The testimony of Heaven and Earth

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1. Torah and Song, Heaven and Earth

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak

   What is the Torah which Moshe is commanded to write? Is it the entire Torah, or only part of the Torah? What is the "song"? Why does God command Moshe to appoint both Torah and Song as witnesses for Bnei Yisrael? Why is one or the other insufficient? And why does Moshe add two additional witnesses - heaven and earth?

2. Nitzavim: Heaven and Earth as Witnesses

   Rabbi David Silverberg

3. Mishlei - Part 6: Heaven and Earth

   Rabbi Shlomo Dov Rosen | 18 minutes

   In this 6th part of our series, we will look at the second half of the third chapter of Mishlei: the seventh poem. This poem about morality and the realization of wisdom seems to be made up of three distinct poems, yet is actually one cohesive whole. What does it mean that “God established the earth with wisdom”? We examine a series of moral arguments and try to understand the meaning in context, while unpacking the parable of the earth and sky– static and dynamic elements, respectively. We consider how they  represent different aspects of humankind’s relationship with wisdom, and how they contribute to finding the elusive definition of being on the straight path.

4. The Song of Haazinu

   Rabbi Chanoch Waxman

   the identity of the Song of Ha'azinu as a "witness" raises a series of interrelated questions. First and foremost we may duly wonder regarding the content and purpose of the testimony. To what does Shirat Ha'azinu testify, and for what purpose? Second, in an unexpected twist, the witness identity of the poem imparts a new flavor to the written text of the Torah. It defines a new identity, or additional identity, to the Torah itself. In both the textual-technical and essential-philosophical senses, without Ha'azinu and its unique identity, the Torah is partial and unfinished. But in what sense do the Song of Ha'azinu and its witness function complete the Torah? In what sense does it bring the Torah and its teaching "ad tumam – until their end"? Through a close analysis of the theme of testimony throughout Sefer Devarim and the song of Haazinu, we understand the ultimate purpose of the "eidut," the testimony or testament of Shirat Ha'azinu. Placed alongside the ark it testifies to the eternal covenantal relationship between God and Israel, one originating in the distant past and destined to continue on forever. On some level, without the message of Shirat Ha'azinu, the Torah is not yet complete. Shirat Ha'azinu reminds us that in fact, on some level, the entire Torah is but the story of the covenantal relationship of God and Israel, originating in the past and destined to continue on until the end of days.