Moses the History Teacher Extraordinaire

Parashat Ha’azinu, Deuteronomy 32:1–52

Mary Haller, Tikvat Israel, Richmond, VA

Growing up in a small village in the Catskills in the 1960s and 1970, I found little to do when it came to entertainment or organized athletic events outside of school activities. So, school became a huge part of the day most of the year. I learned pretty quickly that I didn’t like sitting still and listening to what seemed like a constant flow of useless information. The elementary school years passed slowly until one day a new teacher burst onto the scene and the winds of change blew me into a new realm of appreciation for what was being taught. I will refer to this lively woman as the Storyteller. This teacher was the one to break through the fog of my inability to stay focused on learning.

The Storyteller made the information live. She presented every historic event with a face, a personality, a purpose assigned to it with words and excitement from her heart. The lessons went from bland and boring to colorful bits of information that began to jump off the pages of whatever textbook that was put before my eyes. My life was changed in the best way possible. The Storyteller introduced me to the value of history and the importance of learning about events as well as from all the people who lived before me. She encouraged us all to ask our parents and grandparents about our family histories. It was during this time that my love of history as a whole blossomed. I wouldn’t consider myself a serious student by any stretch of the imagination; I just fell in love with a good story that had a lesson for life.

The stories of the days of old and the people who lived through them caught my interest. Soon I realized that knowing about the past would affect the future. Reading about what people did and what happened as a result was something that needed to be shared for humans to continue to live life well. I had a new appreciation for not just school but also for all those who opened up the secrets of the universe through lessons, lectures, and simple life stories.

This brings me to Moses and our parasha, Ha’azinu, translated into English as “Listen.” A large part of this parasha is a song or poem. The section is significant for many reasons, one being it is thought to have been delivered to the people on the last day or one of the last days Moses lived. Every year when I read this passage known as the Song of Moses my appreciation for Moses as a servant leader grows.

It’s clear from the beginning of the parasha that Moses has a strong message to communicate. He begins by calling both Heaven and Earth as witnesses, and then goes on to say:

Remember the days of antiquity,

Understand the years across generations.

Ask your father and he will tell you,

Your elders and they will say to you. (Deut 32:7 TLV)

Clearly, Moses wanted to get the attention of his audience, much as my Storyteller teacher did. Moses wanted his audience to have an understanding of what those who went before them lived through. Having a firsthand understanding of how God “found them in the desert land,” Moses knew how God made them a people, how he chose them for his own, a people set apart from all others of humanity. Moses wanted all those listening to hear the message of God’s love and their importance to him. The parasha also reminds the listeners that their God graciously gave them a land that was fruitful, a place for them to live well and grow old. Moses didn’t stop there; he continued to warn the listeners of the pitfalls of having plenty and how their ancestors fell prey to laziness and turned their backs on their God after all his love and gifts of wonderful provisions for living.

We can feel the desperation and passion Moses must have experienced through the heartfelt poetic words we read as Moses speaks to his audience. Can you imagine the pain that Moses must have felt as he spoke the words to describe God “hiding his face” from them in Deuteronomy 32:20? Moses also reminded the people that in the end God would avenge the blood of his servants and be reconciled with his people and the land.

What makes this special in my understanding is how intimate Moses was with both God and the people. The parasha concludes with God’s instructions for Moses. He was to go to the summit of Mount Nebo, but only to catch a glimpse of the land for those who would come after him. Moses would only see the place he so desperately wanted all his audience of the day and his future audience to be able to enter into. Wow!

Much like my storyteller teacher, Moses used words to make the truth of history live for his audience. Moses knew his God and knew his audience, Moses recounted all that was necessary, not just for his listening audience as he was nearing his death, but for all those who would ask them the questions Moses wanted them to ask their predecessors. Generation to generation and beyond.

The words of Moses, a true servant leader, a man who lived a life of a gifted and extraordinary teacher, still live on today. I encourage each of you reading this to take some time to not just reflect on the parasha, but to go deeper. Like the people of Moses’ day, we too have much to be thankful for from our God. Like the people of Moses’ day we also have much to learn. Moses wanted his initial audience to listen and to pay close attention to all the words of Torah. By listening they would learn and see how to live out the goodness and glorify their God. As we know from Exodus, Moses knew firsthand the goodness and the glory of our God.

Moses said, “Please show me your glory.”  And [God] said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’” Exod 33:18–19 ESV

Moses knew what would happen if Torah was neglected and God’s ways ignored as stated in verses 16–21 of our portion. This message of “Listen,” Ha’azinu in Hebrew, is as valuable to us today as it was in the days of Moses. Yeshua, in the Besorah, reminds us of this: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:28 ESV).

How we live our lives today will have an impact on the future of not only the planet but of all the people. May our lives impact the future for good as we live and worship our God in an honorable fashion. Shabbat Shalom!