From:          "Yeshivat Har Etzion's Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash"
To:            yhe-intparsha@vbm-torah.org
Subject:       INTPARSHA -46: Parashat Ha'azinu


                    YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
         ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM)
**************************************************************

               INTRODUCTION TO PARASHAT HASHAVUA

                       by Zvi Shimon



                    PARASHAT HA'AZINU


Divine Poetry

This week's Torah reading is one of the most remarkable
in Scripture.  Its uniqueness stems, first of all, from its
special literary style, for it is composed almost entirely of
one extended poem.  However, it is outstanding not only in
style but also in content.  Moses leaves the people with a
poem which is to serve as a testament and warning to all
future generations.  The Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman,
Spain, 1194-1274) concludes his commentary on the poem with a
summary of its content:

"Now this Song, which is our true and faithful testimony,
tells us clearly all that will happen to us.  It mentions
first the mercy that the Holy One, blessed be He,
bestowed upon us from the time He took us to be His
portion.  He mentions the favors that He did for us in
the wilderness, and that He caused us to possess the
lands of great and mighty nations, and the abundant good,
wealth and honor that He made us inherit there.  Yet
despite the abundance of all good, they rebelled against
God to worship the idols, and it mentions how He was
provoked by them until he visited upon them in their
country pestilence, famine, the evil beast, and the
sword, and then He dispersed them in every direction and
corner.  It is known that all this has been fulfilled,
and it was so. ...
It is to this that Scripture alludes in saying, 'And
Moses came and spoke all the words of this Song in the
ears of the people.'  It mentions all ['all' the words]
in order to indicate that the Song contains everything
that is to come upon them although it is brief in words,
for Moses explained its many subjects to them.
Now, if this Song had been written by one of the
astrologers 'declaring the end from the beginning' it
would have earned belief therein because all its words
have been fulfilled by now, not one thing hath failed. 
Certainly we shall continue to believe and look forward
with all our heart for the word of God by the mouth of
His prophet, the most trusted in all his house."

The poem is composed of several parts. Following the
prologue, the Torah recounts the benevolence of God towards
the people of Israel in their travels in the desert, and in
His bequeathing to them a rich and fertile land.  The second
segment recounts the people's rebellion against God and their
severe punishment and eventual exile from the land of Israel. 
The poem then concludes with a promise of future redemption. 
The poem is a synopsis of the history of the people of Israel. 
The nation forgets all the good which God has bestowed upon
them, rebel, are punished and then mercifully redeemed.  The
Ramban marvels at the accuracy of the poem's predictions.  We
would add that from our vantage point, the poem seems all the
more impressive in its forecasts.  Not only have the first two
segments transpired, God's bequeathing to the people the land,
their wrongdoing and exile therefrom, but, we have been
fortunate enough to witness the unfolding of the final section
of the poem, God's restoration of the people to their
homeland.  If the Ramban marveled at the precision of the
poem's prophecies, all the more do we of later generations!

In light of the fact that we presently find ourselves in
the midst of the ten days of repentance, it is most fitting
that we concentrate on the people's sin and rebellion against
God.  How do the people forget all the good that God has
bestowed upon them?  What causes the tragic deterioration from
the first segment of the poem, God's benevolence towards
Israel, to the second segment, the rebellion and punishment of
the people?  Let us see how the Torah portrays this awkward
chain of events:

"Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of ages past;
Ask your father, he will inform you,
Your elders, they will tell you: ...
He [God] found him [Israel] in a desert region,
In an empty howling waste.
He encompassed him, watched over him,
Guarded him as the pupil of His eye.
Like an eagle who rouses his nestlings,
Gliding down to his young,
So did He spread His wings and take him,
Bear him along on his pinions;
The Lord alone did guide him,
No alien god at His side.

He set him atop the highlands,
To feast on the yield of the earth;
He fed him honey from the stone,
And oil from the flinty rock,
cheese of cattle and milk of flocks;
With the best of lambs,
And rams of Bashan, and he-goats;
With the very finest wheat-
And foaming grape-blood was your drink.

