Parshat Haazinu
by Rabbi Avi Billet
Parshat Haazinu looks both to the past in Moshe’s depiction of events and to the future that Moshe foresaw, for events which would unfold both during the conquering and settling of the land, as well as for things which would take place much further in the future.
As an example, a number of commentaries describe events that took place in their own experience. Or HaChaim describes a litany of events that are quite reminiscent of the Shoah. Considering that he lived several hundred years before the Shoah, he was either a prophet, filled with Ruach HaKodesh, or able to read the writing in what Moshe is saying, to reach a very logical conclusion of what steps would lead to such a devastation.
Towards the beginning of Shirat Haazinu, Moshe says the following:
(י) יִמְצָאֵ֙הוּ֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִדְבָּ֔ר וּבְתֹ֖הוּ יְלֵ֣ל יְשִׁמֹ֑ן יְסֹֽבְבֶ֙נְהוּ֙ יְב֣וֹנְנֵ֔הוּ יִצְּרֶ֖נְהוּ כְּאִישׁ֥וֹן עֵינֽוֹ: He brought them into being in a desert region, in a desolate, howling wasteland. He encompassed them and granted them wisdom, protecting them like the pupil of His eye.
(יא) כְּנֶ֙שֶׁר֙ יָעִ֣יר קִנּ֔וֹ עַל־גּוֹזָלָ֖יו יְרַחֵ֑ף יִפְרֹ֤שׂ כְּנָפָיו֙ יִקָּחֵ֔הוּ יִשָּׂאֵ֖הוּ עַל־אֶבְרָתֽוֹ:
Like a nesher arousing its nest, hovering over its young, He spread His wings and took them, carrying them on His pinions.
This imagery is rather fascinating, as it depicts God as literally carrying the people. Anyone who has seen the movie the Lord of Rings might have an idea of what it means that large birds can carry people. Or, as many have noted, an airplane may be what Moshe references in this imagery.
Does this Parsha, which is always read on the Shabbos before Sukkos, have any reference to the coming holiday?
The Three Festivals each have their own tag line – Pesach is זמן חירותנו (the time of our freedom/redemption from slavery), Shavuos is זמן מתן תורתינו (the time of the giving of the Torah), and Sukkos is זמן שמחתינו (the time of our rejoicing). What they have in common, though, is that they are all זכר ליציאת מצרים – reminiscent of the Exodus, of our having left Egypt.
Sukkos is the hardest to fit into that description, however, because the Exodus took place in Nissan – six months ago – and the concept of living in huts, in commemoration of the Sukkos people lived in when they left Egypt – is a hard sell for this time of year.
When the Mishneh Brurah describes how cold it is in Sukkos and why living in the Sukkah would only be done by those who are God-fearing, we see the main reason the Sukkah is less appealing in more northern latitudes. We in the sub-tropics have a very different argument for what the Sukkah might be less appealing – heat, bugs, rain, lack of air conditioning (though some people have AC in their sukkah!) that’s a decent argument. In Israel it’s more manageable because while the temperature is similar to here, the humidity is much lower, the rainy season hasn’t begun yet. Maybe bugs are also a challenge, but I don’t suspect it’s as bad as in Florida.
So how does this passage in Haazinu relate to Sukkos? And how can we better understand Sukkos if the timing seems to be all off?
Looking back at the verse quoted above - What does יְסֹֽבְבֶ֙נְהוּ֙ mean? He encompassed them? R Yosef Bchor Shor says He encompassed them with Sukkos, a.k.a with clouds. יבוננהו comes from both the language of building and understanding. In other words he gave them the Torah and the ability to comprehend and grasp it.
Netziv takes this a step further that יְסֹֽבְבֶ֙נְהוּ֙ means God made a Sukkah for each individual, which is a והוא דבר גדול ונפלא:- and amazing and wonderful thing
Not only that, but יבוננהו means He helped them understand the ways of the world, even more than the other חכמי עולם, wise men of the world.
More than seeing God’s encompassing them as protective Sukkahs He put around them, we need to remember that there is another meaning to the concept of Sukkos being related to the Exodus.
When the Bnei Yisrael left Egypt, where was there first stop? In a place called…
וַיִּסְע֧וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל מֵרַעְמְסֵ֖ס סֻכֹּ֑תָה כְּשֵׁשׁ־מֵא֨וֹת אֶ֧לֶף רַגְלִ֛י הַגְּבָרִ֖ים לְבַ֥ד מִטָּֽף:
&&&&&&& The first stop was in SUKKOS.
