"'I cause death and I bring to life' you might say this refers to one person dying and another person having being born like we see every day in the world. But then the pasuk writes, 'I wound and I heal': just as a person receives a blow and then recovers, so too the pasuk promises that those who have died will be resurrected. This pasuk refutes those who say that resurrection dead isn't mentioned in the Torah. And another thing, first the pasuk tells you that after death is life. Then it says 'Where there is a wound there will be healing.'" (Pesachim 68a) This refers to those who will be resurrected with blemishes because of their sins but afterwards Hashem will heal them. As it says in Yeshayah, "The eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will hear. The one who is lame will dance like a deer and the tongue of the deaf will sing" (35:6).
"Heavens! give ear, I will speak; hear, earth, My words" (Devarim 32:1). And how is it that we can grasp any of the true intent of the Torah? It is only through the explanations of the righteous, scattered throughout the generations. Without them we would have no way to understand the mitzvot even if we studied them assiduously. It is the tzaddikim that give the Torah "ears," "oznai'im," like the handles on a box (also "oznai'im") that allow us to carry something large and heavy. And this is how we should read the pasuk, "The Heavens, give them ear, so I (Hashem) will be able to speak." Because it is only that the tzaddikim hear clearly what the Torah is saying that we are able to grasp the its meaning. And this is what the pasuk means further when it says, "Hear, you earth, the words of My mouth." Those that receive from them are likened to the earth that drinks in the rain. Because by means of the teachings of the tzaddikim we can have a glimpse of Hashem speaking through words of Torah. (Meor V'Shemesh)
HaAzinu
Reb Shlomo Minyan HarNof
(R. Raphael, email: [email protected])
Song Of Redemption
"Bedrock (tzur), His deeds are completeness" (Devarim 32:4). When all is said and done, when all the buildings are built and all the plans are laid, everyone knows that it is the heart that underlies everything. It's like living on a massive earthquake fault. If we don't listen to the truth of the heart then the higher up we go and the more advanced we think we are, really, the more at risk we have put ourselves.
Because the truth of the heart underlies everything. That's why the heart is called "Foundation," "Tzur levavi" (Tehillim 73). Rebbe Nachman says that a person touches the wisdom of the heart through having joy in doing mitzvot. He doesn't look forward to reward in the next world but experiences joy now, in this world, at this moment. And through feeling the joy that is here, now, he is carried by the necessity of the heart to the next mitzvah. As it says, "Mitzvah brings to itself mitzvah."
What makes this joy of mitzvah possible is that the person attaches himself to the Creator, feeling whole with himself and the world. Because a person cannot do the mitzvot in fullness unless he has a deep love for the world that Hashem created. If a person will love the world as an expression of Gd's will he can begin to feel the fullness of carrying out the mitzvot. And then, when he feels, he will actually be feeling together with the Heart of the world.
Still, all too often, we have within us negative ways of looking at the world. We hold ourselves back from really acting, blaming this or that cause for our not loving the world. But Rebbe Nachman says, no, you have to love the world that Hashem made and feel the joy from the commandments that Hashem gave for you to do because when everything is together there is a joyous and complete whole. And this changes the nature of time as well because when we feel joy in the mitzvot these become the real transition points in our lives. And the flow of time becomes our moving within the stream of connectedness, going from mitzvah to mitzvah, binding the world to the truth of the Heart, the will of the Creator.
And this is why Hashem is called Tzur Olamim, Rock of the World. Because He is the foundation that holds everything within its reality, the "heart of the matter." This is so even though much of the time we think that we can deny the heart, placing it to the side so that we can accomplish our goals. But the heart is never far away. When we hear warning rumbles and we continue on with our schemes we can't help but also be fearful, because a part of us knows that we are ignoring the warnings from our very foundations.
Now the shape that we give things comes from taking the letters of potential and making out of them combinations of thought or speech. This act of shaping reality through our thoughts is called a tziruf, a particular way of joining together the letters of creation. Now the word tziruf can be divided into two words, Tzur (foundation) and peh (mouth). This means that through the mouth we give things their outer form, their tziruf. But the source is what is within, the tzur, the heart.
The beauty of the tzaddik is his ability to take a tziruf of din, an expression or way of contracting the letters of potential that is bringing judgment, and to find its source in good, its true foundation or tzur. Through this he can unbind the bad combination and give the letters of potential a good expression.
Rebbe Nachman explains that the ability of the tzaddik to know if there is a judgment in the world comes from his doing the mitzvot with simchah. This is because the mitzvot are the complete expression of Hashem's will for the world. When a person has joy, doing the mtizvot with a full heart, he is bringing Hashem's innermost will for good out into the world. If this tzaddik then finds that there is something lacking in his mitzvah, by pinpointing where the lack is in the mitzvah he can know the nature of the judgment that is coming from above. But joy depends on the tzaddik's belief in Hashem, the mitzvot and the world. If he does not believe that the world can receive the fullness of the mitzvah then he cannot even begin to feel the fullness of joy.
This is why song which comes from the heart is connected with the good intoxication that comes from wine. Because in order to get beyond our negative judgments, the tzirufim of din that cloud our vision, in order to arrive to the hidden wisdom of the heart, we need to get beyond our negativity. And this is the secret of good wine that brings out the secrets of the heart or tzur.
Because beating within all the heaviness of the world of physicality is the heart of the world. The heart that lets itself be affected by what happens in the world and is changed by it and yet the heart that can utterly uplift the world, and take the innermost desire and push away all burden, to express its fullness (See Lekutei Moharan, Lesson 12).
