I this week’s Study, Parashat Haazinu meaning “to listen, give ear” (Devarim / Deuteronomy 32:1-52) Moshe writes a song that he spoke to the children of Yisrael in Devarim 32:1-52. In last week’s Parahaha, the Lord God told Moshe that Yehoshua (Joshua) will lead the people after his death. The Lord told Moshe to write down this song and the song would be a witness against them. In the opening verse of Parashat Haazinu, Moshe calls Heaven and Earth as witnesses to the covenant. Calling the solid unmoving Heaven and Earth as witness implies that the unmovable things are watching should the children of Yisrael break the covenant and disobey God. Moshe proclaims the name of the Lord saying He is our Rock, that His work is perfect, all of his ways are in truth, there is no injustice, only righteousness, and that He is straight meaning that God is upright and just. Moshe then says “They have acted corruptly toward Him, they are not His children, because of their defect, But are a perverse and crooked generation.” While reading these opening verses, can you see how Moshe is contrasting the absolute goodness of God with our impoverished fallen lives? This week’s reading leads us to question “Do I take for granted the mercy of God?” Am I examining my heart closely enough to know where my devotion really lays, in a love for God and His ways or out of the pride of life before others? Does my life truly demontrated that I am a covenant member of His kingdom? Parashat Ha’azinu _2011-2012_
