I would like to welcome my family and friends who have come from near and far to help celebrate my simcha with me. Today is a special day for me.

Transcription

1 Good shabbos. I would like to welcome my family and friends who have come from near and far to help celebrate my simcha with me. Today is a special day for me. It is not only the celebration of my Bar Mitzvah, but it is also my birthday, my Boba Yom. It is also my golden hebrew birthday. Today I am 13 and today is the 13th day of Tishrei. Todays parsha is Haazinu and is one of the 7 songs in Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible. Haazinu is one of the shortest parshas in the Torah just 52 pasokim or verses long, but it is filled with a wealth of information and beautiful imagery. This short Parsha sums up Jewish history; the past, present, and future of the Jewish people. It is not a well known parsha because it is usually obscured by the holidays falling out most of the time between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Haazinu is found at the end of Devarim, Deuteronomy, just before Bnei Yisrael enter the land of Israel. Moshe sang Haazinu to the Jewish people in poetic form as his final words. The song is filled with rich imagery and metaphors written in two columns with spaces in between the lines. Why couldn t Moshe just deliver a final speech to the Jewish people? Why did he sing it? In the past, the Torah had been prophesied, expounded on and preached, but not usually sung. Why did Moshe sing it in poetic form? One reason Moshe sang a song is probably because it is easier to remember and take a song to heart rather than just hearing a speech. Songs stir emotion and a good song is hard to forget. He wanted his final words to be something that every Jew will remember forever and internalize. Songs have lots of melodies. Why does the Torah have Trop or melodies that tell you how to read the text? Why is there singing at Jewish camps on Shabbat with nice tunes? Why do we sing Kabbalat shabbat with very enjoyable melodies?... A reason is that songs and melodies have a special meaning that can really affect someone's emotions. If someone is having a bad day, a song can cheer them up. What is the science behind the ability of music to evoke such strong memories of the people and places from our past? If an old song that you haven t heard in years were to be playing, the neural tapestry of that song 1

2 would not have been touched for ages. The pathways would still be intact to evoke the memory. Scientists from the University of Newcastle in Australia did a study on this. They helped patients with brain injuries by playing popular music from throughout the patient s life to help the patients remember personal memories. Haazinu is a blueprint of Jewish history and the future of the Jewish people. From generation to generation, dor ledor, it is important that we remember it. It is important that we internalize the song Haazinu and it is an important eternal message to the Jewish people. The origins of Jewish music are in Haazinu. Every shabbat, the leviim would chant Haazinu at the Temple. This Shabbos I too being a levi, chanted Haazinu. It is very fitting for me to have Haazinu as my Parsha. The song, Haazinu, is divided into 3 sections. Section 1 deals with Hashem s kindness. Section 2 Bnei Yisrael s forgetting, sinning, and their consequences. Section 3 the return of Bnei Yisrael to Hashem Section 1 begins with Moshe who because of his high level of prophecy was considered closer to the heavens than the earth, starting the ה א ז ינוּ song, he calls upon two witnesses: the heaven and the earth saying which translates to listen o heavens ה שּׁ מ י ם ו א ד בּ ר ה ו ת שׁ מ ע ה אָר ץ א מ ר י פ י and I will speak, earth hear the words of my mouth in Verse 1. You listen when you are close and you hear when you are further away. Moshe was closer to the heavens than the earth because of his holiness. Why were heaven and earth called as the two witnesses? Rashi, the great commentator, gives two reasons: One reason they were chosen was that heaven and earth will be there forever, and therefore make ideal witnesses. Another reason why heaven and earth were chosen was because of what they can provide as either rewards or punishments. If the Jews act wonderfully, the heavens will give its rain and the crops will grow. If they sin and act wickedly, Hashem will stop the heavens and won t let it rain. Section one opens with beautiful imagery Hashem is likened to an eagle arousing it s nest carrying Bnei Yisrael on its pinions from a wasted wilderness to a land of oil, wheat, and wine. 2

