36 | OCTOBER 10 • 2019 

“L

et the skies hear as I 
speak; let the Earth 
listen to the words of 
my mouth. May my message 
descend as the rain; may my 
speech distill as the dew.
”
These are Moses’
 last 
remarks as he calls upon the 
heavens and the Earth to wit-
ness his final testament to the 
Israelites. He probably 
asks for their witness 
not only because they 
are eternal but also 
because they are a 
daily part of the lives 
of the Israelites. What 
might Moses call upon 
to attest to his words 
today? Our cell phones 
set to record?
The children of Israel 
were very tied to the 
land. They counted 
their wellbeing in sheep 
and goats, and they consid-
ered themselves blessed when 
the rains fell at the appointed 
times. Many teachings in the 
Tanach are based on, refer-
enced or explained in terms of 
the flora and fauna of the land. 
We, unlike our ancestors, 
are largely divorced from 
nature unless we make a 
special effort to connect. For 
instance, how many degrees of 
separation are there between 
the produce we buy in the 
grocery store and the seeds 
that originally created them?
Our points of reference are 
very different from those of 
our ancestors. When we think 
about weighty matters, our 
preference is often to intellec-
tualize, cogitate and consider at 
an abstract level. Our thoughts 
are often lofty, not on or related 
to what is on or in the ground. 
The holy days of Rosh 

Hashanah, which have just 
passed, are similarly largely 
intellectual pursuits. On Rosh 
Hashanah, we are asked to 
think about God’
s grandeur. 
The only tangible mitzvah of 
these days is the ram’
s horn. 
Hearing the sound of the sho-
far, not the horn itself, is the 
essence of the commandment. 
On Yom Kippur, we are 
warned to repent, an 
intellectual act, and con-
sider our own mortality. It 
is largely a day of import-
ant words and ideas.
Sukkot, conversely, is 
all about the land and its 
produce. We are com-
manded to live in and 
build sukkot, the roofs 
of which must be made 
of natural materials. We 
collect, hold, shake and 
march with four natural 
species, all of which have an 
intimate connection with water. 
On the final day of Sukkot, 
on Hoshana Rabba, we bend 
down, willows in hand, and 
beat them on the ground 
watching as the leaves fall 
to the ground, perhaps to 
encourage the rains of autumn 
and winter.
This year, Haazinu, which 
we read on the Shabbat 
between Yom Kippur and 
Sukkot, marks the transition 
between the worlds of the 
mind and of nature. This little 
parshah, one of the shortest 
of the year, helps us renew the 
connection between what we 
think of as the higher faculties 
with the land upon which our 
survival depends. 

Rabbi Mitch Parker is the rabbi 
at B’
nai Israel Synagogue in 
West Bloomfield.

Parshat 

Haazinu: 

Deuteronomy 

32:1-52; 

II Samuel 

22:1-51.

Rabbi Mitch 
Parker

Spirit
torah portion

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