The Rock
"The deeds of the Mighty One (tzur, lit. rock) are perfect, for all His ways are just" (Devarim 32:4). Hirsch says that "tzur" can mean to enclose or show strength by encompassing with a barrier as in the case of a walled city (ir matzur). It also means to shape or form through placing limitation around something so it reaches the desired form. Thus, "Rock" describes how Hashem's purpose overcomes all other plans and intentions. He is the absolute origin of all of Creation. Everything has its existence only from Him and what He intends for its realization with absolute certainty.
Were this the only way in which He rules the world, everything on earth would immediately conform without resisting Him. But when Hashem granted free will to human beings, He relegated the fulfillment of His Purposes to be accomplished in this way. Even so, He has eternal hold of both the present world with all of its imperfections and the future, ideal life when Gd's ultimate intention will become reality.
So too with reference to Yisrael, the designation of Gd as Tzur expresses a dual certainty. Gd desires that Yisrael exist, therefore it will never become lost. But Gd also desires that it will exist in a certain way which he's revealed in the Torah. From those demands, Yisrael can never withdraw itself. They are just as immutable as the existence and will of Gd Himself. Whatever changes of fate Yisrael may go through their purpose is to bring about the ultimate realization of Gd's purpose.
Keeping Perspective
"Is destruction His? No It is the fault of His children" (Devarim 32:4)
Man's distinction and perfection are a divine gift. The evils which come to an individual are due to defects existing in the person themselves. We complain and seek relief but in truth they are our own faults; we suffer from the evils which we have inflicted through the exercise of our own free will and then ascribe them to Gd who is far from being connected with them. As the pasuk says "Is destruction His work? No. You call yourselves his son - you are a perverse and crooked generation" (Devarim 32:5). Because most of the evil that befalls a man is by his own hand, a product of his sins against himself. As it says in Malachai, "This has come about through your deeds" (1:9). (From Moreh Nevukhim 3:12)
Gather The Sparks
Moshe proclaimed the words of song until their completion (Devarim 31:30). The rabbis say, "It was only necessary for Yisrael to go into exile among the nations in order to gather the sparks of holiness that are there." From this we can understand why HaAzinu is an expression of joy, a song. Because even though Yisrael was dispersed from their center, the Temple in Jerusalem where Hashem's presence is most intensely revealed, nevertheless, we can celebrate the fact that exile is what enabled the ingathering of all the sparks of holiness scattered throughout the world. And this is the meaning of the pasuk when it says that the song continues till "their completion." For when all the sparks are gathered from the nations, their power to rule will be finished and the light once again will shine out from Tzion. (Kedushat Levi)
Hashem Is Patient, Waiting Till We Are Ready To Let Go Of Sin
"Who is a god like You (Hashem)? You lift up our iniquity and overlook transgression. Your anger is temporary, Your real desire is kindness. He will return and be merciful towards us conquering our sins." And in the Gemara one opinion says that our sins are lifted up, while the other says they are conquered. "They are lifted," as on a scale when the heavier side (i.e., sin) is raised higher. This is like Hashem Who in his mercy turns towards kindness and lightens (lifts up) the side of transgression so that our merits automatically outweigh our faults. Alternatively, "they are conquered": He takes away our transgressions altogether and the side of mitzvot automatically overtakes. But why does the pasuk need both images, together?
It asks in the Gemara about Succot, "'You will take for yourselves on the first.' But why did the Torah go out of its way to Succot as "first" when we already know that during the seven days we are commanded to take the lulav?"
The explanation is that on the days between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur everyone searches himself to see how they can rectify their actions in order to return to Hashem. Each in his way praises Hashem and each in his way experiences dread. Because judgment is drawing near and we all fear that we cannot justify ourselves. For this reason a person's teshuvah at this time is called "returning out of fear." But after Yom Kippur as he busies himself with the command of building a succah and preparing his lulav and he gives tzedakah with an open hand and is joyous in serving Hashem, then, his teshuvah is from love.
The rabbis say that teshuvah from fear makes Hashem considered our sins as if they were done without intention whereas teshuvah from love actually causes them to become merits! From this we can see clearly that Hashem desires our return in truth and love and not our destruction.
And this is why it is only on the festival of Succot when our sins have the ability to be transformed to merits that Hashem counts our transgressions. Because in this way He causes to be brought to light the greatness of our merit. But before Succot when our teshuvah is still from fear He refrains from counting them because they are still considered to be acts of indiscretion. This is why Succot is called "First." Because this is Hashem's real intent; that all of acts should be in the way of merit and not the opposite, Gd forbid. As the rabbis say, "More than the calf wants to suck, the cow wants to give milk."
We could look at the process of teshuvah in the following way: In reality, every Jew wants to be under Hashem's wing (His providence). As we say, "All desire to fear Your name." This is why it says in Tractate Berachot that Hashem regrets that he created man with an evil inclination. If Hashem would take away the evil inclination we would always be filled with awe before the greatness and kingship of He Who is Source of all the worlds.
And Yisrael asks "Is our guilt really so ominous that we betrayed Your will? Is not the way You created us the cause of our crimes? How grave are our sins before You? If You would but take away our evil inclination we would serve you constantly with fear and trembling." And when Hashem hears this His mercy is awakened and he lifts up our sins to where they are mitigated above in the higher spiritual light so that only the merit of our mitzvot remains with us and we shine out with goodness.
And this is what it means, "Who is a god like You who lifts up our transgressions?" Because You always find among Your middot a good and straight middah, one that lifts our sins high, high so that only our merits remain. And this is what it means "Return and show mercy to us." That when our sins are lifted from us and we are then able to do teshuvah out of love then the sins that needed to be brought up high to protect us from ourselves can be conquered below through our teshuvah from love and all trace of our erring ways are cast into the depths. As the pasuk says, "And He will reconcile his people to His land" (Devarim 32:43).
Mitzvot
According to Sefer HaChinuch there are no commandments in parashat HaAzinu.
At A Glance