Parshat Ha’azinu contains one of the two overt prolonged pieces of poetry in the Chumash. Although the entire Tora can be understood to constitute a poem, in accordance with Sanhedrin 21b’s interpretation of Devarim 31:19, the unique manners in which the Song of the Sea (Shemot 15:1 ff.) as well as Ha’azinu (Devarim 32:1 ff.) are written, i.e., brick over half-brick, and two distinct columns, respectively, serve to emphasize that it is necessary “to read between the lines” in order to fully comprehend and appreciate what is being conveyed. R. Shlomo Zevin(*) has written, “The surrounding parchment, the white area that encompasses each distinct letter of the Tora, derives from a source that is holier than the actual letters themselves.” Consequently, the more white that surrounds the letters, the more holy and the more evocative are the ideas inherent in the verses. If there are 70 different faces of the prose portion of the Tora—see e.g., BaMidbar Rabba 13:15—then there are infinitely that many more approaches and interpretations possible with respect to the poetic passages in the Bible, and these portions therefore deserve that much more additional scrutiny, if they are to be properly understood.

While much therefore can be said about virtually any phrase in the Ha’azinu poem, the end of 32:20 serves as a good example of the richness of these poetical qualities, “…Banim Lo Aimun Bam” (children in whom there is no “Aimun”). A survey of the traditional commentators reflects the extent to which poetry can lend itself to many different perspectives, even as it simultaneously serves as a source of rebuke for past shortcomings and a challenge to improve in the future.

Ibn Ezra interprets the phrase in question as indicating that the Jewish people will lack faith in God, based upon equating “Aimun” with the term “Emuna.” This verse then becomes another example of how God Continually Stresses the ingratitude and lack of appreciation for Him and His Actions on the part of the Jewish people, who even after having all sorts of miracles performed on their behalf and being saved from destruction many times over, lack faith in the Divine. Sifre (Midrash Halacha on Devarim) asserts that this tendency’s beginning as a national trait should be associated with a seminal event of the past: “You are a generation that lacks in faith. When you stood at Mt. Sinai, you said, ‘All that God Will Command, we will do and we will hear/understand.’ And I Responded, ‘You are Elohim—mighty ones,’ (suggesting permanence and eternity). But when you declared regarding the Golden Calf, ‘These are your gods, Israel’, then I said to you, ‘Surely as a human being (as opposed to Elohim) you will die. Afterall, I Would Have Brought you into the land of your fathers, and I Would Have Given you the Temple. I Would Have Said to you, ‘You will never be banished from this land.’ But when you said, ‘We have no portion in God,’ then I said to you, ‘You will surely be exiled from His Land.’” If we invoke the principle of “Michlal Lav Atah Shomeah Hein” (from the negative you are expected to infer the positive), then the import of this phrase is not only a description of an attitude, but also the challenge to correct it. Even if they are children lacking faith, attempts must be made by their leadership as well as themselves—in effect by ourselves who are the current incarnation of the Jewish people—to rectify this shortcoming.

The English translation in the Hirsch Chumash presents the phrase under consideration as “children upon whom there is no depending”—the lack of faith is not something that is a quality of the children themselves, but rather a characteristic that others sense vis-à-vis the children. Apparently, people of principle are reliable, and can be expected to act in certain ways, even under the best and worst of circumstances. But when such faith is lacking, then all that can be assumed is that these individuals will act out of self-interest, throwing lofty principles and commitments to the wind. In order to set up a “Mida KeNeged Mida” (one is treated in accordance with how s/he treats others, acts towards others), the final statement in the “Modeh/Modah(**) Ani” prayer that one is to recite upon awakening in the morning, i.e., “Raba Emunatecha” (great is Your Faith—in us!) will be applicable only when we have demonstrated our own great faith in Him. Furthermore, the translation of the Hirsch Chumash would appear to be in keeping with the interpretation of the NeTzIV (HaEmek Davar) who writes, “even those who appear now to be righteous, are ready to pervert their paths, and there’s no relying upon them.” Such a description is reminiscent of what RaShI, based upon Beraishit Rabba on Beraishit 5:22, notes concerning why HaShem decided that Chanoch would have to die at a relatively young age: “He was a Tzaddik (righteous man) but ‘light in his mind’—easily tempted and corrupted?—to return to doing evil. Therefore God Hurried and Took Him and Caused his death before his time, and this is what the phrase means when the Tora says (rather than “and he died”) “and he was not”, i.e., he was no longer in the world so that he could complete the allotment of days and years that had been originally set aside for him. Strengthening our own resolve and faith is the implicit challenge inherent in adopting such an approach to the Biblical text.

