ever and ever.” (Sifre to Deuteronomy 306:30.)
Rabbi Hanina bar Papa
taught that to enjoy this world without reciting a blessing
is tantamount to robbing God, as Proverbs
says, “Whoever robs his father or his mother and says, ‘It is no transgression,’ is the companion of a destroyer,” and says of God, “Is not He your father Who has gotten you?” (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 35b.)
The Sifre expanded on the metaphor of God as an eagle in teaching that just as an eagle enters her nest only after shaking her chicks with her wings, fluttering from tree to tree to wake them up, so that they will have the strength to receive her, so when God revealed God’s self to give the Torah to Israel, God did not appear from just a single direction, but from all four directions, as says, “The Lord came from Sinai, and rose from Seir to them,” and Habakkuk
says, “God comes from the south.” (Sifre to Deuteronomy 314.)
The Gemara read the word “Rock” in to refer to God, and the Gemara employed that interpretation with others to support Abba Benjamin’s assertion that when two people enter a synagogue
to pray, and one of them finishes first and leaves without waiting for the other, God disregards the prayer of the one who left. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 5b.)
Rabbi Judah ben Simon expounded on God’s words in “I will hide My face from them.” Rabbi Judah ben Simon compared Israel to a king's son who went into the marketplace and struck people but was not struck in return (because of his being the king’s son). He insulted but was not insulted. He went up to his father arrogantly. But the father asked the son whether he thought that he was respected on his own account, when the son was respected only on account of the respect that was due to the father. So the father renounced the son, and as a result, no one took any notice of him. So when Israel went out of Egypt, the fear of them fell upon all the nations, as reported, “The peoples have heard, they tremble; pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia. Then were the chiefs of Edom frightened; the mighty men of Moab, trembling takes hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away. Terror and dread falls upon them.” But when Israel transgressed and sinned, God asked Israel whether it thought that it was respected on its own account, when it was respected only on account of the respect that was due to God. So God turned away from them a little, and the Amalek
ites came and attacked Israel, as reports, “Then Amalek came, and fought with Israel in Rephidim,” and then the Canaanites came and fought with Israel, as reports, “And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who dwelt in the South, heard tell that Israel came by the way of Atharim; and he fought against Israel.” God told the Israelites that they had no genuine faith, as says, “they are a very disobedient generation, children in whom is no faith.” God concluded that the Israelites were rebellious, but to destroy them was impossible, to take them back to Egypt was impossible, and God could not change them for another people. So God concluded to chastise and try them with suffering. (Ruth Rabbah
Prologue 4.)
The Gemara read the word reshef (“fiery bolt”) in to refer to demon
s, and the Gemara employed that interpretation with others to support Rabbi Isaac’s assertion that reciting the Shema
in bed keeps demons away. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 5a.)
Rav Hisda
taught that one walking in a dirty alleyway should not recite the Shema, and one reciting the Shema who comes upon a dirty alleyway should stop reciting. Of one who would not stop reciting, Rav Adda bar Ahavah
quoted to say: “he has despised the word of the Lord.” And of one who does stop reciting, Rabbi Abbahu taught that says: “through this word you shall prolong your days.” (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 24b.)
The Sifre taught that God told Moses in that Moses would die “as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people,” because when Moses saw the merciful manner of Aaron’s death, as reported in Moses concluded that he would want to die the same way. The Sifre taught that God told Aaron to go in a cave, to climb onto a bier, to spread his hands, to spread his legs, to close his mouth, and to close his eyes, and then Aaron died. And at that moment, Moses concluded that one would be happy to die that way. (Sifre to Deuteronomy 339:3.)
The Gemara implied that the sin of Moses in striking the rock at Meribah
compared favorably to the sin of David. The Gemara reported that Moses and David were two good leaders of Israel. Moses begged God that his sin be recorded, as it is in and and David, however, begged that his sin be blotted out, as says, “Happy is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is pardoned.” The Gemara compared the cases of Moses and David to the cases of two women whom the court sentenced to be lashed. One had committed an indecent act, while the other had eaten unripe figs of the seventh year in violation of Leviticus The woman who had eaten unripe figs begged the court to make known for what offense she was being flogged, lest people say that she was being punished for the same sin as the other woman. The court thus made known her sin, and the Torah repeatedly records the sin of Moses. (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 86b.)
s and the people of the earth. (Ibn Ezra
on 32:1.)
Rashi
explained that Moses called upon heaven and earth to serve as witnesses in in case Israel denied accepting the covenant, because Moses knew that he was mortal and would soon die, but heaven and earth will endure forever.(Rashi on 32:1; see also Ibn Ezra and Nachmanides on 32:1.) Furthermore, said Rashi, if Israel acted meritoriously, then the witnesses would be able to reward them, as the earth would yield its produce and the heavens would give its dew. (Zechariah
) And if Israel acted sinfully, then the hand of the witnesses would be the first to inflict punishment (carrying out the injunction of ), as God would close off heaven’s rain, and the soil would not yield its produce. (Rashi on 32:1.)
Rashi interpreted to refer to Torah, which, like rain, provides life to the world. Rashi interpreted the request of Moses in for his speech to rain down “as the dew,” “as the rain,” to mean that it should come in small droplets. Rashi interpreted that Moses wanted to teach the children of Israel slowly, the knowledge "raining" down on the people in small portions, for if they were to be subject to all knowledge coming down at once, they would be overwhelmed and thus wiped out. (Rashi on 32:2.)
A midrash
interpreted the report of that God "fixed the boundaries of peoples in relation to Israel's number" (l'mispar b'nei Yisrael) to teach that before the days of Abraham
, God dealt harshly with the world: The sins of Noah
's generation resulted in the flood; the generation that built the Tower of Babel
was dispersed throughout the globe, prompting the proliferation of languages; the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah
were answered with fire and brimstone. According to the midrash, when Abraham came into the world, God ceased the cataclysmic punishments and set the punishments of other peoples in relationship to Israel's presence in the world. This midrash conveys that the Israelites' presence somehow lessened God's anger, bringing greater stability to the world. The midrash teaches that Jews, then, have a unique ability and responsibility to bring peace and stability to the world. (myjewishlearing.com)
Nahama Leibowitz
noted that contains a “very daring anthropomorphism indeed, attributing to God the sentiment of fear.” (Studies in Devarim: Deuteronomy, 328.)
cites the parshah for one negative commandment
:
(Maimonides. Mishneh Torah
, Negative Commandment 194. Cairo
, Egypt, 1170–1180. Reprinted in Maimonides. The Commandments: Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides. Translated by Charles B. Chavel, 2:189–91. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4.)