3 The second section is about Israel s ungrateful forgetting of Hashem s bounty to them and the terrible ensuing punishment. It is written, Jeshurun, the Jewish people, became fat and kicked. It can be interpreted that they became successful, self centered, and forgot Hashem and what he did for them. The Jews sacrificed to demons and false gods. For example, the golden calf. Today, we are so focused on our gadgets such as smartphones, tablets, smart watches, computers, and the latest apps. Has materialism and technology become today s false gods? In Haazinu we learn that like a father, when Hashem sees his children misbehaving he becomes angry and upset. He hides his face from them which is a fitting consequence for bad behavior, consumes the land so the crops don t grow, and allows animals to eat them. Rashi says that sheep were biting people to death. The third section is about how Hashem is like a loving parent and will not forget his children. Even when he is very angry at us, he will still never completely wipe us out. The reason is that if he were to get rid of us, all of our enemies would think they killed us, and nobody would know of Hashem. He will not permit our annihilation as a people. He will not give in to our enemies. Music creates romance, heartbreak, and other happy and sad memories. You can compare this idea to Haazinu. The romance is that Hashem will always love us and we will always love him like a father loves his children. Sadly, the heartbreak is that we go our own way and sin, and Hashem gets angry at us also like a father. We are violating the commandment to honor your father and mother. Most people don t pay attention to what this Haazinu actually means because it usually falls out in the middle of the high holiday month. This year, it is read 3 days after Yom Kippur. This timing enables us to reach out to Hashem and bring us closer to him as we start our new year. ו יּ ב א משׁ ה At the end of the Parsha after the song portion on Verse 44 translates as And ו י ד בּ ר א ת כּ ל דּ ב ר י ה שּׁ יר ה ה זּ את בּ אָז נ י ה ע ם הוּא ו הוֹשׁ ע בּ ן נוּן Moshe came and spoke all the words of this song into the ears of the people he and Hoshea the son of Nun: 3

4 Why did Moshe and Hoshea or Joshua sing this as a duet? A reason is that Hoshea or Joshua was afraid that if he didn t raise his importance by singing Haazinu, one of the most important songs in history, the Jews wouldn t accept him as a leader. They would say to him during Moshe s life, you were not able to raise your head meaning you were not able to project yourself as a leader Why does the Torah refer to the new leader as Hoshea if his name was changed to Joshua a long time ago? An answer is that Joshua remained humble and his name was Hoshea during the beginning when he was humble. After Moshe finishes proclaiming the song, he says one final thing to ו יּ אמ ר א ל ה ם שׂ ימוּ them the Jewish people. In verses 45 and 46 he says to ל ב ב כ ם ל כ ל ה דּ ב ר ים א שׁ ר אָנ כ י מ ע יד בּ כ ם ה יּוֹם א שׁ ר תּ צ וּ ם א ת בּ נ יכ ם ל שׁ מ ר ל ע שׂוֹת א ת כּ ל דּ ב ר י ה תּוֹר ה ה זּ את: כּ י ל א ד ב ר ר ק הוּא מ כּ ם כּ י הוּא ח יּ יכ ם וּב דּ ב ר ה זּ ה תּ א ר יכוּ י מ ים pay :ע ל close attention to the ה א ד מ ה א שׁ ר אַתּ ם ע ב ר ים א ת ה יּ ר דּ ן שׁ מּ ה ל ר שׁ תּ הּ words of the testimony which I have conveyed to you today, so you will be able to instruct your children to keep all the words of this Torah. For it is no vain thing for you; because it is your life. Moshe emphasizes the importance of listening to his final words to inspire the Jews to observe the Torah in the future as the future of the Jewish people depends on the education of the youth. My Haftorah portion, the song of David or shirat David, is also written in poetic form with melodies like Haazinu. The two songs have many things in common. David was a harp player and very musical like Moshe. David praised Hashem through poetry and music and so did Moshe. They both showed their gratitude to Hashem for divine protection. Music is both the soul of language and the language of the soul. This means that when the soul hears music, it is calmed. For example, David would play the harp in order to calm king Saul down. When my father was born, the top hit on the billboard hot 100 was raindrops keep fallin on my head by B.J Thomas. When I was born, the top hit was Dilemma by Nelly Featuring Kelly Rowland. Last month s top hit on the billboard hot 100 was Cheerleader by OMI. This week's top hit is I can t 4

