Friday, October 14, 2016

Ha'azinu: hidden meaning

The parsha is mostly a poem, a song.  This form of communication implies a hidden meaning, information that goes beyond the simple meaning of the words. I think that all writings have meanings beyond the  definitions of the words.  Poetry, by, the arrangement of the words  insists that there is more meaning here than can be derived from a dictionary, meaning that is not amenable  to Google, or any other translation, 

The poetic form invites the analysis  of common words/  Moshe calls upon Heaven and Earth to witness the pronouncements.  What is heaven? In the days before human flight, heaven was the unattainable  place above.  Before space exploration, heaven was  the abode of the Divine; After the satellite photographs  of a blue and white orb, now heaven becomes a concept.  The poem suggest that heaven is the source of rain. Heaven is the source of life sustaining water, the things we depend upon, but do not have any control over.  Heaven is, as it always has been, the unattainable home of the uncontrollable , but necessary. 

Earth is the familiar partner in our sustenance/  Earth is the part that is worked, the sink for our energies, the substrate for the plow.  Now that so few actually work the earth, earth, too , is conceptual.  It the locus for human input ;  the  part earthlings play in the endeavors that create history.

How does this poem, that predicts the  degradation and rescue of Israel,, affect the  psyche?  How did this pronouncement, which Moshe said would never be forgotten, impact my parents as they saw their own degradation and rescue and the rise their children? Does prediction lead to acceptance? rebellion? both?

There is a secret embedded in all writing. The writer will die. Perhaps the writing will live on.  It depends upon heaven and earth adn history. 

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