According to Sefer ha-Chinuch
, however, there are no commandments in the parshah. (Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 5:443. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1988. ISBN 0-87306-497-6.)
And according to others, the parshah contains a commandment to listen, hear, and learn one's ancestral history, as instructs one to "ask your father and he will tell you."
for the parshah is the song of David, 2 Samuel
Both the parshah and the haftarah set out the song of a great leader. Both the parshah (in and 18) and the haftarah (in and 2) refer to God as a Rock.
, as well as in which is recited later in the Kabbalat Shabbat service after the Lekhah Dodi
liturgical poem. (Reuven Hammer
. Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom
for Shabbat and Festivals, 15, 23. New York: The Rabbinical Assembly
, 2003. ISBN 0-916219-20-8.)
Many Jews recite the words, “as an eagle that stirs up her nest, hovers over her young,” from as part of the declaration of intent before donning the tallit
. (Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for Weekdays with an Interlinear Translation, 5. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-686-8.)
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
for "listen" when directed to more than one person, the first word
Incipit
Incipit is a Latin word meaning "it begins". The incipit of a text, such as a poem, song, or book, is the first few words of its opening line. In music, it can also refer to the opening notes of a composition. Before the development of titles, texts were often referred to by their incipits...
in the parshah) is the 53rd weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
cycle of Torah reading
Torah reading
Torah reading is a Jewish religious ritual that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the Torah scroll from the ark, chanting the appropriate excerpt with special cantillation, and returning the scroll to...
and the 10th in the book of Deuteronomy. It constitutes Jews in the Diaspora
Jewish diaspora
The Jewish diaspora is the English term used to describe the Galut גלות , or 'exile', of the Jews from the region of the Kingdom of Judah and Roman Iudaea and later emigration from wider Eretz Israel....
read it on a Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
between the holy days
Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays are days observed by Jews as holy or secular commemorations of important events in Jewish history. In Hebrew, Jewish holidays and festivals, depending on their nature, may be called yom tov or chag or ta'anit...
of Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah , , is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im which occur in the autumn...
and Sukkot
Sukkot
Sukkot is a Biblical holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei . It is one of the three biblically mandated festivals Shalosh regalim on which Hebrews were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.The holiday lasts seven days...
, generally in September or October.
The parshah sets out the Song of Moses
Song of Moses
The Song of Moses in this article relates to the name sometimes given to the poem that appears in Deuteronomy of the Hebrew Bible written/orated just prior to Moses' death atop Mount Nebo....
— an indictment of the Israelites’ sins, a prophecy of their punishment, and a promise of God’s
Names of God in Judaism
In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title; it represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relationship of God to the Jewish people and to the world. To demonstrate the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for...
ultimate redemption of them.
The bulk of the parshah, the song of appears in the Torah scroll in a distinctive two-column format, reflecting the poetic structure of the text, where in each line, an opening colon
Colon (rhetoric)
A colon is a rhetorical figure consisting of a clause which is grammatically, but not logically, complete. In Latin, it is called a membrum or membrum orationis....
is matched by a second, parallel thought unit.
Summary
Indictment
MosesMoses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
called on heaven and earth to hear
Hearing (sense)
Hearing is the ability to perceive sound by detecting vibrations through an organ such as the ear. It is one of the traditional five senses...
his word
Word
In language, a word is the smallest free form that may be uttered in isolation with semantic or pragmatic content . This contrasts with a morpheme, which is the smallest unit of meaning but will not necessarily stand on its own...
s, and asked that his speech be like rain
Rain
Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth's surface...
and dew
Dew
[Image:Dew on a flower.jpg|right|220px|thumb|Some dew on an iris in Sequoia National Park]]Dew is water in the form of droplets that appears on thin, exposed objects in the morning or evening...
for the grass
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
. Moses proclaimed that God was perfect
Perfection
Perfection is, broadly, a state of completeness and flawlessness.The term "perfection" is actually used to designate a range of diverse, if often kindred, concepts...
in deed, just
Justice
Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
, faithful, true
Truth
Truth has a variety of meanings, such as the state of being in accord with fact or reality. It can also mean having fidelity to an original or to a standard or ideal. In a common usage, it also means constancy or sincerity in action or character...
, and upright. God’s child
Child
Biologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
ren were unworthy, a crooked generation
Generation
Generation , also known as procreation in biological sciences, is the act of producing offspring....
that played God false
Wrong
A wrong or being wrong is a concept in law, ethics, epistemology, and science. In a colloquial sense, wrongness usually refers to a state of incorrectness, inaccuracy, error, or miscalculation in any number of contexts...
, ill requiting the Creator
Creator deity
A creator deity is a deity responsible for the creation of the world . In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator deity, while polytheistic traditions may or may not have creator deities...
. Moses exhorted the Israelites to remember that in ages past, God assigned the nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
s their homes and their due, but chose the Israelites as God’s own people. God found the Israelites in the desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
, watched over them, guarded them, like an eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
who rouses his nestlings, gliding down to his young, God spread God’s wings and took Israel, bearing Israel along on God’s pinions, God alone guided Israel. God set the Israelites atop the highlands
Highland (geography)
The term highland or upland is used to denote any mountainous region or elevated mountainous plateau. Generally speaking, the term upland tends to be used for ranges of hills, typically up to 500-600m, and highland for ranges of low mountains.The Scottish Highlands refers to the mountainous...
to feast on the yield of the earth and fed them honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
, oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
, curd
Curd
Curds are a dairy product obtained by curdling milk with rennet or an edible acidic substance such as lemon juice or vinegar, and then draining off the liquid portion. The increased acidity causes the milk proteins to tangle into solid masses, or curds. The remaining liquid, which contains only...
s, milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
, lamb, wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, and wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
. So Israel grew fat
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
and kicked and forsook God, incensed God with alien things, and sacrifice
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of food, objects or the lives of animals or people to God or the gods as an act of propitiation or worship.While sacrifice often implies ritual killing, the term offering can be used for bloodless sacrifices of cereal food or artifacts...
d to demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
s and no-gods.
