Shabbat Parashat Ha'azinu - 5782

Shabbat Parashat Ha'azinu - 5782

Rabbi Hal Miller

I had said, 'I will scatter them, I will cause their memory to cease from man'

Were it not that the anger of the enemy was pent up, lest his tormenters

misinterpret, lest they say, 'Our hand is ascendant and it is not Hashem Who

accomplished all this. [Devarim [32:26-27]

Our verse is God speaking, telling what He would have done to the Jewish

people had it not been that the rest of the world would have misunderstood and

claimed credit for themselves over the punishment of Israel, further that they

would have claimed credit for themselves in what they would see as a victory

over God. This sounds like Israel pushed their sinning against God to the point

where God was ready to 'unchoose' them as His people, and drive them out, a

very serious situation. The key to understanding what our verse means is in the

word afeihem, translated above as "I will scatter them". What does it mean?

Rashi says, "I said in My heart I will scatter them", but goes on to cite Sifrei that

the root of the word is from pe'ah, which means corner. We know it mostly from

the commandment to leave over the corner of our field for the poor to harvest. He

then says that in context here it means God is casting off the people as ownerless

just as we do with the produce in those corners.

Rav Hirsch holds similarly, that God planned to relegate Israel to the distant

corners of the world, but adds that they, "left entirely to themselves, could

mature towards serious reflection and ultimate return to Me", but God knew

that the rest of the nations would see it as their triumph over Him.

Ramban differs from Rav Hirsch, looking at the word amarti, "I said", which he

understands to refer to the Divine attribute of strict justice, meaning that God

intended to permanently leave Israel scattered, so their memory would cease

from man. Onkelos translates similarly, "I will make My anger fall upon them and

consume them", where afeihem refers to His anger upon them. According to

both of these commentators, Israel was destined for destruction, not for teshuvah.

Israel is only saved by what God said through Yechezkel [20:41], "And I will

gather you from the lands in which you were scattered and I will be sanctified

through you in the eyes of the nations."

Sforno reads it as sort of a middle ground. He follows the 'corner' source, but

says that God will leave a corner of Israel through the exile so the nation can be

rebuilt and redeemed, not destroyed completely.

Abarbanel has an interesting interpretation. God is saying that He would have put

all of the Jewish people into one spot, where it would be easier for the other nations

to destroy them completely all at once. But since that would lead to those nations

thinking as above, He instead scattered Israel in His kindness, planning to redeem

them later.

Nechama Leibowitz asks an interesting question. If this was an issue of strict

justice, why would God avoid following through based on the arguments of His

enemies? "Should justice take account of fools?" She answers, God created man

to acknowledge Him, and gave him free choice to do so. To destroy Israel and

allow the nations to boast would defeat the purpose of Creation. This is not to say

that Jews are safe from destruction, as each individual is judged separately, rather

it says that the nation as a whole will not be destroyed.