Parashat Ha’azinu
How Does the Song of Ha’azinu Relate to Israel’s Current Suffering and War?
Why Do We Pray for Both a Good and a Sweet Year – Why Is Good Not Good Enough?
When I wished my aunt – who lives in Be’er Sheva and has several grandsons in the army – a Shana Tova (good year), she responded, “May the New Year be better than last year!” I immediately answered “Amen,” thinking that yes, we always pray for a better year, as the popular song Tamid Ohev Oti goes: “Ve’yihiye li od yoter tov, ve’od yoter tov, ve’od yoter tov, ve’od yoter tov, ve’od yoter tov, ve’od yoter tov, ve’tamid yihiye li rak tov – And it will be even better, even better, even better, even better, even better, even better, and I will always have nothing but goodness.” The reason is found in the song’s opening stanza: “G-d, who is blessed, always loves me…” (Itzik Dadya - Tamid Ohev Oti).
Of course, I agree with my aunt that the past two years have been extremely challenging for Israel. We pray daily for the hostages and cry for our brave soldiers, some of whom did not return home. Yet, on the other hand, I am grateful that Israel has finally begun to wipe out the barbaric enemy that has plagued our people since before the birth of the Jewish state.
At our Rosh Hashanah table, a student asked why we pray for both a good and a sweet year. Why isn’t a good year enough? We explained that everything Hashem does is ultimately for the good (Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 60b), yet it does not always feel that way. Therefore, we pray for a sweet year so that Hashem’s goodness will be revealed – tasted and experienced by us as truly sweet and good.
I then tried to convey a very difficult concept: when a young soldier never returns home, it is the most terrible tragedy. His parents, his wife and children, and all of Am Yisrael cry bitter tears over this heroic young man who gave his life for his people and his country. From our human perspective, is there anything more bitter than that? Yet in the world of truth, this soldier has sanctified his life for G-d. Even if he himself did not consciously intend it, any Jew who dies because he is Jewish performs the greatest kiddush Hashem – sanctification of the Divine Name (Rambam, Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 5:4-7). s his spilled blood atones for Israel and propels us closer to the unfolding of redemption, his soul rises to the highest place in the eternal Garden of Eden.
Does the Land Atone for Israel or Does the Blood of Israel Atone for the Land?
This sacred secret of atonement that we glimpse in the self-sacrifice of those who give their lives for Am Yisrael finds scriptural expression in the final words of Ha’azinu:
ספר דברים פרק לב פסוק מג הַרְנִינוּ גוֹיִם עַמּוֹ כִּי דַם עֲבָדָיו יִקּוֹם וְנָקָם יָשִׁיב לְצָרָיו וְכִפֶּר אַדְמָתוֹ עַמּוֹ:
“Rejoice, O nations, with His people – for He will avenge the blood of His servants, render vengeance to His adversaries, and atone for His Land and His people” (Devarim 32:43).
Remarkably, Ha’azinu speaks of atonement not only for the nation but also “for His Land.” Eretz Yisrael itself is worthy of kaparah – of cleansing and renewal. The Land has a spiritual essence that yearns for rectification no less than its inhabitants. Our verse places Land and nation side by side, as if to say that their fates are inseparable. It calls forth the question: is the Land purified because of Israel’s suffering, or does the Land itself atone for the people of Israel?
Rashi explains that “His Land” ultimately means “His people.” When His nation is comforted, His Land is comforted to. The consolation of Israel is itself the appeasement of the soil, as it is written: “O Hashem, You have appeased Your land…You have returned the captivity of Ya’acov” (Tehillim 85:2); (Rashi, Devarim 32:43).
The Pesikta Zutrata teaches that the Ha’azinu song contains testimony for every generation, for the days of the Mashiach, and for the world-to-come. In the future even the nations of the world will give praise to the Creator of all for the exile of Israel. When history is complete and Hashem’s plan is revealed, they will recognize and praise G-d for how His providence used even Israel’s long exile to bring about ultimate justice and redemption. They will see how G-d will avenge the blood of His servants and bring double vengeance – vengeance for the blood and vengeance for the violence (ḥamas) – as it is said, “Because of the violence (ḥamas) done to your brother Ya’acov, shame shall cover you and you shall be cut off forever” ” (Ovadiah 1:10). And it is written, “I will gather all the nations … who have shed innocent blood in their land; and Yehuda shall abide forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. And I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed, and Hashem dwells in Zion” (Yoel 4:2,20-21). This teaches that the shedding of their blood in the Land is their atonement, enabling Israel to abide in the Holy Land forever, as our verse states: “He will atone for His Land and His people,” both are inseparably bound together as one (Pesikta Zutrata, Devarim 32:43).
Is the Torah Vengeful on Behalf of Israel?
Ibn Ezra acknowledges that the concept of the Land itself atoning on Israel’s behalf is conceptually sound but, he notes, not literally so, since אֲדָמָה/adamah (land) is feminine while the verb וְכִפֶּר/vechiper is masculine. He therefore understands the verse to mean that Israel will exact justice on the nations and thereby atone for the Land of Israel for the blood shed upon it. Alternatively, vechiper may be read as vetihér (“and he shall purify”) – like “and he shall atone it” – pointing to Yechezkel’s prophecy of the end of wars: “then they shall purify the Land” (Yechezkel 39:16).
Rabbeinu Bachya adds prophetic and mystical depth. Moshe, he writes, foresaw the tribulations of exile – the murder of Jews and the plundering of their wealth (hamas) – echoing (Ovadiah 1:10). “For He will avenge the blood of His servants and render vengeance to His adversaries” thus foretells Divine retribution, while וְכִפֶּר אַדְמָתוֹ עַמּוֹ may mean that Hashem will atone for both His Land and His people, or, as Midrash Tehillim 85 teaches, “He will atone for His Land on behalf of His people.” Rabbeinu Bachya also uncovers a third layer: humanity was created “from the dust of the ground (adamah) (Bereishit 2:7), from the very place of atonement, as reflected in “an altar of earth (adamah) you shall make for Me” (Shemot 20:21). For this reason, the Talmud states, “Anyone who dwells in the Land of Israel, and anyone who is buried in the Land of Israel… it is as if he offers an elevation-offering and as if he is buried beneath the altar” (Babylonian Talmud, Ketubot 111a). In Rabbeinu Bachya’s vision, the soil of Eretz Yisrael itself – Hashem’s own palace and inheritance – becomes the altar of expiation, purifying those who live and those who are laid to rest within it.
From this perspective, the final words of Ha’azinu are not merely about vengeance. They reveal a mysterious Divine process in which the very suffering of Israel brings purification to both people and soil. “And He will atone for His Land and His people” thus proclaims a double healing – the Land and the nation rise together, their fates forever intertwined.
Which Hope Does Ha’azinu Herald Within Hashem’s Hiding His Face?
Today, as Israel endures a bitter war and mourns fallen soldiers, Moshe’s song in Ha’azinu feels painfully alive. We sense the hester panim – the hiding of the Divine face (Devarim 32:20) – in the anguish of battle and loss, yet we also hold fast to the song’s closing hope: “He will atone for His Land and His people” (Devarim 32:43). The blood of those who perish because they are Jews becomes, in the hidden world of truth, a source of purification for both nation and soil. Ha’azinu thus speaks directly to our moment, assuring us that even in the darkness of war, the covenantal bond of Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael endures and draws us nearer to ultimate redemption. Despite our challenges let us hold on to the emunah expressed in the song, G-d, who is blessed, always loves me; and there will always be only goodness!” May the new year be not only good and better but may we taste its sweetness!
