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Ha’azinu Alyth October 10th, 2008 Ha'azinu only tells part of the story. Just like on  Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Moses in his introduction to Ha'azinu, focuses on sin and judgment: "I know that, when I am dead, you will act wickedly...and that in time to come misfortune will befall you for having done evil in the sight of the Lord" . As Megan pointed out in her D’var Torah, Ha'azinu outlines God's faithfulness to the people of Israel and contrasts it with Israel's ingratitude. Israel abandon's God for idols and God responds by punishing His people. Ultimately, God delivers Israel from the hands of its enemies. But Ha'azinu only tells part of the story. What is so different from Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is that Teshuvah, repentance or turning back to God, plays no part in this poem. Neither does forgiveness. In Ha'azinu Israel is saved, but not at all because of its own merit. Ha'azinu contrasts with the Haftarah for Yom Kippur, the Book of Jonah, which we read only 2 days ago, in which the king of the wicked city of Nineveh tells his citizens: "Let everyone turn back from his evil ways and from the injustice of which he is guilty... God saw what they did...and God renounced the punishment... . Here is teshuvah - but it is absent in Ha'azinu. Ha'azinu only tells part of the story. Since Ha'azinu describes God as having no patience, possibly, we should have no patience either. Since Ha'azinu describes God's punishment in violent terms, possibly, we should become violent and punishing. If we only had Ha’azinu as our model of behaviour, we would all be self-righteous and judgmental towards others. It would be a harsh zero policy of zero tolerance. Ha'azinu might inspire us to lash out at fellow Jews with, as the language of this poem states: "the venom of asps, the pitiless poison of vipers" . But Ha'azinu is not the whole story. It follows our month of teshuvah, repentance and forgiveness and this must also be included in a Jewish understanding of our relationship with God. Jonah learnt, the hard way, that God wants human teshuvah and did respond to it. Jonah learnt that God prefers that his creatures to live: "Should not I care about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not yet know their right hand from their left...?!" . The Torah portion may not be enough to satisfy us but that is the benefit of reading the haftarah which completes the picture. In this, haftarah, God saves David from his enemies, and so here God shows compassion and is the deliverer. David was rescued from violence, as he said in this poem which can stand alongside ha’azinu. 7In my anguish I called on the LORD, Cried out to my God; In His Abodef He heard my voice, My cry entered His ears. In a world where "zero tolerance" is often advocated, where repentance and forgiveness are rare commodities, we need to sustain teshuvah far past Yom Kippur and throughout the whole of 5769. We need regular reminding that strict justice--divine or human--must be tempered with compassion - rachmanut. We may need the strong voice of morality and judgement of Ha’azinu, but just as much, we need the compassion and mercy of God towards David. This is the vital balance that will sustain us this coming year. Shabbat shalom. |
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