Punishment
God saw, was vexed, and hid God’s countenance from them, to see how they would fare. For they were a treacherous breed, children with no loyalty, who incensed God with no-gods, vexed God with their idolsIdolatry
Idolatry is a pejorative term for the worship of an idol, a physical object such as a cult image, as a god, or practices believed to verge on worship, such as giving undue honour and regard to created forms other than God. In all the Abrahamic religions idolatry is strongly forbidden, although...
; thus God would incense them with a no-folk and vex them with a nation of fools. A fire flared in God’s wrath and burned down to the base of the hills. God would sweep misfortunes on them, use God’s arrows on them — famine, plague, pestilence, and fanged beasts — and with the sword would deal death and terror to young and old alike.
Punishment restrained
God might have reduced them to nothing, made their memory cease among men, except for fear of the taunts of their enemies, who might misjudge and conclude that their own hand had prevailed and not God’s. For Israel’s enemies were a folk void of sense, lacking in discernment. Were they wise, they would think about this, and gain insight into their future, for they would recognize that one could not have routed a thousand unless God had sold them. They were like Sodom and GomorrahSodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and later expounded upon throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and Deuterocanonical sources....
and their wine was the venom of asps
Asp (reptile)
Asp is the modern Anglicisation of the word aspis, which in antiquity referred to any one of several venomous snake species found in the Nile region. It is believed that the aspis referred to in Egyptian mythology is the modern Egyptian cobra....
. God stored it away to be the basis for God’s vengeance and recompense when they should trip, for their day of disaster was near. God would vindicate God’s people and take revenge for God’s servants, when their might was gone. God would ask where the enemies’ gods were — they who ate the fat of their offerings and drank their libation wine — let them rise up to help! There was no god beside God, who dealt death and gave life, wounded and healed. God swore that when God would whet God’s flashing blade, and lay hand on judgment, God would wreak vengeance on God’s foes. God would make God’s arrows drunk with blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
, as God’s sword devoured flesh, blood of the slain and the captive from the long-haired enemy chiefs. God would avenge the blood of God’s servants, wreak vengeance on God’s foes, and cleanse the land
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
of God’s people.
Parting words
Moses came, together with JoshuaJoshua
Joshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...
, and recited all this poem
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
to the people. And when Moses finished reciting, he told them to take his warnings to heart and enjoin them upon their children, for it was not a trifling thing but their very life at stake.
That day God told Moses to ascend Mount Nebo
Mount Nebo (Jordan)
Mount Nebo is an elevated ridge that is approximately 817 meters above sea level, in what is now western Jordan. The view from the summit provides a panorama of the Holy Land and, to the north, a more limited one of the valley of the River Jordan...
and view the land of Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
, for he was to die on the mountain, as his brother Aaron
Aaron
In the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, Aaron : Ααρών ), who is often called "'Aaron the Priest"' and once Aaron the Levite , was the older brother of Moses, and a prophet of God. He represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites...
had died on Mount Hor
Mount Hor
Mount Hor is the name given in the Old Testament to two distinct mountains. One is in the Land of Edom on the East shore of the Dead Sea , the other by the Mediterranean Sea at the Northern border of the Land of Israel.-Mount Hor in Edom:This Mount Hor is situated "in the edge of the land of Edom"...
, for they both broke faith with God when they struck the rock to produce water in the wilderness of Zin
Zin Desert
thumb|250px|The Wilderness is in the southThe Wilderness of Zin/Desert of Zin is a geographic area mentioned by the Torah as containing Kadesh-Barnea within it; and it is therefore also referred to as the "Wilderness of Kadesh"...
, failing to uphold God’s sanctity among the Israelite people.
Deuteronomy chapter 32
Moses calls heaven and earth to serve as witnesses against Israel in and Similarly, PsalmPsalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
reports that God “summoned the heavens above, and the earth, for the trial of His people,” saying “Bring in My devotees, who made a covenant with Me over sacrifice!” continues: “Then the heavens proclaimed His righteousness, for He is a God who judges.” And in Isaiah
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, preceding the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the Book of the Twelve...
the prophet similarly begins his vision, "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord has spoken."
In and Moses calls God a "Rock." The Psalmist does so as well in and analogizes God's role as a Rock to a "fortress" and a "high tower."
Deuteronomy compares God's relationship with Israel to that of a parent and child in and For similar comparisons, see Exodus and Hosea
Book of Hosea
The Book of Hosea is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. It stands first in order among what are known as the twelve Minor Prophets.-Background and Content:...
In God finds Israel in the wilderness, much as in God says, "I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the first-ripe in the fig tree at her first season."
interprets the role of God as an eagle expressed in explains, “He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you take refuge,” and explains, “You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day.”
In classical rabbinic interpretation
The Mekhilta of Rabbi IshmaelMekhilta
This article refers to the Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael. There is a separate article on the Mekhilta de-Rabbi ShimonMekhilta or Mekilta is a halakic midrash to the Book of Exodus...
counted 10 songs in the Hebrew Bible
Tanakh
The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...
: (1) the one that the Israelites recited at the first Passover
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
in Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, as says, “You shall have a song as in the night when a feast is hallowed”; (2) the Song of the sea
Song of the sea
The Song of the Sea is a poem that appears in the Book of Exodus of the Hebrew Bible, at . It is followed in verses 20 and 21 by a much shorter song sung by Miriam and the other women...
in (3) the one that the Israelites sang at the well in the wilderness, as Numbers
Book of Numbers
The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch....
reports, “Then sang Israel this song: ‘Spring up, O well’”; (4) the one that Moses spoke in his last days, as reports, “Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song”; (5) the one that Joshua recited, as Joshua
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....
reports, “Then spoke Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorite
Amorite
Amorite refers to an ancient Semitic people who occupied large parts of Mesopotamia from the 21st Century BC...
s”; (6) the one that Deborah
Deborah
Deborah was a prophetess of Yahweh the God of the Israelites, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel, counselor, warrior, and the wife of Lapidoth according to the Book of Judges chapters 4 and 5....
and Barak
Barak
Barak , Al-Burāq the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, was a military general in the Book of Judges in the Bible. He was the commander of the army of Deborah, the prophetess and heroine of the Hebrew Bible...
sang, as Judges
Book of Judges
The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its title describes its contents: it contains the history of Biblical judges, divinely inspired prophets whose direct knowledge of Yahweh allows them to act as decision-makers for the Israelites, as...
reports, “Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam
Abinoam
Abinoam , from Kedesh-naphtali, was the father of Barak who defeated Jabin's army, led by Sisera .*Meaning: father of beauty, father of kindness, father of pleasantness...
