Ha'azinu - 3rd Portion

Join me as we learnish for Tuesday parenu the third Torah reading chapter 32:13 continuing the poem of Moshe telling the Jewish people the covenant that they have with God to remember the days of the past and look forward to the days of the future and reminding them of their commitment to Almighty God. Verse 13. He made them ride on the highest places on earth in order that they may eat the produce of the fields. He nurtured them honey with honey from a rock and oil from flintstones. This entire verse is referring to the time which will come the time of the coming of Mashiach. Talking about the importance and the beauty of the land of Israel as the explains it. Why will he ride them taking them to high places? Since the land of Israel is higher than all the other lands, this is referring to the land, the fruits from the land of Israel which they are quick to sprout, quick to ripen sooner than all the other fruits in the world. What is this referring to? That he gave them honey from Iraq. That is because they're referring to that the honeys from the fruits of the land of Israel from the dates they are the figs they are the best honey that you can get because he brings a story that happened there was a story that somebody told his son in a place called that was a land a place in the city in the land of Israel bring me some figs dried ones is from the jug he went and he found Honey was coming out of the figs which was floating on the top of the uh from the figs. The honey that was coming out of the figs was floating on the top of the jug and he said zoom he said you want me to bring this jug you want me to bring figs from this jugashi it's full of honey told him stick your hand into it deep inside you'll find figs inside. What you see over here is that these figs were so juicy that it's being just a jug that had in it figs already was honey was floating to the top. And that's why uses the terminology that you get honey from the rocks and these are the olives. They are in the tribe of in their lot of land where it says they'll be able to dip their feet in oil. Meaning there's so much oil that's going to be there. means the uh very high being that the land of Israel was higher than all the other lands. So therefore he calls it like at a higher place my fields it doesn't mean my field test necessarily means about a field from flintstones it's talking about the strength and how powerful the uh stone is why sometimes we find the word and over here he uses sometimes we find the and sometimes it's and over here it's so he says when it's connected to the word after it then it's going to be when it's on its own word it'll be called like then it'll be on its own [snorts] we find this in many other words as well and when you get the will be whenever it's connected to the word afterwards Cream from the a cream of the milk from the herd. milk from the flockim with fat of lambs and rams bashan from of bashanim and male goats of wheat and fat as kidneys wheat would be as fat as kidneys. And you will drink strong fine strong wine which is the blood of the grape. Let's see in [snorts] this that he's referring to happened at the time of King Solomon. It says that the cattle was so well and fat and juicy and that they had 10 of those fat and juicy animals of cattle and 100 sheep that there was so much that there was so much milk and butter and they the land was flowing with milk literally. This is the fat of the sheep. When did this happen? This was by the 10 tribes that at that time all the 12 tribes that were sitting in their land that they would pick out from the fattest of the sheep and that's what they would eat. When did it happen that you had that the wheat was as thick as kidneys? This was in the time of King Solomon that it says there that the bread that King Solomon had he was able to use for 31 days and for and each uh flour weighed 60 times the amount and the the flour the grain was so rich and the amount of wine which was the blood of the grape. This happened in the time of that they had so much wine that they would drink it in these big tubes because they didn't just drink it in cups which were so small they would bring it in big pictures because they had so much wine other translations now which refers to butter that's the butter of the milk of the fat that you're able to collect off the top of the milk this is sheep's when it's connected to the next word afterward. So when you have with the next word the vowel changes the word those are sheep which is rams they come they are grown in the land of that they had very fat um very juicy animals there that the wheat the kernels were as fat as kidney mean as as kidneys meaning that they were so big and they were massive like a kidney. You'll be drinking good wine and the wine will taste very good. What does the word mean? In in Aramaic, the word means like we know in Jewish law, the drink of the country and so on. So the word wine in Aramaic is ashamed. This is not a noun for all general wines. But it's specifically for a very special welltasting wine. Another explanation we can give. You can explain both of these uh verses 13 and 14 according to the translation of the meaning that all these eating and drinking are referring to not necessarily literally food of wine and cattle and juice, milk, whatever it may be, but it's referring to how easily the Jewish people will consume and be able to get rid of their enemies. Verse 15, but instead of appreciating all the blessings that you have, instead which is a referring to the Jewish people became fat and they kicked rebelliously. Shaman, you became fata thick and and covered with fat. And you forsook you forsook God made it and scorned the rack of its salvation. Rashi aisa comes from thick like you the change are in are transferable and therefore interchangeable. that his face was covered in fast like a person was really fat and he's fat on the inside but on the outside you see it hanging over him you see it in as it's brought down in that the meat that the person had became that he was had like flaps of meat on the outside is like a cover like we mentioned before the sin and the sama are interchangeable linen There's one way of translating it meaning that it's like a verb that you covered and then there's another way of then there's if it would have been with a and then with the would have been with then it would sound like he covered others can make fun of that he covered his face he covered the other person's face but he's talking about them that they covered they did not listen to what God had to say [snorts] and they were covered and they themselves were covered with faith. They embarrassed and they mocked that they turned their backs on God. There is no greater disgusting way of desecrating God's name by turning your back so to speak, turning their back. when they served the idolatry, they did it in a way of disrespecting to the uh divine presence that they would serve their idolatry and put their backs to God. Verse 16, they provoked him to jealousy with strange idols and they angered him with abominable acts. Rashi 16, they got him angry. and and provoked his jealousy through going through idol worship with abominable acts by doing things which the Torah calls an abomination whether it's um being together with the same gender or using magic and idolatries which are used and are given the terminology of abomination. Verse 17. They sacrificed the demons of no utility. A deity whom whom they had not known. New deities they came upon just recently which they did that your fathers have neither feared or defiled defied them. Rashi like the translation explains like the tarum says what does it mean not a god le there was no purpose of them if there was a purpose in them let's say like the demons there wasn't this double jealousy that means god seeing that you're going to something but there's no purpose may may if you had something had some type of purpose that came from it and you saw some benefit. Okay, if one can maybe justify the materialistic desire but there's nothing coming from it and therefore it upset God even more that even the n so new that even this type of idolatry the nations of the world didn't serve in fact the non-Jew that would see a Jew serving to this idol would say that's a Jewish idol because the non-Jews didn't even do it. Your they were not af your forefathers did not fear them. They did not get scared before them. They were not defi they they were not defied by them. He uses the terminology when a person gets scared his hearer stands up metaphorically. So therefore he uses that terminology. You could also use the term talking about the the um the punishment that comes because of the uh of that happened on the Babylonian exile. It talks about because of the desolate that was nothing there. There was just a bunch of goats that were hanging out there and or sirum not necessarily goats but sirum can also refer to shadim demons and therefore meaning like that they would not uh bring sacrifices to the demons. We find in the book of Leviticus and therefore over here as well your your forefathers never gave any credit to these demons to these ideas to these idols as well. Rashi 18, I'm sorry, verse 18. You have forgotten God, the rock who gave you birth. You have forgotten God who brought you forth. Means he forgotten. God comes to do good for you. You got him upset with all these transgressions and you cause him to be weak that he should not want to give do good to you. The God who gave birth to you took you out of the womb. Like it says in God is the God who brought you birth who gave you later strong bringing you like a woman who shakes and when she gives birth and that is because of the pain that happens when the woman gives birth. This concludes the third Torah reading of Parasino.