Ha’azinu 5784
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Share(א) הַאֲזִ֥ינוּ הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וַאֲדַבֵּ֑רָה וְתִשְׁמַ֥ע הָאָ֖רֶץ אִמְרֵי־פִֽי׃
(1) Give ear, O heavens, that I may speak; And let the earth hear my mouth's utterance!
(ב) שִׁמְע֤וּ שָׁמַ֙יִם֙ וְהַאֲזִ֣ינִי אֶ֔רֶץ כִּ֥י יהוה דִּבֵּ֑ר בָּנִים֙ גִּדַּ֣לְתִּי וְרוֹמַ֔מְתִּי וְהֵ֖ם פָּ֥שְׁעוּ בִֽי׃
(2) Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, For the God has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up— And they have rebelled against Me!
אמר רבא לעולם ילמוד אדם תורה במקום שלבו חפץ שנאמר כי אם בתורת יהוה חפצוואמר רבא בתחילה נקראת על שמו של הקב"ה ולבסוף נקראת על שמו שנאמר בתורת יהוה חפצו ובתורתו יהגה יומם ולילהואמר רבא לעולם ילמד אדם תורה ואח"כ יהגה שנאמר בתורת יהוה והדר ובתורתו יהגה
Rava says, in accordance with the statement of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi: A person should always learn Torah from a place in the Torah that his heart desires, as it is stated: “But his delight is in the Torah of the Lord.”And Rava also says, with regard to this verse: Initially the Torah is called by the name of the Holy One, Blessed be God, but ultimately it is called by the name of the one who studies it. As it is first stated: “His delight is in the Torah of the Lord,” and in the continuation of the verse it states: “And in his Torah he meditates day and night.” This teaches that through study one acquires ownership, as it were, of the Torah.
Rabbi Arthur Green
האזינו השמים ואדברה ותשמע הארץ אמרי פי “Listen, O heavens, and I will speak; may earth hear the words of my mouth (32:1).”
“Listen, O heavens” immediately calls to mind the opening of Psalm 19: “The heavens declare the glory of God.” Our relationship with the heavens, it appears, is a mutual one. We listen to their (silent) testimony and we expect them to hear ours as well. But “heavens” here can be understood in various ways. Moses could be speaking just to the vast expanses of skies as he ascends the mountain, lookingout toward the Jordan that he will not cross. But shamayim is also used as a name of God, as in King Solomon’s ve-atah tishma‘ ha-shamayim, “May You hear our prayers, O heaven (I Kings 8:)” or “May heaven help you!”
Or perhaps it is indeed the people he is addressing, and “heaven” and “earth” are modes of hearing. “Listen to me with the heavens within you as well as the earth!” May the angel and the beast who dwell within your heart both hear my words! Listen to me with your deepest soul and your coarsest impulses! Both your shamayim and your erets need to listen.