RaMBaN writes that the phrase in Ha’azinu should be understood to connote that the children lacked adults (“Omen”) who could properly raise them to adulthood. A paradigmatic reference would then become BaMidbar 11:12, where Moshe, at the height of frustration and despair, asks of God the rhetorical question, “Did I conceive this entire nation, did I give birth to them, that You Should Say to me, ‘Take them to your bosom, as HaOmen lifts up the nursling, on the land that You Swore to their forefathers?” While Moshe may complain all that he likes, the unspoken answer to the question is, “Yes, I Expect that you must accept upon yourself to be their ‘Omen’ That is what leadership entails.” To some extent, this approach diverts responsibility for a child’s attitudes and behavior from the child him/herself to his/her parent, guardian, teacher, role model. Sukka 56b relates a story that certainly represents this type of thinking. We read how Miram bat Bilga, a daughter of a priest who led one of the shifts of priests working in the Temple, became an apostate and married a Syrian-Greek officer. When the Temple was overrun and despoiled, the Talmud reports how she removed her shoe, banged it on the alter, and shouted, “Wolf, Wolf! How long will You Continue to consume the money of the Jewish people?” When this was reported, it was decided to not only deprive Bilga, her father, of his leadership role, but to oust the entire shift of Kohanim. As an explanation, the Talmud states, “The talk of the child in the market place is either that of his/her father or mother.” Understanding the phrase in Ha’azinu in this manner, emphasizes the importance and long-lasting effects of how we bring up our children and the teachers and exemplars to whom we choose to expose them.

In a similar vein, but with a different emphasis, Sephorno suggests that the words in Ha’azinu indicate that the children failed to learn a true tradition (“Emuna” = “Emet”) from their fore bearers. Rather than relying upon the teachings of their elders, they preferred to develop their own set of rules and lifestyle. Parents and teachers can either teach a negative, destructive code of behavior and approach to life that is unfortunately completely adopted by their children and students, or the lessons that they present, while being true and correct, are not perceived as relevant and attractive by their charges, causing the latter to decide that they have to make their own way. As an intriguing example of this issue, Rav Moshe Feinstein, in his collection of Responsa Igrot Moshe(***), writes how a parent should never bemoan before his/her children the extent of the sacrifice that s/he makes in order to be observant, since this might lead the child to conclude, that if this is so difficult, while the parent might be ready to undertake this lifestyle, why should I? Thought has to be given to the impressions that we make upon our children if we are intent to leading them to loving God and His Tora.

Moving from the theoretical to the practical, the Midrash Halacha Sifre offers a suggestion, that while important, appears to have little to do with the actual Biblical text: R. Dostoai ben Yehuda says, Don’t read the Tora’s words as “Lo Aimun Bam”, but rather “Lo Amen Bam.” The people refused to respond Amen following their being blessed by the prophets. As it is stated in Yirmiyahu 11, “In order to fulfill the oath that God Swore to your fathers to give to you a land flowing with milk and honey.” And not a single one of them opened his mouth to declare, “Amen,” until Yirmiyahu came and pronounced Amen, as it is said, “And I answered and said, ‘Amen, HaShem.’” Apparently, there are simple, outward actions that either reflect inner attitudes, or can eventually be internalized to result in strengthened inner attitudes. The response “Amen” signifies agreement on the part of the listener to a blessing that has been pronounced by another. (Only with regard to the third blessing of the Grace after meals, are we authorized to say “Amen” to our own blessings—see Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 188:1.) Failing to respond to a blessing by answering “Amen”, might be taken as agreement, in the spirit of “Shtika KeHoda’a Dami” (silence indicates tacit acceptance and support), but it could also be construed as at best indifference, and at worst disagreement. By affirming blessings, we develop a greater seriousness about blessings, about prayer, about Divine Service. The converse may also be true. Consequently, a place to begin to teach our children about these matters is by our own concern for answering Amen to their blessings as well as the blessings of others, within the synagogue and without. Hopefully our example will serve to inspire within them greater commitment and devotion, not only for the short term, but throughout their lives.

Finally, Kiddushin 36a, looks at the phrase from the vantage point of the use of the term “Banim” (children), and states the following: “Rabbi Meir states, ‘Even at times when the Jewish people are not complying with the Will of the Creator, they are nevertheless referred to as His Children, as it is said, ‘…Banim Lo Aimun Bam.’” Our children, and even ourselves, continue to be part of the Chosen People, even as we struggle to find ourselves religiously and personally. God Is Waiting for our return. The Ten Days of Repentance is the right time to strengthen our resolve and commitment to worship God and make His Law the center of our existence.

Shabbat Shalom and Gemar Tov.

(**) The verb “Modeh” should be declined in order to reflect if a man or woman is saying the prayer. See the Rinat Yisrael Siddur.