Rabbi's Sermons

Shabbat shalom!

The poem that appears in chapter 32 of the book of Deuteronomy, of this week's Parasha Haazinu, is divided into several parts. The first verses are an opening, after which comes the grace of God, and the very ungrateful response of his people is described. Hence, there is a description of the punishments that the people will undergo and, finally, a prophecy of consolation, as God will grant forgiveness to his people and free them from their yokes.

Each verse and verse of this intense poetry entails an exhaustive interpretation, but I would like to examine some verses of the second part, in which the abundance that God granted to his people is represented. Verse 10, dealing with the relationship between God and his people, reads, as follows: "He found him in a desert land". The Portuguese commentator and philosopher, Isaac Abarbanel, of the fifteenth century, asks, with great logic: "What is the reason why Moses does not remember here the Exodus, the exit from Egypt, which is the first goodness that the Israelites of God received before arriving to the desert? Why to begin the poem from the desert?". In other words, why amongst the list of divine mercies, is the Exodus of Egypt described in an almost obscure language: "He found him in a desert land"?

The Israeli Theologian, Nechama Leibowitz, suggests that the great miracle performed to the Israelites, was not just departing Egypt. Leaving Egypt was only the beginning of the true purpose, which was the delivery of the Law, the Torah. We can read from the book of Exodus 19, the chapter that precedes the delivery of the Torah and the Ten Commandments, what is written: "⁴…how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you unto Myself". From Leibowitz's words, we can understand another interpretation: The true miracle is not that there is only one miracle, but the continuity of God's presence within the camp of Israel, his escort all the way, the education of the people. In fact, this verse from Exodus 19, appears in this Parasha, in the next verse, but with a significant change. Verse 11 reads, as follows: "As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings".

In this verse, Martin Buber commented: "The birds are nesting in the eagle's nest, whose wings have been growing little by little, but even so, the wind is not going to take them to fly. It is then, when the eagle appears and awakens the nest. It makes the birds fly, hovers over them with a light blow. It spreads its wings, and sits one of its chicks on the tip of its wings, and carries them in the heavens, throws and catches them, and so he teaches them the act of flying". As is known, the book of Exodus relates to the arrival of the people of Israel from Egypt to Mount Sinai, to witness the revelation of God. But, according to Buber's interpretation, this is a much longer and more complex process. God, in the form of an eagle, inspires chicks to fly. Here, a pictorial image is shown, in which the eagle throws the chick into the sky and catches it again, throws it and catches it, until the chick learns how to fly. In other words, God does not expect the people to be simply passive observers, but teaches them to fly.

This is a much more difficult process that we can learn ourselves. When we give our chicks, our children, our subordinates at work, a project that we begin to develop, when we let them fly, we must gradually move in such a way that they don't need our help, and then, according to Buber, we can send them to heaven, since we will no longer have to absorb them. The goal in the end, of course, is for the chicks to be able to fly by themselves. The problem is that, once the chick flies alone, we no longer have control over it. At least, not full control (those parents having youngsters, know it very well...). On one hand, we want to foster their independence, but on the other, we must be prepared to pay the price. And, the price is, according to verse 15: "וַיִּשְׁמַן יְשֻׁרוּן וַיִּבְעָט - But Yeshurun waxed fat and kicked", remembering that Yeshurun is one of the nicknames of Israel. The people of Israel were going to "gain weight" from all the goodness of God - and then go and “kick”. The chick learned to fly and chose its own route. A path that God did not approve. The people were shown as ungrateful and, as such, they were punished. Let us remember King David’s story, in this respect. In the Midrash Shemot Raba, it is said: "Everyone who does not prevent his son from rebellion, that is, from giving him a strict education, finally leads him to a bad education. David who did not scold Absalom, his chosen son, instead of educate him rigorously, in the end Absalom kicked him and rebelled against his father asking to kill him”. Absalom's rebellion was destined to expel David from the monarchy, and kill him, so Absalom could seize the throne.

So, what is the conclusion, what it is written in the book of Proverbs 13:24? "חוֹשֵׂךְ שִׁבְטוֹ שׂוֹנֵא בְנוֹ - He that spareth his rod hateth his son"? I do not think any of us parents, can know what kind of kids we will have in the end. We can try our best efforts to educate, influence and build, but what follows in the future of our children is never clear. Even regarding God himself, at the end of our beautiful poetry of Haazinu, in verse 36 it is written: "וְעַל עֲבָדָיו יִתְנֶחָם כִּי יִרְאֶה כִּי אָזְלַת יָד - For the Lord shall judge His people and repent for His servants". The people of Israel may be punished, but only in the short term. What is it left for us to do? What should be our attitude towards our kids flying towards new and unexpected ways? To get angry? To be disappointed? To have anger in order to later repent?

Perhaps we should simply understand, from this beautiful poem, that our job is just to raise these chicks and teach them to fly. That is our job as parents. Eventually, if they already know how to fly, and decide to take a different path from our expectations, at least we have successfully fulfilled our fatherly role. From this beautiful poetry, we can learn that, although the Exodus itself was a great miracle, the education of the people in the desert, and their transformation, from a mass of slaves to a cohesive people identified as a nation, is an equal or even greater miracle. The birth of a baby is a great miracle, making our children mature in their own right, is even a greater miracle. Despite the rebellions of the people, Moses succeeded in his mission to build a nation out of slaved people. Despite his anger, God never abandoned his people. Perhaps we should all learn from this process: A child will learn to fly, grow and then teach other children to fly, which in turn, will grow, and the story repeats itself again. This is the blessing of the work in our lives.

Shabat Shalom!

Rabbi David Laor

October 4^rd 2024