”; (7) the one that David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
spoke, as 2 Samuel
Books of Samuel
The Books of Samuel in the Jewish bible are part of the Former Prophets, , a theological history of the Israelites affirming and explaining the Torah under the guidance of the prophets.Samuel begins by telling how the prophet Samuel is chosen by...
reports, “David spoke to the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul
Saul
-People:Saul is a given/first name in English, the Anglicized form of the Hebrew name Shaul from the Hebrew Bible:* Saul , including people with this given namein the Bible:* Saul , a king of Edom...
”; (8) the one that Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
recited, as reports, “a song at the Dedication of the House of David
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
”; (9) the one that Jehoshaphat
Jehoshaphat
Jehoshaphat was the fourth king of the The Kingdom of Judah, and successor of his father Asa. His children included Jehoram, who succeeded him as king...
recited, as 2 Chronicles
Books of Chronicles
The Books of Chronicles are part of the Hebrew Bible. In the Masoretic Text, it appears as the first or last book of the Ketuvim . Chronicles largely parallels the Davidic narratives in the Books of Samuel and the Books of Kings...
reports: “when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed them that should sing to the Lord, and praise in the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and say, ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for His mercy endures for ever’”; and (10) the song that will be sung in the time to come, as says, “Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise from the end of the earth,” and says, “Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise in the assembly of the saints.” (Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael Shirata 1:5.)
The Gemara
Gemara
The Gemara is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Rabbi Judah the Prince The Gemara (also transliterated Gemora or, less commonly, Gemorra; from Aramaic גמרא gamar; literally, "[to] study" or "learning by...
instructs that when writing a Torah scroll, a scribe needs to write the song of in a special two-column form, with extra spaces. (See the image at the top of this article.) If a scribe writes the song as plain text, then the scroll is invalid. (Babylonian Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
Shabbat 103b.)
Rabbi Samuel ben Nahman
Samuel ben Nahman
Samuel ben Nahman or Samuel Nahmani was a rabbi of the Talmud, known as an amora, who lived in the Land of Israel from the beginning of the 3rd century until the beginning of the 4th century. He was a pupil of R. Jonathan ben Eleazar and one of the most famous haggadists of his time...
asked why Moses called upon both the heavens and the earth in Rabbi Samuel compared Moses to a general who held office in two provinces and was about to hold a feast. He needed to invite people from both provinces, so that neither would fell offended for having been overlooked. Moses was born on earth, but became great in heaven. (Deuteronomy Rabbah
Deuteronomy Rabbah
Deuteronomy Rabbah is an aggadic midrash or homiletic commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy. Unlike Bereshit Rabbah, the Midrash to Deuteronomy which has been included in the collection of the Midrash Rabbot in the ordinary editions does not contain running commentaries on the text of the Bible,...
10:4.)
The Sifre
Sifre
Sifre refers to either of two works of Midrash halakhah, or classical Jewish legal Biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Bamidbar and Devarim .- The Talmudic-Era Sifre :The title "Sifre debe Rab" is used by R. Hananeel on Sheb. 37b, Alfasi on Pes...
taught that Israel would come before God and acknowledge that heaven and earth, the witnesses that God designated in were present to testify against her, but God would say that God would remove them, as reports that God would "create a new heaven and a new earth." Israel would say to God that her bad name endured, but God would say that God would remove her bad name as well, as reports that Israel "shall be called by a new name." Israel would ask God whether God had not prohibited her reconciliation with God when Jeremiah
Book of Jeremiah
The Book of Jeremiah is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the book of Isaiah and preceding Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve....
says, "If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return to her again?" But God would reply in the words of "I am God, and not man." (And thus God would forgive Israel and restore her original relationship with God.) (Sifre to Deuteronomy 306:2–3.)
Rav Judah and Rava
Rava (amora)
For the third generation Amora sage of Babylon, with a similar name, see: Joseph b. Hama .Abba ben Joseph bar Ḥama, who is exclusively referred to in the Talmud by the name Rava , was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora, born in 270. He is one of the most often-cited Rabbis...
inferred from the great value of rain. Rava also inferred from the comparison in of Torah to both rain and dew that Torah can affect a worthy scholar as beneficially as dew, and an unworthy one like a crushing rainstorm. (Babylonian Talmud Taanit 7a.)
Rabbi Abbahu
Abbahu
Abbahu was a Jewish Talmudist, known as an amora, who lived in the Land of Israel, of the 3rd amoraic generation , sometimes cited as R. Abbahu of Caesarea . His rabbinic education was acquired mainly at Tiberias, in the academy presided over by R. Johanan, with whom his relations were almost...
cited to support the proposition of Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
Berakhot 7:1 that three who have eaten together publicly should say the Grace after Meals (Birkat Hamazon
Birkat Hamazon
Birkat Hamazon or Birkath Hammazon, , known in English as the Grace After Meals, , is a set of Hebrew blessings that Jewish Law prescribes following a meal that includes bread or matzoh made from one or all of wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt...
) together as well. In Moses says, “When I (who am one) proclaim the name of the Lord, you (in the plural, who are thus at least two more) ascribe greatness to our God.” Thus by using the plural to for “you,” Moses implies that at least three are present, and should ascribe greatness to God. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 45a.)
