For it is not an empty thing for you, but it is your very life; through it you shall long endure on the land to which you are crossing over the Jordan to possess it. (Devarim / Deuteronomy 32:47)

Ha’azinu is the penultimate parsha in the Chumash, but it’s the last one we read in full on Shabbat morning. It consists almost completely of a long poem, a very special one. This is Moses’ swan song. As he is about to die, Moses offers a poetic presentation of the history of the rocky relationship between Israel and HaShem, and his perspective on the future. Indeed, right after the poem, at the end of the parsha, Moses says this of the poem and of the whole Torah he has been teaching:

Moses is the ever-loving parent giving advice to us (his children).  He not only informs us of our past, the struggles with sin that we have endured the problems we have encountered.  He also reminds us of our future.  As a parent realizes that a child will continue to stray, so too Moses realizes we will have difficulty remaining true to HaShem and the principles outlined in the Torah.

The one constant remains HaShem!!  No matter how far we stray or how bad we get Moses reminds us of the ultimate truth – HaShem loves us!!

"The Rock! — His deeds are perfect,
Yea, all His ways are just;
A faithful G-d, never false,
True and upright is He."

Who is our Rock? Maran Yeshua is the one who gave his life for us.  He was a man who always lived the Torah and always pointed toward HaShem and never to himself.  We can always pray in the merit of our Rabbi Maran Yeshua, but never to him or in his name for that would be Avodah Zarah (Idol Worship).

Ha’azinu, is a perfect Parasha to read after the New Year.  It is our life past, present and future all rolled into one.  It allows us the possibility to reflect on the way we have lived our lives in the past and strive toward making positive changes in the future.

The last parsha in the Torah, Ve-zot Ha-Berachah, which details the death of Moses, never gets read in full on a Shabbat (though in some years the first verses are read on the previous Monday and Thursday). This is a shame because there are some really interesting issues in it and they never get discussed, like the fact that we never really get to finish the Torah. As soon as we reach the end, we roll right back to the beginning. Within the linear progression of Jewish history, from the imperfection of the present to the Redemption in the future, there is the recurring circularity of the weekly Torah cycle, which means that with each passing year we should be reading and understanding Torah on a deeper and deeper level.