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PARSHA POSTS: HAAZINU

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Andy Blumenthal

Sep 20, 2026, 4:48 AM

He Prayed Perfectly—And Missed Everything

This morning, on Shabbat Shuvah—the Shabbat of Return—our rabbi gave a beautiful sermon about teshuvah. He spoke about repentance not as punishment, but as coming home: the open door that stands before each of us in the days between...

Sep 19, 2026, 10:13 AM

Ha’azinu: When The Song Doesn’t End

I have written about the parsha many times. But I have never had to write one while sitting shiva. My father died on Sunday. And this Shabbat will be the first Shabbat of my entire life without him in this world. Then I...

Sep 19, 2026, 1:03 AM

From Light to Peace: The Journey Hidden in My Son’s Name

Yesterday, my son Meir Shalom turned 13. We celebrated his Bar Mitzvah with his classmates, our many relatives, and a few friends. Tomorrow morning, the celebration continues for the entire community at Chabad, where Meir will lead the services...

Sep 18, 2026, 8:41 PM

The Song That Remains When Memory Fails

HAAZINU The Song That Remains When Memory Fails Haazinu begins with something immense. הַאֲזִינוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וַאֲדַבֵּרָה וְתִשְׁמַע הָאָרֶץ אִמְרֵי־פִי Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. Moshe no longer summons Israel alone. He summons heaven...

Alexander Seinfeld

Sep 18, 2026, 7:31 PM

Don’t Put Your Soul On a Bagel!

Kippered Yom Kippur? My grandfather was a giver. He rarely ever asked anyone other than my grandmother to do anything for him. The most vivid expression of his love of giving was how he offered his guests a cold drink. Most...

Sep 17, 2026, 4:15 PM

The poetry is stunning, one wonders what prevented Moses from being so eloquent more often.. Though when reading the contents of these fiery forewarnings, perhaps one has a sense of relief rather than regret. Yet the opening is beautifully...

Sep 17, 2026, 2:12 PM

The Same Sky, the Same Land, a Different Generation

Member of Garin Yachad at the site in Mevuot Arad where the community will be established

There is something almost theatrical about the opening of this week's Torah reading of Parshat Haazinu. As Moshe approaches the end of his life, he does not simply address the people standing before him. He calls on the universe itself: “Give...

William Goloboy

Sep 17, 2026, 6:41 AM

Parshat Haazinu: Boundaries and Repentance

Mosaic depicting Moses with the Torah, by Yael Portugheis, at the Beit Habad Gallery in Jerusalem’s Jewish Quarter. The Hebrew reads, “And this is the Torah that Moses set before the Israelites” Photograph by zeevveez, 2013. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

In this week's Torah portion, Haazinu, we read the song that Moses taught to the Israelites right before his death. This song provides a poetic history of the world and the Israelite nation until the time of Moses. The...

Sep 16, 2026, 11:04 PM

Remember Why We Are Here

Ha’azinu, my father’s memory and the story we are failing to pass on This Shabbat, Shabbat Shuva, I will make a kiddush in memory of my father. He died forty-one years ago, at only 50. Yet some of the things he...

Sep 16, 2026, 12:26 PM

Three Thousand Years Later, I Borrow His Words

Three thousand years later, millions of people, including me, still turn to King David’s words for comfort, prayer and hope. Tehillim (Psalms) are genuinely timeless. This morning, I needed his words to carry me through a particularly rough patch. I...

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