Tom Reid’s (STH’19) Blog Post: Memory Problems
This was originally published by the Patheos on October 4, 2022, and can be found here.
Excerpt from original article:
Parashat Ha’azinu (Deuteronomy 32:1-52)
Why did I choose to write on this particular parashah? As I read it again, I find myself struggling with several passages in this portion.
Perhaps struggle is appropriate during the Ten Days of Teshuvah (Return, Remorse, and Renewal), this season of soul-searching (heshbon-nefesh), which calls the Jewish community to grapple with the fullness of life, including its challenges.
And as a Presbyterian pastor, taking on Ha’azinu affords me the opportunity to do a mitzvah of sorts, by giving my rabbinical friends and colleagues some breathing room, as they prepare their Yom Kippur services and sermons, while still recovering from the many hours of tefillah (prayer) leadership over Rosh Hashanah!
I turn my attention to the opening of this week’s portion. For context, Moses, nearing the end of his life, exhorts his people to remember the past in its entirety—the good, the bad, and the ugly. No one can claim ignorance as the nation marches ever closer to the Promised Land.
“This poem shall confront them as a witness,
since it will never be lost from the mouth of their offspring” (Deuteronomy 31:21).
The poem begins beautifully reinforcing the interconnectedness of the universe, which is entirely bound up in God:
“Let the earth hear the words I utter!
May my discourse come down as the rain… like showers on young growth,
like droplets on the grass” (32:1-2).
Yet, Moses quickly turns from God’s faithfulness to the faithless and crooked responses of God’s children. The prophet describes how God, vexed and pained by their behavior, will turn away from Israel, hiding the divine face. As a result, it is punishment that will rain down upon the wayward.
To be honest, I am troubled by this sudden turn in the text and the poem. Why the abrupt shift? Why did Moses feel the need to issue a stern and ominous warning at this time? When faced with imminent death, these are the words that come forth from the mouth of this sagacious leader? And his exhortation is directed not only at the current generation, but future generations as well.
Perhaps he is afraid. After all, he is being told that his death is imminent and that he will not be allowed to enter the Promised Land despite his efforts to guide the people there through countless obstacles. He could understandably be afraid of what will become of him as an individual. Perhaps he fears what will happen to his children and his family after he dies. And perhaps he is afraid for his tribe (the Levites) and the Israelites as a whole. He is too keenly aware of the past missteps of the Children of Israel and the consequences of their selfishness, greed, anger and fear. Despite his work to be faithful and to keep them faithful, this human instinct—to fall back on idols and spiritual technologies that are believed to be more of a “sure thing”—is often too great a force for a mere mortal to contend with. Maybe this is why the prophet calls on heaven and earth to bear witness to his words.
Read the full article here.