Towards the beginning of Parashat Ha'azinu, Moshe declares, "The Rock – His actions are blameless; indeed, all His ways are just – a God of faithfulness, with no falsehood, He is righteous and upright" (32:4). The Rashbam and Ibn Ezra explain this verse as an introduction to the ensuing description of the catastrophes that God will bring upon Benei Yisrael in response to their betrayal. The poem of Ha'azinu establishes from the outset that all of the Almighty's actions are "blameless," that He brings no punishment without sin, and no aspersions can ever be cast as to the justness of God's system of judgment. Even when calamity strikes, it must be known that "He is righteous and upright," that He judges the world and its inhabitants fairly.
The Netziv, in his famous introduction to Sefer Bereishit, elaborates on this verse amidst his discussion of the term "yashar," or "upright." He observes that the patriarchs are often described with this adjective, and in fact Chazal occasionally refer to Sefer Bereishit – which tells the life stories of the patriarchs – as "Sefer Ha-yashar." The Netziv explains that yashar denotes proper interpersonal conduct – integrity and respect that one shows to even those of whose lifestyle he disapproves. Avraham prayed on behalf of the corrupt city of Sedom, whose values and conduct ran in direct opposition to everything he represented, and Yitzchak responded forgivingly to the leadership of Gerar even after they drove him from the city. The patriarchs were yesharim because they acted in a dignified, respectful manner even towards those whom they had reason to dislike.
In this verse in Parashat Ha'azinu, the Netziv claims, Moshe foreshadows the destruction of the Second Temple, a calamity that God brought upon the Jewish people on account of the baseless hatred they displayed towards one another. The Netziv observes that the generation of the Second Temple's destruction contained many distinguished scholars and men who were otherwise tzadikim, but they quarreled bitterly with one another on religious issues. Every disagreement immediately bred mutual accusations of heresy, and the quarreling talmidei chakhamim treated one another with ruthless hatred. Moshe here declares that God is tzadik ve-yashar, He demands both spiritual piety (tzadik) as well as respectful manners (yashar). As the Netziv writes, "For the Almighty is 'upright' and does not tolerate righteous people such as these; [He approves of them] only if they follow the 'upright' path also with regard to manners, rather than [act with] crookedness, even if it is for the sake of Heaven."
Courtesy of Yeshivat Har Etzion - www.etzion.org.il