So Jeshurun grew fat and kicked-
You grew fat and gross and coarse-
He forsook the God who made him
And spurned the Rock of his support.
They incensed Him with alien things,
Vexed Him with abominations.
They sacrificed to demons, no-gods,
Gods they had never known,
New ones, who came but lately,
Who stirred not your fathers' fears,
You neglected the rock that begot you,
Forgot the God who brought you forth."
(Deuteronomy 32:7; 10-18)

Following the description of God's care for the people in
the desert, the poem recounts the richness and abundance
characterizing the Israelite's existence.  The commentators
interpret this section in reference to the land of Israel. 
"He set them atop the highlands" refers to the mountainous
region in the center of Israel.  Following the praise of the
fruitfulness of the land, the Torah describes the rebellion of
the people with the words "So Jeshurun grew fat and kicked." 
What is the meaning of this obscure phrase?  The Sforno (Rabbi
Ovadia Sforno, Italy, 1470-1550) offers the following
interpretation:

"'But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked.'  Behold, even those
who are the scholars and philosophers among them who are
called Jeshurun acted as animals that kick those who give
them food.
Behold, you Jeshurun, the congregation of Torah adherents
and men who are scholars and philosophers, have turned to
material pleasures and grown thick, (incapable) of
understanding subtle truths, as it says, 'But these also
reel through wine and stagger through strong drink, the
priest and the prophet' (Isaiah 28:7).  [You are also]
covered with fatness as it says, 'for He has shut their
eyes that they cannot see and their hearts that they
cannot understand' (ibid. 44;18)."

According to the Sforno, the word Jeshurun refers to the
wise, to the intellectual leaders of the people of Israel.  It
stems from the root 'shur,' to see (see Numbers 23:9), and
refers to the people of vision within the community.  The
leaders who are supposed to set an example for the nation have
regressed to materialistic lifestyles.  They are so
preoccupied with the pursuit of physical pleasures that they
are no longer capable of maintaining a spiritual existence. 
Priest and prophet, scholar and philosopher, have chosen wine
over wisdom.  They are like a fat animal who kicks the one who
feeds it, lacking even the most basic gratitude.  They are
completely immersed in corporeal pleasures and have forgotten
God who has provided them with all.

The Sforno's interpretation concentrates on the conflict
between the physical and the spiritual.  He who is totally
preoccupied with material quests inevitably stifles his
spiritual progress.  This interpretation echoes the approach
of many of the classical philosophers and is reminiscent of
the Renaissance milieu within which the Sforno lived.  While
the ideas expressed in the Sforno's interpretation are
undoubtedly true, it is questionable whether his
interpretation uncovers the full significance of our verse.

As previously stated, the structure of the poem is such
that it begins by recounting God's kindness to the people and
then continues with the people's rebellion against Him. 
However, a close inspection of the poem reveals a direct
relationship between the two sections.  The Torah describes
the people's rebellion as a direct outcome of God's
benevolence!  The key verse signaling the shift from the
description of God's kindness to the people's wrongdoing is
"So Jeshurun grew FAT and kicked."  The act of rebellion is
depicted as a kick.  The cause of the rebellion is Jeshurun's
fatness.  How did Israel become fat?  The answer appears in
the preceding verses.  God provides the people with the
fattest of foods!  Let us return to the poem's description of
the fruitfulness of the land to which God brought the people
of Israel:

He set him atop the highlands,
To feast on the yield of the earth;
He fed him honey from the stone,
And oil from the flinty rock,
cheese of cattle and milk of flocks;
With the best of lambs,
And rams of Bashan, and he-goats;
With the very finest wheat-
And foaming grape-blood was your drink.

This lavish description is reminiscent of other verses in
the Torah which describe the bountifulness of the land of
Israel.  "Honey from the stone" and "milk of flocks" remind us
of the description of Israel as a land "flowing with milk and
honey" (Numbers 13:27).  Likewise, the mention of honey, oil,
wheat and grape recall the verse describing the fruits of the
land: "It is a land of wheat, barley, grapes, figs and
pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey" (Deuteronomy
8:8).

