This Shabbat we find ourselves between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, in the midst of a season filled with powerful and sometimes troubling images of God. God is King and Judge; God is a forgiving Father. Soon we will celebrate Sukkot, remembering the clouds that sheltered the Israelites in the wilderness—a beautiful image of God as protector and provider.

But Parashat Ha’azinu offers us a much more complicated picture.

Deuteronomy 32, “The Song of Moses,” is filled with metaphors for God. In only forty-three verses, God is called Rock, Creator, Warrior, Eagle, Father, Mother, Executioner, and Healer.

הַצּוּר תָּמִים פָּעֳלוֹ כִּי כָל־דְּרָכָיו מִשְׁפָּט אֵל אֱמוּנָה וְאֵין עָוֶל צַדִּיק וְיָשָׁר הוּא׃ “The Rock, His work is perfect… a God of faithfulness, without injustice, righteous and upright is He.” (Deut. 32:4)

הֲלוֹא־הוּא אָבִיךָ קָּנֶךָ הוּא עָשְׂךָ וַיְכֹנְנֶךָ׃ “Is He not your Father, who created you, who made you and established you?” (32:6)

כְּנֶשֶׁר יָעִיר קִנּוֹ עַל־גּוֹזָלָיו יְרַחֵף “Like an eagle who stirs up its nest, hovers over its young…” (32:11)

These metaphors are sophisticated and powerful. They tell us something about God’s uniqueness—and also about God’s unknowability. Moses describes a God who gives life and death, wounds and heals:

אֲנִי אָמִית וַאֲחַיֶּה מָחַצְתִּי וַאֲנִי אֶרְפָּא “I deal death and give life, I have wounded and I will heal.” (32:39)

But this is precisely what makes Ha’azinu so disturbing. God is simultaneously comforting and frightening: the eternal guardian of Israel and the jealous deity who threatens vengeance against those who break the covenant.

The central metaphor of Ha’azinu is God as Rock. No fewer than five times the song invokes the image. A rock suggests strength, refuge, stability, something that does not move. God is utterly reliable, while Israel is anything but:

שִׁחֵת לוֹ לֹא בָּנָיו מוּמָם דּוֹר עִקֵּשׁ וּפְתַלְתֹּל “His unworthy children have dealt corruptly with Him, a crooked and twisted generation.” (32:5)

Yet there is something troubling about this Rock. Is the image really one of warmth and protection? Or might the Rock also suggest something cold, immovable, and incapable of entering into a reciprocal relationship?

God’s support is conditional. Israel forgets God, and God becomes angry:

וַיִּרְא יְהוָה וַיִּנְאָץ מִכַּעַס בָּנָיו וּבְנֹתָיו “The LORD saw it and was angered by the provocation of His sons and daughters.” (32:19)

אַסְתִּירָה פָנַי מֵהֶם “I will hide My face from them.” (32:20)

And the punishment becomes extreme:

כִּי־אֵשׁ קָדְחָה בְאַפִּי וַתִּיקַד עַד־שְׁאוֹל תַּחְתִּית “For a fire is kindled in My anger, and burns to the depths of Sheol.” (32:22)

The pattern is familiar: God finds Israel helpless, protects and nurtures the people, Israel flourishes, Israel becomes arrogant and forgets God, God becomes enraged, and Israel is punished. God loves His people—but also judges them. God protects them—and threatens them.

This is not an easy God.

Perhaps, then, it is time to reimagine our relationship with God.........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)