Rabbi Jose
Jose ben Halafta
Rabbi Jose ben Halafta or Yose ben Halafta was a Tanna of the fourth generation . Jose was a student of Rabbi Akiba and was regarded as one of the foremost scholars of halakha and aggadah of his day...
found support in the words “ascribe greatness to our God” in for the proposition that when standing in the house of assembly saying, “Blessed is the Lord who is to be blessed,” people are to respond, “Blessed is the Lord who is to be blessed forever and ever.” Rabbi Jose also found support in those words for the proposition that Grace after Meals is said only when three are present; that one must say “Amen
Amen
The word amen is a declaration of affirmation found in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. Its use in Judaism dates back to its earliest texts. It has been generally adopted in Christian worship as a concluding word for prayers and hymns. In Islam, it is the standard ending to Dua and the...
” after the one who says the blessing; that one must say, “Blessed is the Name of the Glory of His Kingdom forever and ever”; and that when people say, “May His great name be blessed,” one must answer, “Forever and ever and ever.” (Sifre to Deuteronomy 306:30.)
Hanina ben Pappa
For another Jewish Amora sage also of the Land of Israel, same 3d Amoraic generetion & with a similar name, see Hanina b. Papi.For the Babylonian Amora sages of the 5th generetion, see Rav Papi or Rav Papa....
taught that to enjoy this world without reciting a blessing
Berakhah
In Judaism, a berakhah, bracha, brokhe is a blessing, usually recited at a specific moment during a ceremony or other activity. The function of a berakhah is to acknowledge God as the source of all blessing...
is tantamount to robbing God, as Proverbs
Book of Proverbs
The Book of Proverbs , commonly referred to simply as Proverbs, is a book of the Hebrew Bible.The original Hebrew title of the book of Proverbs is "Míshlê Shlomoh" . When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different forms. In the Greek Septuagint the title became "paroimai paroimiae"...
says, “Whoever robs his father or his mother and says, ‘It is no transgression,’ is the companion of a destroyer,” and says of God, “Is not He your father Who has gotten you?” (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 35b.)
The Sifre expanded on the metaphor of God as an eagle in teaching that just as an eagle enters her nest only after shaking her chicks with her wings, fluttering from tree to tree to wake them up, so that they will have the strength to receive her, so when God revealed God’s self to give the Torah to Israel, God did not appear from just a single direction, but from all four directions, as says, “The Lord came from Sinai, and rose from Seir to them,” and Habakkuk
Book of Habakkuk
The Book of Habakkuk is the eighth book of the 12 minor prophets of the Hebrew Bible. It is attributed to the prophet Habakkuk, and was probably composed in the late 7th century BC. A copy of chapters 1 and 2 is included in the Habakkuk Commentary, found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.Chapters 1-2...
says, “God comes from the south.” (Sifre to Deuteronomy 314.)
The Gemara read the word “Rock” in to refer to God, and the Gemara employed that interpretation with others to support Abba Benjamin’s assertion that when two people enter a synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
to pray, and one of them finishes first and leaves without waiting for the other, God disregards the prayer of the one who left. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 5b.)
Rabbi Judah ben Simon expounded on God’s words in “I will hide My face from them.” Rabbi Judah ben Simon compared Israel to a king's son who went into the marketplace and struck people but was not struck in return (because of his being the king’s son). He insulted but was not insulted. He went up to his father arrogantly. But the father asked the son whether he thought that he was respected on his own account, when the son was respected only on account of the respect that was due to the father. So the father renounced the son, and as a result, no one took any notice of him. So when Israel went out of Egypt, the fear of them fell upon all the nations, as reported, “The peoples have heard, they tremble; pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia. Then were the chiefs of Edom frightened; the mighty men of Moab, trembling takes hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away. Terror and dread falls upon them.” But when Israel transgressed and sinned, God asked Israel whether it thought that it was respected on its own account, when it was respected only on account of the respect that was due to God. So God turned away from them a little, and the Amalek
Amalek
The Amalekites are a people mentioned a number of times in the Hebrew Bible. They are considered to be descended from an ancestor Amalek....
ites came and attacked Israel, as reports, “Then Amalek came, and fought with Israel in Rephidim,” and then the Canaanites came and fought with Israel, as reports, “And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who dwelt in the South, heard tell that Israel came by the way of Atharim; and he fought against Israel.” God told the Israelites that they had no genuine faith, as says, “they are a very disobedient generation, children in whom is no faith.” God concluded that the Israelites were rebellious, but to destroy them was impossible, to take them back to Egypt was impossible, and God could not change them for another people. So God concluded to chastise and try them with suffering. (Ruth Rabbah
Ruth Rabbah
Ruth Rabbah is an haggadic and homiletic interpretation of the Book of Ruth, which, like that of the four other scrolls , is included in the Midrash Rabbot. This midrash, divided into eight chapters or sections , covers the whole text of the Biblical book, interpreting it verse by verse, now in...
Prologue 4.)
The Gemara read the word reshef (“fiery bolt”) in to refer to demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
s, and the Gemara employed that interpretation with others to support Rabbi Isaac’s assertion that reciting the Shema
Shema Yisrael
Shema Yisrael are the first two words of a section of the Torah that is a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services...
in bed keeps demons away. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 5a.)
Rav Hisda
Rav Chisda
Rav Chisda was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the third generation , mentioned frequently in the Talmud.-Youth:...
taught that one walking in a dirty alleyway should not recite the Shema, and one reciting the Shema who comes upon a dirty alleyway should stop reciting. Of one who would not stop reciting, Rav Adda bar Ahavah
Adda bar Ahavah
Adda bar Ahavah or Adda bar Ahabah is the name of two Jewish rabbis and Talmudic scholars, known as Amoraim, who lived in Babylonia.-The amora of the second generation:...
quoted to say: “he has despised the word of the Lord.” And of one who does stop reciting, Rabbi Abbahu taught that says: “through this word you shall prolong your days.” (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 24b.)
