Parashat Hashavua: Ha’azinu

It is hard to find a pasuk that more profoundly captures this particular moment on our calendar – with all its opportunities, aspirations and challenges – than in Parashat Ha’Azinu when Moshe tells us that God is “like an eagle who awakens its nest, hovering over its chicks; spreading its wings and taking it, carrying it on his pinions (the feathers that enable flying) / כְּנֶ֙שֶׁר֙ יָעִ֣יר קִנּ֔וֹ עַל־גּוֹזָלָ֖יו יְרַחֵ֑ף יִפְרֹ֤שׂ כְּנָפָיו֙ יִקָּחֵ֔הוּ, יִשָּׂאֵ֖הוּ עַל־אֶבְרָתֽוֹ׃.” (Deut. 32:11) 

Let’s start with the awakening. In the previous pasuk, the nation is described as being “in a desert region, in an empty howling wilderness / יִמְצָאֵ֙הוּ֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִדְבָּ֔ר וּבְתֹ֖הוּ יְלֵ֣ל יְשִׁמֹ֑ן.” (Deut. 32:10) At that moment of apparent hopelessness, God at first protects the nation by “encircling it and protecting it / יְסֹבְבֶ֙נְהוּ֙ יְב֣וֹנְנֵ֔הוּ,” before awakening us. Could we have actually been sleeping in such a situation? Unlikely. Rather, it seems to me, God awakened us at a moment of great need to the possibility of salvation; we became aware of a better option. Today as well, we must ever aware that even in our moments of greatest need, both personal and communal, there is the possibility of change for the better.

Then, once we are awake, how does God approach us? By “hovering / יְרַחֵ֑ף,” not diving, not even completely landing. As Rashi explains about this eagle, quoting Sifrei:

“It does not weigh on them, rather it hovers above them, touching them and yet not quite touching them. So too, is the Holy Blessed One: ‘We did not find the Almighty great in power.’ (Job 37:23) When God came to give the Torah to Israel, God did not reveal God’s self to them from one direction, but rather from four directions [in order to be less imposing].

אֵינוֹ מַכְבִּיד עַצְמוֹ עֲלֵיהֶם אֶלָּא מְחוֹפֵף, נוֹגֵעַ וְאֵינוֹ נוֹגֵעַ, אַף הַקָּבָּ”הּ: ׳שַׁדַּי לֹא מְצָאנֻהוּ שַׂגִּיא כֹחַ׳; כְּשֶׁבָּא לִתֵּן תּוֹרָה לֹא נִגְלָה עֲלֵיהֶם מֵרוּחַ אַחַת אֶלָּא מֵאַרְבַּע רוּחוֹת…"

This also echoes the very first mention of God in the Torah, “the spirit of God hovering over the water / ר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם.” (Gen. 1:2) Emulating this today, let us strive for gentleness in our personal reflections, and in our interactions with others, especially at times of need. If our all-powerful God can make such a gentle appearance, and be such a gentle presence, how much more so should we?

It is noted by Sforno (Italy, 1470-1550) that while the pasuk begins by referring to “chicks” in the plural, it then refers to the eagle taking “it” in the singular. Sforno connects this passage to a quote from Yeshayahu, who prophecies that when God saves us, “you shall be picked up one by one, Bnei Yisrael / וְאַתֶּ֧ם תְּלֻקְּט֛וּ לְאַחַ֥ד אֶחָ֖ד בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל.” (Is. 27:12) We are of course important as a community. At the same time, our sense of community need not come at the expense of valuing each of us individually, including ourselves. Each of us receives the individual attention we deserve from God, and should give and receive that same level of attention to and from others.

And then, finally, there are the pinions, the bird’s feathers that extend out the farthest. This, according to the Torah, is where God carried us like an eagle. No claws involved, it should be noted, and the chicks need to actually take the initiative themselves – hence the awakening – to climb aboard! Interestingly, when this metaphor is first used for how God carried us, it was “on eagles’ wings / עַל־כַּנְפֵ֣י נְשָׁרִ֔ים.” (Ex. 19:4) However, as if that weren’t difficult enough to imagine, here it is the pinions, the very part of the feathers that makes it possible to fly.

On the surface, one can understand this to be emphasizing God’s power: God qua eagle doing what an eagle can’t do. To me, the message is deeper than that: we are being challenged to imagine that carrying another – especially one in need – doesn’t weigh us down. It lifts us up, enabling us and the others to soar. Simply put, the seemingly impossible becomes possible when we help others, just as it does when others help us.

In this new year, may we, like the eagle’s chicks, be awakened to possibilities we weren’t previously aware of; may we protect others and feel protected by others as individuals and a community; and when we lift others up, and are lifted up by others, may helping one another enable us all to fly even higher.

Shabbat shalom and Chatimah tovah – may we all be sealed in the Book of Life.

Rabbi Jack Nahmod

MS Judaic Studies Head (Ivrit/Limudei Kodesh/Tefillah)