DEUTERONOMY XXXII:1-XXII:52

SOME GIANTS OF THE SPIRIT

These chapters appear in verse form in the Torah, which makes an exception for this chant, which is written in 2 narrow columns, which occupy the space normally assigned to a column. Since it is one of Moses’ last pronouncements, this poem takes on greater importance. Our text begins with Ha’azinu hashamayim… vetishma ha’arets…: “Listen the heavens… and let the earth listen…” Similar words are found in the book of Yeshayahu, in which the prophet exclaims Shim’i shamayim veha’azinerets: “Hear heaven, and let the earth hear.” 

In the original Hebrew it can be noted that, in each case, there are 2 different words to signal to hear: leha’azin and lishmo’a. Rashi points out that leha’azin refers to listening closely, while lishmo’a means listening to a distant sound. Moshe (Moses), who was of higher spiritual stature than the prophet Yeshayahu (Isaiah), was closer to heaven; hence the word leha’azin is used  when pointing to a sound that must be heard in the heavens, while that word is used by Yeshayahu in reference to his nearness to the earth, only when compared to Moshe.

With this distinction in mind, we point out that there are biblical episodes that are very difficult to comprehend. For example, the case of Yitschak’s(Isaac’s) binding on an altar is incomprehensible to us when we read that it was the father, Avraham (Abraham), who placed him to be sacrificed. How can a father contemplate such a sacrifice? When God instructed him to lead his son to the burnt offering, Avraham‘s response  should have been, “I am personally willing to offer my life if that is what is required, but I cannot offer my son to him.” Even this behavior would be regarded as absolute courage, which very few people would be willing to do, and it would demonstrate the person’s deep faith. 

Our amazement at Avraham’s attitude  is the result of the attempt to put us in the place of the patriarch. If we consider that Avraham revolutionized the world of ideas and spirit with his proposal of the existence of a single God who governs the destiny of each being, we must assume that we are in the presence of a singular personality, without previous parallel, a character for whom the usual measurements or evaluations cannot be applied. Avraham’s faith in God was total, without any wavering. Avraham“knew in his mind” and “felt in his heart,” without a shadow of a doubt, that God was just and that he would never make a mistake or an immorality.

According to Jewish tradition, Moshe was on a higher spiritual level than the patriarchs: he was unparalleled. He was a giant of the spirit. The Bible testifies that God spoke to Moshe “by mouth” and not in a dream or nighttime apparition. Bechol beiti ne’eman hu, “In all my house he is the person of trust,” is the expression that the Torah attributes to God with reference to Moshe.

The Divine sentence that prevented Moshe from setting foot in the Promised Land provoked the plea and petition, va’etchanan, and Mosheimplored. Rashi comments that Moshe‘s request  was not based on any merit, because God knows even thoughts and feelings that have not been expressed in words. Moshe implored by appealing to Divine Mercy, which this time had to give way to the patron saint of Absolute Justice. 

Therefore, the life of Moshe is a kind of unfinished spiritual symphony: he extracts the enslaved people from Egypt and leads them to Sinai, where God reveals His Will and specifies a set of rules that will lead to the spiritual and social realization of Humanity. Just as Moshe’s life  was an unfinished symphony, mortality is a stark reminder that no person can finish his or her mission on earth. 

It will be future generations who will oversee building on what has been built previously, expanding the accumulation of knowledge based on the memories of other generations. The symphony will have a conclusion in some messianic era, which probably depends on an action in solidarity with the disadvantaged, on a personal conduct totally attached to those ten instructions that were engraved on stone that no tyrant has been able to erase.