5 feel my face by the weekend. Haazinu was and still is on the charts. Nowadays songs come and go, but Haazinu is a everlasting song we will never forget. I think Haazinu comes at the end of the Torah because it summarizes the whole Torah. Also, Moshe s death is at the end of the Torah, and Haazinu is Moshe s final words. He wanted to end the Torah in the most meaningful way possible, and a song is one of the best ways to do that. To sum up my thoughts, Haazinu is a musical, emotional, spiritual, memorable song. Moshe s love for his people and Hashem was so strong. He cared about the Jews from the exodus in Egypt until he passed away. Moshe wanted and knew that Jews would stay a nation, and never get destroyed and be forgotten. Even when we forget Hashem and he gets angry at us, he will always come back to us. That is why Moshe sang Haazinu. He wanted to make an everlasting impression through song. ז כ ר י מוֹת עוֹל ם בּ ינוּ שׁ נוֹת דּ ר ו ד ר שׁ אַל אָב יך ו י גּ ד ך ז ק נ יך ו י אמ רוּ ל ךverse The translates Remember the days of old; reflect upon the years of other generations. Ask your father, and he will tell you; your elders, and they will inform you. There are 4 things that I did in preparation for my Bar Mitzvah that has to do with that verse about generations. One: For laining my Torah portion, Haftarah portion, and davening, I learned with Chazzan Gordon Piltch. He was also my dads Bar Mitzvah teacher. Thank you for being an excellent Bar Mitzvah teacher. Two: I wore my great grandfather, Oscar Fensterheim s, Tallit when I got my aliyah. My father also wore that Tallit at his Bar Mitzvah. 3: A few years ago in 3rd grade, I was assigned a project to interview my grandparents. One question we needed to ask them was what are or were their favorite Mitzvahs. They said chesed, Hachnasat Orchim, and bikur cholim. Chesed is kindness, Hachnasat orchim is guest hospitality or some would say enable partying and bikur cholim is visiting the sick. I have learned a lot from my grandparents. These are special traits to me which I always strive to follow. 4: My parents took me to their ancestors graves at cemeteries. 5

6 On my dad's side, there were family members from all the way back to the 1800s. There were washing cups on some of the stones to symbolize they were leviim. This meant a lot to me because I am a Levi and it shows the connection of the generations. On my mom s side I also saw graves, and it showed me the connection of our family to our past. I learned to lain from my father s Bar Mitzvah teacher, wore the Tallit of my Great Grandfather, the same one worn by my father, learned the favorite mitzvot of prior generations of our family, and visited the eternal resting places of prior generations. I did all of these things to comply with the Moshe s command to the Jewish people of linking the past in order to perpetuate our future. And in addition as I have learned about the traditions of our prior generations so that I will be able to inaugurate new traditions as those who went before me. I hope that my Tallit given to me by my Savta will be worn by future generations. I also hope that I will be able to buy Tefillin for my grandson as my grandfather did for me. Special thanks to all of my friends and family that are here from near and far to celebrate my Bar Mitzvah with me. From Florida, New York, New Jersey, Arizona, California, Texas, Maryland, Washington D.C., Michigan, and Illinois. I want to thank all of my relatives from both sides of the family for their love and support throughout the years. I love you all so much. Mom and Dad: You are the best parents I could have ever have. Thank you for taking me to lots of amazing places and for always encouraging me to try new experiences; Camp Stone, summer school, Chidon to name a few. Thank you for teaching me to always say Thank you and to push me to reach my potential! I appreciate all the hard work you did for this Bar Mitzvah. I love you. N: You are the best brother I could ever have had. I love playing cards, solving rubik's cubes, playing foosball and ping pong, and fighting with you. You act as if you are the older brother of the house. I m so excited to hear you sing anim Zemirot for the next 2 ½ years. I love you. 6

7 Ln: You are the best sister I can could have ever wished for. You have been the biggest contributor to my store n Fensterheim s Warehouse. I enjoy playing monopoly and other board games with you. I love you. a: Thank you for being a great Savta. The loving bond we have together is very special to me. I enjoy spending time with you. Our trip to Toronto was a lot of fun. Thanks for buying me my tallis. I enjoyed shopping with you. I love you. Grandpa : I love spending the holidays with you. I will always remember the loving that you give. Thank you for buying me my Tefillin 13 years ago which I can finally use! They look brand new. I love you. I also want to recognize my other 2 grandparents who are no longer here. Saba: I was fortunate to have known you for 10 years. I learned from you to get along with people. I wish you could have been here for the Bar Mitzvah, but I know you are still watching from above. Grandma: Even though I didn t meet you, I have read some of your writings about your growing up in Nazi Germany which was inspiring to me. I know you would have loved being here, but I know you are still watching from above. Thank you to all of my teachers and administrators who have taught me at Hillel Torah. H: Thank you for working on my logo that is on my Kippah and Bencher Thank you to the Family for your help and guidance through the years. Special thanks to for helping me prepare. Now as I am becoming an adult, I will start to take on more responsibilities. I will continue to learn Torah and will strive to follow the lessons of Haazinu Once again thank you everyone for coming to help me celebrate this very special day. Good Shabbos 7