|
The synagogue service of today is, in theory at least, a “substitute” for the sacrifices offered when the Temple stood. This statement is a bit inexact, for we do know that certain prayers were offered and certain Torah and haftorah readings chanted even in those times (i.e., before 70 CE). But overall, it’s a good rule of thumb.
This week’s portion, Ha’azinu, is one of three “songs” in the Torah. The others are the “song of the sea” in Exodus 15, recited just after the newly-liberated Jewish slaves crossed the Sea of Reeds and escaped from Pharaoh’s pursuing army, and the “song of the well” in Numbers 21, recited upon finding water in the desert. There are other “songs” found in other parts of the Bible, most famously the “song” of Deborah in Judges 5.
While these compositions often contain difficult and obscure words, they are able to be committed fairly easily to memory. I can chant the last two portions of the Torah, this week’s (Ha’azinu) and next week’s (V’zot Haberacha) with little to no preparation. Similarly, many people could no doubt recite the declaration upon presenting first-fruits in the Temple which we find referenced in the Passover haggadah.
It turns out that our portion, Ha’azinu, was by rabbinic tradition an accompaniment to the Musaf sacrifice of Shabbat. In the Talmudic tractate Rosh Hashana (31a), we read that the poetic portion was read in six parts, which correspond to the first six aliyot of our Torah reading.
-
When it came to the additional offerings of Shabbat, what would the Levites recite? Rav Anan bar Rava said that Rav said: They would recite in accordance with the mnemonic hei, zayin, yod, vav, lamed, kaf. They would divide the song of Ha’azinu into six sections, each of which began with a letter of the mnemonic: “Give ear [ha’azinu], you heavens” (Deuteronomy 32:1); “Remember [zekhor] the days of old” (Deuteronomy 32:7); “He made him ride [yarkivehu] on the high places of the earth” (Deuteronomy 32:13); “The Lord saw it [vayar] and spurned” (Deuteronomy 32:19); “Were it not [lulei] that I dread the enemy’s provocation” (Deuteronomy 32:27); “For [ki] the Lord will judge His people” (Deuteronomy 32:36).
-
And Rav Ḥanan bar Rava said that Rav said: In the manner that the verses of the song of Ha’azinu are divided here for the recitation of the additional offerings of Shabbat in the Temple, so too are they divided when they are read in the synagogue on Shabbat.
Sometimes it is challenging to see the connection between practices in the Temple Jerusalem and our current synagogue practices. Other time, such as this one, the correlation is clear and direct.
- Rabbi Scott Hoffman
| 
