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1) Why Does the Eagle Carry Its Young Differently?
The pasuk compares Hashem's protection of Klal Yisrael to an eagle: "Like the eagle, he awakens His nest, hovering over His fledglings; He spreads His wings and takes them and carries them upon His wings" (32:11). But Rashi notes something strange: while other birds grip their young in their talons to protect them from predators below, the eagle carries its young upon its wings. Why this reversal?
Rashi explains that the eagle is the undisputed king of the skies. No bird flies higher, so it has no aerial predators to fear. Its only threat comes from below, hunters, shooting arrows. So, the eagle positions its young on top of its wings, using its own body as a shield for its young.
The Mashgiach zt”l, R' Matisyahu Solomon (With Hearts Full of Faith, p. 175) adds a crucial dimension: Unlike passive young birds that are simply gripped and carried, the eagle's fledglings must participate in their own salvation. They have to jump up onto their father's wings and hold on. "Otherwise, they will remain right where they are."
This is Hashem's message to us, especially post “Teshuvah-season”: "Come, My children, I have come to carry you to safety. When you are on My wings no harm can come your way. But you must make the effort. You must make the leap." We cannot be passive in our teshuvah. Hashem creates the gathering commotion, shakes the branches, stirs the world, but we must respond. We must jump as high as we can, and we will find ourselves upon His wings.
2) Why Did We Need Ha'azinu at All?
Moshe is commanded, "Write down this song and teach it to the people of Israel, put it in their mouths" (31:19). Rashi and Rashbam explain that "this song" refers specifically to Ha'azinu. Yet, Chazal (Sanhedrin 21b) darshen from the pasuk the obligation for every Jew to write a sefer Torah; the entire Torah, not just Ha'azinu. What’s the mitzvah, whole Torah or this parshah?
The Rambam offers a resolution: Originally, Hashem intended that possessing a written copy of Ha'azinu and knowing it well would serve as the basic reminder the Jewish people needed. But because of the issur against writing only part of the Torah as an official scroll, we ended up with a mitzvah to write the entire Torah. Had partial scrolls been permitted, Ha'azinu alone would have sufficed.
Think about this: Most Jews today know the basic Chumash highlights and stories, but the content of Ha'azinu remains esoteric even to fairly educated Jews. But, according to multiple Rishonim – Rashi, Rashbam, Rambam, and the Sefer HaChinuch among them – Hashem originally intended this song to be the crown jewel of Jewish literacy, the one piece of Torah we'd always carry in our mouths (R’ Gidon Rothstein, We're Missing the Point, Ch. 4).
Ha'azinu encapsulates the core Jewish idea that national fortunes rise and fall based on our relationship with God. When we remember this – that history flows from our spiritual state, what this parshah is really about – we have the essential framework for understanding our place in the world. Everything else in Torah study builds on this foundation, but without it, we've missed the point entirely.
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