Once again in the verse quoted, when it says “He found them in a wasteland” (ימצאהו בארץ מדבר), Rabbenu Bachaye says that the idea of the Eretz Midbar, as opposed to being במדבר (in the wilderness), indicates that they were on the edge of the wilderness. In Beshalach (Shemos 13:20), we are told ויסעו מסכות ויחנו באיתם בקצה המדבר. They traveled from Sukkos, and encamped in Eitam which is at the edge of the wilderness. Inevitably, we are to understand that God met them there, so to speak, ready to accompany them through their trek in the wilderness. They left Rameses, stopped in Sukkos, and then… וה' הולך לפניהם יומם – God is leading them, enveloping them, they are under His protection, as they went from Sukkos to the Sukkah of the Almighty – you might call this the first Sukkah Hop in history!
In a more outward expression of this concept, Alshikh argues that God was not present with the Bnei Yisrael in Egypt. They were too gone. Too entrenched in Egypt.
And that’s why the verse says יִמְצָאֵ֙הוּ֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִדְבָּ֔ר. He was waiting to find them in the wilderness. They would become a מציאה to Him and for Him. A people of faith. A people who would remove every remnant of Egypt from within them. And people who would become a כלי, a vessel for sustaining the world.
Moshe’s role was to bring them around to their destiny. He had to wake them up from their slumber, to encourage them, to be for them כְּנֶ֙שֶׁר֙ יָעִ֣יר קִנּ֔וֹ עַל־גּוֹזָלָ֖יו יְרַחֵ֑ף, like the bird that protects its children. He stood over them, watching them, making sure they did the קרבן פסח correctly – כח) וַיֵּלְכ֥וּ וַֽיַּעֲשׂ֖וּ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֧ה יְקֹוָ֛ק אֶת־מֹשֶׁ֥ה וְאַהֲרֹ֖ן כֵּ֥ן עָשֽׂוּ (Shemos 12:28)
Bnei Yisrael were everywhere! How did they all get to Ramses, so they could leave together? Alshikh says, that’s the wings of the angels (מלאכים). And from Ramses to Sukkos, which was a distance of 120 mil? Wings of angels. And how did they get from Sukkos to the sea, and from the sea to the Sinai? ואשא אתכם על כנפי נשרים. They were carried on the wings of the nesher(s).
Haazinu paints for us a picture of faith (אמונה), a picture of a wilderness experience we probably have a hard time fathoming. What does it mean to not be traveling in a natural fashion? What does it mean to have a cloud surrounding you, being enveloped by the Almighty, not subject to actual terrain, not subject to the need for walking in a natural fashion, with bumps on the road, holes in the sand, wagons, animals, children, elderly, broken bodies from slavery whippings, beatings, and just back-breaking labor?
The answer is: Sukkos the place set a precedent. The arriving in Sukkos was of a miraculous arrival. The protection in Egypt and post Egypt was a supernatural Sukkah that created a people who were spiritually ready for God.
Were there other kinds of bumps in the road? A golden calf, complaints, spies? Yes. There were. But that doesn’t discount or remove the spiritual readiness of these people for God. The removal of the yoke of Egypt was not a simple task. But it was what they were ready for. And the Sukkah of the place called Sukkos got them rolling – first stop out of Egypt; and the Sukkah of the clouds, got them floating, and the סוכת שלומך was their final destination. Getting to Sinai, receiving the Torah.
Haazinu is the buffer between Yom Kippur and Sukkos. Yom Kippur contains our regret over the past year as it also inspires us for our coming year.
Haazinu contains within it negative aspects of the past of the Bnei Yisrael, as well as a certain level of uncertainty of what the future will bring. Will the future be a future in which we are carried by Nesharim? Will it be a future in which we are united with God in the way the people of the Wilderness had such an opportunity?
The holiday of Sukkos tells us, that is entirely up to us. Of course we will have our sukkahs. Of course we will eat in them. But will we dwell in them? Will we spend as much time as possible in them, weather permitting? Will we delight in our Sukkah? Will we recall the Sukkah that was clouds, representing God’s protection? Will we open our hearts and allow God in in that way?
That is entirely up to us. I hope we can all find the simcha in the holiday and enjoy with our family and friends, who will be sharing this special time together.
