Portion 53 of 54 · Deuteronomy
הַאֲזִינוּ
Ha'azinu
Moses' last teaching is a poem, written in two columns, meant to be memorised and sung.
Start by reading it
Deuteronomy 32:1–52
One chapter.
Paired reading from the prophets: 2 Samuel 22:1–51
What happens
- 01
Give ear, O heavens, and hear, O earth. The whole created order is called as witness.
- 02
The song remembers being carried like an eagle carries its young.
- 03
It describes forgetting, and consequence, and then a turn back.
- 04
Moses is told to climb the mountain and see the land he will not enter.
The thing most people walk past
The last thing he leaves is a song
Not a law code, not a warning. A poem, because poems survive when documents are lost. It is written to be carried in people's mouths, and it was.
One verse to carry
As an eagle that stirreth up her nest, Hovereth over her young, Spreadeth abroad her wings.
The image is a bird pushing its young out and then flying underneath them. Both halves matter.
A question to sit with
Why would the closing teaching of the Torah be given as something to sing rather than something to file?
There is no answer key. This is the part you take with you.