The Gemara implied that the sin of Moses in striking the rock at Meribah
Meribah
Meribah is one of the locations which the Torah identifies as having been travelled through by the Israelites, during the Exodus, although the continuous list of visited stations in the Book of Numbers doesn't mention it...
compared favorably to the sin of David. The Gemara reported that Moses and David were two good leaders of Israel. Moses begged God that his sin be recorded, as it is in and and David, however, begged that his sin be blotted out, as says, “Happy is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is pardoned.” The Gemara compared the cases of Moses and David to the cases of two women whom the court sentenced to be lashed. One had committed an indecent act, while the other had eaten unripe figs of the seventh year in violation of Leviticus The woman who had eaten unripe figs begged the court to make known for what offense she was being flogged, lest people say that she was being punished for the same sin as the other woman. The court thus made known her sin, and the Torah repeatedly records the sin of Moses. (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 86b.)
In medieval rabbinic interpretation
Saadiah Gaon interpreted heaven and earth in to mean the angelAngel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
s and the people of the earth. (Ibn Ezra
Abraham ibn Ezra
Rabbi Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra was born at Tudela, Navarre in 1089, and died c. 1167, apparently in Calahorra....
on 32:1.)
Rashi
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
explained that Moses called upon heaven and earth to serve as witnesses in in case Israel denied accepting the covenant, because Moses knew that he was mortal and would soon die, but heaven and earth will endure forever.(Rashi on 32:1; see also Ibn Ezra and Nachmanides on 32:1.) Furthermore, said Rashi, if Israel acted meritoriously, then the witnesses would be able to reward them, as the earth would yield its produce and the heavens would give its dew. (Zechariah
Book of Zechariah
The Book of Zechariah is the penultimate book of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew and Christian Bible, attributed to the prophet Zechariah.-Historical context:...
) And if Israel acted sinfully, then the hand of the witnesses would be the first to inflict punishment (carrying out the injunction of ), as God would close off heaven’s rain, and the soil would not yield its produce. (Rashi on 32:1.)
Rashi interpreted to refer to Torah, which, like rain, provides life to the world. Rashi interpreted the request of Moses in for his speech to rain down “as the dew,” “as the rain,” to mean that it should come in small droplets. Rashi interpreted that Moses wanted to teach the children of Israel slowly, the knowledge "raining" down on the people in small portions, for if they were to be subject to all knowledge coming down at once, they would be overwhelmed and thus wiped out. (Rashi on 32:2.)
In modern interpretation
Harold Fisch described the witness function of the song as "a kind of time bomb; it awaits its hour and then springs forward into harsh remembrance." (Poetry with a Purpose: Biblical Poetics and Interpretation, 51. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1988. ISBN 025334557X.)A midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
interpreted the report of that God "fixed the boundaries of peoples in relation to Israel's number" (l'mispar b'nei Yisrael) to teach that before the days of Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
, God dealt harshly with the world: The sins of Noah
Noah
Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
's generation resulted in the flood; the generation that built the Tower of Babel
Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel , according to the Book of Genesis, was an enormous tower built in the plain of Shinar .According to the biblical account, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land of Shinar, where...
was dispersed throughout the globe, prompting the proliferation of languages; the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and later expounded upon throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and Deuterocanonical sources....
were answered with fire and brimstone. According to the midrash, when Abraham came into the world, God ceased the cataclysmic punishments and set the punishments of other peoples in relationship to Israel's presence in the world. This midrash conveys that the Israelites' presence somehow lessened God's anger, bringing greater stability to the world. The midrash teaches that Jews, then, have a unique ability and responsibility to bring peace and stability to the world. (myjewishlearing.com)
Nahama Leibowitz
Nechama Leibowitz
Nechama Leibowitz was a noted Israeli Bible scholar and commentator who rekindled interest in Bible study.-Biography:Nechama Leibowitz was born to an Orthodox Jewish family in Riga two years after her elder brother, the philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz. The family moved to Berlin in 1919...
noted that contains a “very daring anthropomorphism indeed, attributing to God the sentiment of fear.” (Studies in Devarim: Deuteronomy, 328.)
Commandments
MaimonidesMaimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
cites the parshah for one negative commandment
Mitzvah
The primary meaning of the Hebrew word refers to precepts and commandments as commanded by God...
:
- Not to drink wine of libation to idolatry
(Maimonides. Mishneh Torah
Mishneh Torah
The Mishneh Torah subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka is a code of Jewish religious law authored by Maimonides , one of history's foremost rabbis...
, Negative Commandment 194. Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt, 1170–1180. Reprinted in Maimonides. The Commandments: Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides. Translated by Charles B. Chavel, 2:189–91. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4.)
According to Sefer ha-Chinuch
Sefer ha-Chinuch
The Sefer ha-Chinuch , often simply "the Chinuch" is a work which systematically discusses the 613 commandments of the Torah. It was published anonymously in 13th century Spain...
, however, there are no commandments in the parshah. (Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 5:443. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1988. ISBN 0-87306-497-6.)
And according to others, the parshah contains a commandment to listen, hear, and learn one's ancestral history, as instructs one to "ask your father and he will tell you."
Haftarah
The haftarahHaftarah
The haftarah or haftoroh is a series of selections from the books of Nevi'im of the Hebrew Bible that is publicly read in synagogue as part of Jewish religious practice...
for the parshah is the song of David, 2 Samuel
Books of Samuel
The Books of Samuel in the Jewish bible are part of the Former Prophets, , a theological history of the Israelites affirming and explaining the Torah under the guidance of the prophets.Samuel begins by telling how the prophet Samuel is chosen by...
Both the parshah and the haftarah set out the song of a great leader. Both the parshah (in and 18) and the haftarah (in and 2) refer to God as a Rock.
In the liturgy
Moses’ characterization of God as “the Rock” in is reflected in which is in turn the first of the six Psalms recited at the beginning of the Kabbalat Shabbat prayer serviceJewish services
Jewish prayer are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....
, as well as in which is recited later in the Kabbalat Shabbat service after the Lekhah Dodi
Lekhah Dodi
Lekhah Dodi is a Hebrew-language Jewish liturgical song recited Friday at dusk, usually at sundown, in synagogue to welcome Shabbat prior to the Maariv...
liturgical poem. (Reuven Hammer
Reuven Hammer
Reuven Hammer is a Conservative Jewish rabbi, scholar of Jewish liturgy, author and lecturer. He is a founder of the Masorti movement in Israel and a past president of the International Rabbinical Assembly. He served many years as head of the Masorti Beth Din in Israel...
. Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom
Siddur Sim Shalom
Siddur Sim Shalom may refer to any siddur in a family of siddurim, Jewish prayerbooks, and related commentaries on these siddurim, published by the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism....
for Shabbat and Festivals, 15, 23. New York: The Rabbinical Assembly
Rabbinical Assembly
The Rabbinical Assembly is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, and oversees the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and...
, 2003. ISBN 0-916219-20-8.)
Many Jews recite the words, “as an eagle that stirs up her nest, hovers over her young,” from as part of the declaration of intent before donning the tallit
Tallit
A tallit pl. tallitot is a Jewish prayer shawl. The tallit is worn over the outer clothes during the morning prayers on weekdays, Shabbat and holidays...
. (Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for Weekdays with an Interlinear Translation, 5. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-686-8.)
Biblical
(God as “the Rock”).Early nonrabbinic
- Dead Sea scrollsDead Sea scrollsThe Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...
4QDeutj, 4QDeutq
- JosephusJosephusTitus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
, Antiquities of the JewsAntiquities of the JewsAntiquities of the Jews is a twenty volume historiographical work composed by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the thirteenth year of the reign of Roman emperor Flavius Domitian which was around 93 or 94 AD. Antiquities of the Jews contains an account of history of the Jewish people,...
4:8:44, 47. Circa 93–94. Reprinted in, e.g., The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition. Translated by William WhistonWilliam WhistonWilliam Whiston was an English theologian, historian, and mathematician. He is probably best known for his translation of the Antiquities of the Jews and other works by Josephus, his A New Theory of the Earth, and his Arianism...
, 123–25. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1987. ISBN 0-913573-86-8.
Classical rabbinic
- ToseftaToseftaThe Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...
Shabbat 8:24–25; Sotah 4:8. Land of Israel, circa 300 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 1:385, 848. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 2002. ISBN 1-56563-642-2. - SifreSifreSifre refers to either of two works of Midrash halakhah, or classical Jewish legal Biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Bamidbar and Devarim .- The Talmudic-Era Sifre :The title "Sifre debe Rab" is used by R. Hananeel on Sheb. 37b, Alfasi on Pes...
to Deuteronomy 306:1–341:1. Land of Israel, circa 250–350 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., Sifre to Deuteronomy: An Analytical Translation. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 2:295–397. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1987. ISBN 1-55540-145-7. - Jerusalem TalmudJerusalem TalmudThe Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...
: Berakhot 72b, 84b; Peah 5a, 7b, 48b; Kilayim 82a; Sheviit 5b; Maaser Sheni 49b. Land of Israel, circa 400 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Yerushalmi. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, vols. 2–3, 5–6a, 10. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006–2009. - Genesis RabbaGenesis RabbaGenesis Rabba is a religious text from Judaism's classical period. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical interpretations of the Book of Genesis ....
h 1:14; 5:5; 12:1; 13:14; 15:7; 22:2; 44:21; 53:15; 65:15; 68:12; 96:5. Land of Israel, 5th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Genesis. Translated by H. Freedman and Maurice Simon. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2. - Leviticus RabbahLeviticus RabbahLeviticus Rabbah, Vayikrah Rabbah, or Wayiqra Rabbah is a homiletic midrash to the Biblical book of Leviticus . It is referred to by Nathan ben Jehiel in his Aruk as well as by Rashi in his commentaries on , and elsewhere. According to Leopold Zunz, Hai Gaon and Nissim knew and made use of it...
2:10; 4:1; 18:5; 22:8; 23:5, 12. Land of Israel, 5th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Leviticus. Translated by H. Freedman and Maurice Simon. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.
- Babylonian TalmudTalmudThe Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
: Berakhot 5a–b, 45a, 56b; Shabbat 103b; Pesachim 111b; Yoma 37a; Taanit 7a, 11a; Chagigah 12b; Yevamot 63b; Ketubot 8b, 111b; Baba Kama 50a, 60b; Bava Batra 25a; Sanhedrin 91b, 97a; Avodah Zarah 29b. Babylonia, 6th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Bavli. Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 vols. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
Medieval
- Deuteronomy RabbahDeuteronomy RabbahDeuteronomy Rabbah is an aggadic midrash or homiletic commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy. Unlike Bereshit Rabbah, the Midrash to Deuteronomy which has been included in the collection of the Midrash Rabbot in the ordinary editions does not contain running commentaries on the text of the Bible,...
1:5; 3:5; 5:4; 8:2; 10:1–4; 11:5, 10. Land of Israel, 9th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Deuteronomy. Translated by H. Freedman and Maurice Simon. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2. - Exodus RabbahExodus RabbahExodus Rabbah is the midrash to Exodus, containing in the printed editions 52 parashiyyot. It is not uniform in its composition.- Structure :In parashiyyot i.-xiv...
1:12; 3:8; 5:12, 14; 13:2; 15:12, 16; 21:3; 23:2, 8; 24:1; 29:7; 30:1, 11, 21; 32:7; 42:1; 51:7. 10th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Exodus. Translated by S. M. Lehrman. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.
- RashiRashiShlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
. Commentary. Deuteronomy 32. TroyesTroyesTroyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
, France, late 11th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Rashi. The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated. Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, 5:329–69. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1997. ISBN 0-89906-030-7. - Judah HaleviYehuda HaleviJudah Halevi was a Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher. He was born in Spain, either in Toledo or Tudela, in 1075 or 1086, and died shortly after arriving in Palestine in 1141...
. KuzariKuzariThe Kitab al Khazari, commonly called the Kuzari, is one of most famous works of the medieval Spanish Jewish philosopher and poet Rabbi Yehuda Halevi, completed around 1140. Its title is an Arabic phrase meaning Book of the Khazars...
. 2:16; 3:11; 4:3. ToledoToledo, SpainToledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
, Spain, 1130–1140. Reprinted in, e.g., Jehuda Halevi. Kuzari: An Argument for the Faith of Israel. Intro. by Henry Slonimsky, 92, 149, 201. New York: Schocken, 1964. ISBN 0-8052-0075-4. - Numbers RabbahNumbers RabbahNumbers Rabbah is a religious text holy to classical Judaism. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletic interpretations of the book of Numbers ....