The Torah contrasts the desert which is described as "an
empty howling waste" with the lushness of the land of Israel. 
After entering the promised land the nation grows fat,
forsakes God and turns to idolatry.  Instead of the desert
description, "the Lord alone did guide him, no alien god at
His side" we find "They sacrificed to demons...gods they had
never known."  This development is a direct outcome of
settling in the land of Israel.  The problem did not exist in
the desert!  The question arises, if the opulence of the land
of Israel is the cause of the people's rebellion, then why did
God lead them there?  Is not God to blame for the fattening of
Jeshurun?  Rabbi Hirsch (Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch,
Germany,
1808-1888) relates to this specific point in his illuminating
commentary:

"Here for the first time we meet the name Jeshurun.  It
designates Israel after the ideal of its moral calling,
which in 'yashar' - straight, never deviating in any way
from the straight path, corresponds to this name...God
wishes that Israel ascend the summit of the dual heights
of human aims, the highest material good fortune and the
highest spiritual and moral perfection. For Israel is to
show the world an illuminating example of how a life
devoted entirely to spiritual moral duties by no means
entails a renunciation of bright earthly happiness, on
the contrary, how the highest degree of morality fits in
very well with the highest amount of earthly happiness
and all material wealth and earthly enjoyments can be
turned into moral deeds and spiritual achievements.  But
when the destined Jeshurun-people get an abundance of all
the good things on earth for the purpose of fulfilling
this mission, when it has come out of the wilderness into
the land of milk and honey, then it became fat and
"kicked out."
'You grew fat and gross and coarse' is an address in
parenthesis made to the people present with Moses and to
all future readers of the words of the poem.  It contains
the quintessence of the whole of Jewish history.  In
suffering, the Jewish people have mostly proved
themselves splendid.  But it has seldom been able to
stand good fortune.  'As often as it has become fat, it
has become corpulent and overgrown with fat,' literally:
'covered.' ... The sense of the passage is: - the more
strengthening, the fatter, the food which is given to the
body is, the more should the surplus be used up in energy
and work, the higher should the activity and achievements
be.  Then the person masters the abundance and remains
bodily and mentally healthy and fit, and by his greater
achievements increases his moral worth.  But if he
neglects to use it, then the surplus material stores
itself up in his body, he becomes corpulent, obese, and
instead of mastering the abundance, he, his real
spiritual active self, becomes overcome by the fat, and
sinks.  That is the history of Israel.  It did not use
the abundance and surplus with which it was blessed to
increased spiritual and moral achievements, not the
fuller carrying out of its mission.  Its moral
improvement did not keep pace with its material good
fortune.  It did not understand how to remain master of
its riches and good fortune, did not know how to use them
for the purpose of fulfilling commandments, it allowed
itself to be overcome by riches and good fortune, and its
better, spiritual moral self to be ruined by it."

Rabbi Hirsch interprets the word "Jeshurun" differently
from the Sforno cited earlier.  The Sforno interpreted the
word "Jeshurun" as stemming from the root 'shur,' to see, and
understood it to be referring to the wise and the learned of
Israel.  Rabbi Hirsch suggests that the word "Jeshurun" stems
from the root 'yashar' - straight and refers to the whole
nation of Israel.  The nation which was to exemplify
uprightness has become crooked and has turned away from God. 
They have become fat from the abundance of the land of Israel.

Why then did God bring them to a land flowing with milk
and honey?  Rabbi Hirsch explains that this is the ultimate
mission of the people of Israel.  According to the Torah,
spirituality does not negate material wealth.  In contrast to
other religions, Judaism does not preach or glorify
asceticism.  Spirituality is not achieved by living a
reclusive life in the desert.  The Torah is to be observed in
the land of Israel with its material richness.  However, here
lies the major challenge and danger confronting the nation of
Israel.  They must use their material wealth for the
accomplishment of spiritual ends.  Material well being is
meant to assist moral growth.  This is where the nation fails
in its mission.  That which was meant to be a tool turns into
the essence.  Material wealth develops into materialism, a way
of life.  In such circumstances, spirituality can no longer
exist.  The people grow "fat," and "kick" and rebel against
God.  God responds by sending the people into exile and
bringing upon them horrible suffering.  If the nation does not
know how to use the blessings of the land of Israel for
positive ends, then they forfeit their claim to it.

The land of Israel presents the nation with the
opportunity for great spiritual growth but also with the
danger of moral disintegration.  It is the ultimate mission of
the people of Israel to utilize the "highlands" of the land of
Israel for accomplishing their higher spiritual mission.  It
is only thus that we may realize the full potential of the
land flowing with milk and honey.

YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH
ALON SHEVUT, GUSH ETZION 90433

Copyright (c) 1999 Yeshivat Har Etzion

**********************************************************************