Rabbi Daniel Siegel

In the paths of our parents

Parashat Ha’azinu constitutes Moshe’s ‘swan song’. The word צור/Rock appears more times in this farewell poem than in any other place in the Torah.

Reminding the people that their ‘Rock’ (God) has been faithful, הצור תמים..אל אמונה, he reprimands them for not being steadfast:

צור ילדך תשי

ותשכח אל מחוללך

You forsook the Rock that begot you

Forgot the God who brought you forth

As Moshe is about to take leave of the people he seeks surety that they will not take leave of God.

Sometimes, however, being faithful to the ‘tried and true’ requires beginning anew. This is the very point of the following subversive Hasidic reading of the above text:

צור ילדך תשי

ותשכח אל מחוללך

Forsake that which has brought you to this point

Then shall you find (anew) your Creator

A new people, a new time, a new leader and a new land require new pathways in which God can be found. The passing of Moshe must mark the past giving way to the present if the people are to have a steadfast future with their God.

As we farewell our graduates this week, we must take to heart that they, as well, need to forge their own paths. Only in doing so can they faithfully walk in the path of their parents and our ancestors.

We wish our graduates a joyous journey of ongoing discovery and growth. May they become steadfast in creating and celebrating life and Judaism anew.

He suckled him with wild honey from the rock” Ha’azinu