2:6; 8:4; 9:1, 7, 11, 14, 49; 10:2; 12:11; 13:14; 14:12; 16:5, 24; 17:5; 20:1, 19, 21. 12th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Numbers. Translated by Judah J. Slotki. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2. - Esther RabbahEsther RabbahEsther Rabbah is the midrash to the Book of Esther in the current Midrash editions. From its plan and scope it is apparently an incomplete collection from the rich haggadic material furnished by the comments on the scroll of Esther, which has been read since early times at the public service on...
1:6; 5:1; 7:13.
- Song of Songs Rabbah 1:11; 8:7.
- Ruth RabbahRuth RabbahRuth Rabbah is an haggadic and homiletic interpretation of the Book of Ruth, which, like that of the four other scrolls , is included in the Midrash Rabbot. This midrash, divided into eight chapters or sections , covers the whole text of the Biblical book, interpreting it verse by verse, now in...
: prologue 3, 4. - Lamentations RabbahLamentations RabbahThe Midrash on Lamentations or Eichah Rabbah , like Bereshit Rabbah and the Pesiḳta ascribed to Rab Kahana, belongs to the oldest works of the Midrashic literature. It begins with 36 consecutive proems forming a separate collection, certainly made by the author of the Midrash...
: prologue 24, 25, 34; 1:33, 55; 2:4. - Ecclesiastes RabbahEcclesiastes RabbahEcclesiastes Rabbah or Kohelet Rabbah is an haggadic commentary on Ecclesiastes, included in the collection of the Midrash Rabbot. It follows the Biblical book verse by verse, only a few verses remaining without comment. In the list of the old sedarim for the Bible four sedarim are assigned to...
2:15; 3:13, 17, 19; 9:5 - ZoharZoharThe Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology...
1:6a, 22b, 26a, 53a, 87b, 96b, 138b, 139b, 143b, 160a, 161b, 163a, 164a, 177a, 189b, 192a; 2:5b, 26b, 64a, 64b, 80b, 83b, 86a, 95b, 96a, 108b, 125a, 144a, 155b, 157a, 162b, 210a; 3:60b, 78b, 126a, 210b, 263a, 268a, 286a–299b. Spain, late 13th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., The Zohar. Translated by Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon. 5 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1934.
Modern
- Samson Raphael HirschSamson Raphael HirschSamson Raphael Hirsch was a German rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of the Torah im Derech Eretz school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism...
. Horeb: A Philosophy of Jewish Laws and Observances. Translated by Isidore Grunfeld, 444–45. London: Soncino Press, 1962. Reprinted 2002 ISBN 0-900689-40-4. Originally published as Horeb, Versuche über Jissroel’s Pflichten in der Zerstreuung. Germany, 1837. - Emily DickinsonEmily DickinsonEmily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
. Poem 112 (Where bells no more affright the morn —). Circa 1859. Poem 168 (If the foolish, call them "flowers" —). Circa 1860. Poem 597 (It always felt to me — a wrong). Circa 1862. In The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Edited by Thomas H. Johnson, 53, 79–80, 293–94. New York: Little, Brown & Co., 1960. ISBN 0-316-18414-4. - Martin BuberMartin BuberMartin Buber was an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship....
. On the Bible: Eighteen studies, 80–92. New York: Schocken Books, 1968. - Nahama LeibowitzNechama LeibowitzNechama Leibowitz was a noted Israeli Bible scholar and commentator who rekindled interest in Bible study.-Biography:Nechama Leibowitz was born to an Orthodox Jewish family in Riga two years after her elder brother, the philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz. The family moved to Berlin in 1919...
. Studies in Devarim: Deuteronomy, 327–69. Jerusalem: World Zionist Org.: 1980. ISBN 0-686-76264-9. - Elliot N. DorffElliot N. DorffElliot N. Dorff is a Conservative rabbi. He is a professor of Jewish theology at the American Jewish University in California , author and a bio-ethicist....
. “A Jewish Approach to End-Stage Medical Care.” New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 1990. YD 339:1.1990b. Reprinted in Responsa: 1980–1990: The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement. Edited by David J. Fine, 519, 531–32, 564. New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 2005. ISBN 0-916219-27-5. (implications of God’s ownership of the universe on the duty to maintain life and health). - Avram Israel Reisner. “Joint Aliyot.” New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 1992. OH 136.1992. Reprinted in Responsa: 1991–2000: The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement. Edited by Kassel Abelson and David J. Fine, 21, 23–24. New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 2002. ISBN 0-916219-19-4. (implications of the command to “exalt our God” for joint or single blessings).
- Jeffrey H. Tigay. The JPS Torah Commentary: Deuteronomy: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation, 298–317, 508–18. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1996. ISBN 0-8276-0330-4.
- Suzanne A. Brody. “Witness.” In Dancing in the White Spaces: The Yearly Torah Cycle and More Poems, 111. Shelbyville, Kentucky: Wasteland Press, 2007. ISBN 1-60047-112-9.
- Esther JungreisEsther JungreisEsther Jungreis is the founder of the international Hineni movement in America. A Holocaust survivor, she has made it her life's mission to bring back Jews to Orthodox Judaism.-Biography:...
. Life Is a Test, 266. Brooklyn: Shaar Press, 2007. ISBN 1-4226-0609-0.
Texts
Commentaries
- Academy for Jewish Religion, New York
- Aish.com
- American Jewish University
- Anshe Emes Synagogue, Los Angeles
- Bar-Ilan University
- Chabad.org
- eparsha.com
- G-dcast
- The Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash
- Jewish Agency for Israel
- Jewish Theological Seminary
- MyJewishLearning.com
- Ohr Sameach
- Orthodox Union
- OzTorah, Torah from Australia
- Pardes from Jerusalem
- RabbiShimon.com
- Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
- Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld
- Reconstructionist Judaism
- Sephardic Institute
- Shiur.com
- 613.org Jewish Torah Audio
- Tanach Study Center
- Torah from Dixie
- Torah.org
- TorahVort.com
- Union for Reform Judaism
- United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth
- United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
- What’s Bothering Rashi?
- Yeshivat Chovevei Torah
- Yeshiva University