The song of Ha’azinu is a rebuke. Before Moshe passes on, he leaves Am Yisrael with a warning: Moshe prophesies about the abundance that Am Yisrael will enjoy when they enter the land of Israel, specifically in the time of Shlomo HaMelech. Following that, Moshe says, “Vayishman Yeshurun Vayiv’at” (Devarim 32:15) – Am Yisrael will become “fat” and will “kick.”
This is the first time in the Torah that Am Yisrael is referred to by the name “Yeshurun.” R’ Bachye says it is derived from the word “Ashurenu” (Bamidbar 24:17) – “seeing from afar,” alluding to how Am Yisrael saw Hashem on Har Sinai and also to the Mashiach (who we see in the “distance” – the future).
A repetitious motif in the Torah juxtaposes eating and drinking with rebelling against Hashem. We have it in Kri’at Shema: “You will eat and be satisfied,” immediately followed by, “Guard yourselves lest you stray” (Devarim 11:15-16) and again here in Ha’azinu, where Moshe describes all the abundance followed by the above warning. It is as if the very act of eating, drinking and becoming satisfied inevitably leads to rebellion against Hashem.
The Midrash Sifri lists numerous occasions in history when this phenomenon occurred.
The first was the generation of Noach and the flood. When Noach was born, Hashem transformed the world into a paradise. The air was so clear and invigorating that nobody ever became sick and people lived to a ripe old age – 600 years, 900 years. The land was so fertile that each time they sowed it produced plentiful crops that lasted for 40 years. The climate was perfect with no extreme weather, like the period between Pesach and Shavuot the whole year round. Despite this prosperity, the generation of Noach rebelled against Hashem.
The second was with Sodom. Before its destruction, Sodom was a fertile plain that was compared to a combination of Gan Eden (where numerous rivers irrigate the trees) and Egypt (where the Nile overflows its banks and irrigates the seeds). In Sodom there were precious gems and gold in such abundance that each time someone pulled a carrot or cucumber out of the ground, embedded in the roots were gold nuggets and sapphires. How did the inhabitants of Sodom repay this bounty? By rebelling against Hashem and becoming the very icon of evil.
The Sifri goes on to list many others: Am Yisrael with the sin of the golden calf, Yeravam, Achav, Achaz, Menashe, etc.
This mechanism has its roots in Gan Eden, where the serpent caused Adam to sin via the medium of eating (from the Tree of Knowledge). One of the evil inclination’s greatest weapons is food and drink, which, if not managed correctly, cause us to sin.
Simply eating and drinking does not inevitably result in sin. The verses above add an extra detail – becoming “satisfied,” or “fat.” This is what leads to sin.
Our Sages bring a parable of a king who has a son who is constantly asking his father for money. Every day the son visits the palace and the king accommodates him. One day, the king decides to test his son. Instead of simply giving him a daily allowance, the king gives him a lump sum that is enough to last for a year. Does the son continue to visit his father every day? No, he is absent from the palace for an entire year. The king says, “Before, when you needed me, I saw you every day. Now that you have cash in the bank, you don’t bother to visit. Here! Take another year’s allowance and I’ll see you in a year’s time!”
Hashem demands a constant, loving relationship with Am Yisrael. This is why Eretz Yisrael is not like Switzerland or England, where there is no shortage of water and food. Eretz Yisrael is dependent on constant rainfall for sustenance. Hashem wants us to “visit” Him every day, to have a loving daily connection with Him and to ask Him for what we need. A relationship that even when we have what we need, we continue to visit the palace. If, however, the sole purpose of visiting the King is to satisfy our needs only and not to have a loving relationship with our Father, Hashem gives us the “boot.”
This is what Hashem did with the serpent in Gan Eden, He gave him dust of the earth to eat. Wherever you go there is sand. The snake never has to communicate with G-d to ask for food. That is his punishment; he is distanced from the palace for eternity.
In the desert, Hashem gave Am Yisrael a crash course in this principle when He gave them the Mann. Every morning, Am Yisrael woke up to an unknown. Would there be Mann or not? If the night before, Am Yisrael prayed to Hashem, the Mann would be there like clockwork. Hashem said to Am Yisrael: “Take this lesson with you into Eretz Yisrael.” Even though the land was filled with abundance, a veritable paradise, Hashem still expected daily connection with His people.
Hence Moshe’s warning to us before his death: “Beware of becoming ‘fat,’ becoming complacent and taking things for granted. Continue your close connection with Hashem. Complacency is a cancer that eats away at the very fabric of Yiddishkeit. When we expect things without acknowledging or expressing gratitude for them – that is idol worship.
If Am Yisrael become “fat,” vayishman, then they will “kick,” vayiv’at, hinting at the two timelines of the Mashiach, be’ita (in its allotted time – also means “kick”) or achishena (hastened, before the allotted time). Complacency will result in Am Yisrael having to suffer for ages until the Mashiach comes at the end of days (seen from afar, ashurenu), in the allotted time.
But there is a better path to tread: to constantly maintain our close connection with Hashem and thereby hasten the coming of the Mashiach. When we can prove that we have learned the lesson of the Mann, Mashiach will arrive ahead of time and prematurely end our suffering.
As we approach Yom Kippur, let us shake off all complacency and pledge to visit the King in His palace every day in this coming year, and then we will be forgiven all our sins and merit seeing the Redemption speedily in our days.
Parshat HaShavua Trivia Question: What is the hidden meaning of the name of the mountain that Moshe was buried on, Har Nebo?
Answer to Last Week’s Trivia Question: Did Avraham know that the Akeida was going to have a happy end, even before the outcome? From the simple meaning it seems he did not, but unwittingly he prophesied that a ram would be sacrificed instead of Yitzchak. The first letters of the words in the verse “Elokim yir’eh lo” (Bereshit 22:8) make the word ayil – ram (Meir Panim).
