Miller’s Musings Ha’azinu
Already a Parsha that is very cryptic and esoteric in Moshe’s
final message to the Jewish people before his departure from this earthly
existence, the Medrash provides a yet further layer of obscurity to its
passages. The Medrash Rabba in Toldos on
the Posuk “behold Eisav my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth man” references
the verse in our Parsha “Because Hashem’s portion is his people Yaakov, the lot
of his inheritance”, connecting the two Pesukim based on the root “ches lamud
kuf”, which means both a “portion” and “smooth”. But the connection surely goes further than
this. So what is the link between these
two Pesukim and what does the Medrash seek to inform us?
The Ohr Gedalyahu explains that the deeper metaphor of
Yaakov, and the Jewish people as a whole, being smooth, relates to the fact
that we are an inherently good and noble people. The Maharal explains that even when the Jewish
people do err in their deeds, this is not something that is an expression of
their intrinsic deficiencies, but is in fact only a product of the circumstances
and trials which they are currently unable to overcome. As opposed to one who is hairy, who when
dirty would find it hard to rid himself of the impurities and filth that become
entangled in one so hirsute, a smooth individual would have no such trouble as
the grime is never attached, only an external coating easily cleansed. This is why we are always the ‘portion’ of Hashem,
because we have this characteristic of being able to return to Him with ease,
once we determine to do so.
Having so recently purified ourselves during the Days of
Repentance, culminating in Yom Kippur, it is such a powerful thought to take
with us through the rest of the year. I
am sure we have all taken on areas that we would like to improve and faults
that we hope to correct, but undoubtedly there will be times when we slip up
and moments when we seem to have taken steps back from our anticipated
growth. But we must realise that in
contrast to other belief systems, a Jew believes that we are all essentially
good. Challenges will present themselves
and we will stumble and we will fall, but that is not who we truly are and we
must keep believing and keep striving so that it is not who we will be.
May Shabbos bring out the good within us all.
L’ilui
Nishmas Leah bas Avrohom
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