The song as a witness

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1. Ha'azinu

   Dr. Mordechai Sabato

   Ha'azinu is "shira," a song. Unlike the other songs in the Torah, which fulfill a historical purpose - the Jews really did sing a song of rejoicing after the splitting of the sea, Ha'azinu is a "song on demand" - God told Moshe to compose the song. What is the meaning of a "song" in the context of Moshe's farewell speeches to the Jewish people? And why are they told to sing?

2. Parshat Haazinu - God's Children

   Rabbi Alex Israel | 36 minutes

   The Song of Haazinu is to serve as a witness for future generations. It tells a historical tale of Bnei Yisrael. But what story does Haazinu tell? This shiur sets out to follow through the story line and point out some interesting features, and then make some philosophical comments and spiritual insights.

   Many of the classical commentaries seem to present the Song of Haazinu as the ultimate story of the Jewish people- a story of exile and redemption, outlining the future of Jewish History. But is this indeed so? Rabbi Dr. Yoel Bin Nun and Rav Elhanan Samet point out that the song makes no reference to exile or to leaving the land. 

    If this is not a prediction of future exile and redemption, then what is this song, and why is this song needed? Why must it be so readily available for people to remember throughout the ages?  Is it another exile and redemption cycle? Or does the Song of Haazinu present a different paradigm – one entirely within the Land of Israel?

3. The Cycle of Haazinu

   Rabbi Alex Israel

4. The Song of Haazinu

   Rabbi Chanoch Waxman

   the identity of the Song of Ha'azinu as a "witness" raises a series of interrelated questions. First and foremost we may duly wonder regarding the content and purpose of the testimony. To what does Shirat Ha'azinu testify, and for what purpose? Second, in an unexpected twist, the witness identity of the poem imparts a new flavor to the written text of the Torah. It defines a new identity, or additional identity, to the Torah itself. In both the textual-technical and essential-philosophical senses, without Ha'azinu and its unique identity, the Torah is partial and unfinished. But in what sense do the Song of Ha'azinu and its witness function complete the Torah? In what sense does it bring the Torah and its teaching "ad tumam – until their end"? Through a close analysis of the theme of testimony throughout Sefer Devarim and the song of Haazinu, we understand the ultimate purpose of the "eidut," the testimony or testament of Shirat Ha'azinu. Placed alongside the ark it testifies to the eternal covenantal relationship between God and Israel, one originating in the distant past and destined to continue on forever. On some level, without the message of Shirat Ha'azinu, the Torah is not yet complete. Shirat Ha'azinu reminds us that in fact, on some level, the entire Torah is but the story of the covenantal relationship of God and Israel, originating in the past and destined to continue on until the end of days.