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Ha'azinu: Zemer of the Week

The zemer for this week: צור משלו

The structure and sequence of this zemer matches that of the first three paragraphs of Birchat Hamazon. (Artscroll Zemiros cites the Siach Yitzchak and others who say that the fourth stanza of the zemer refers to the cup of wine over which we say Birchat Hamazon, rather than to the fourth paragraph of Birchat Hamazon, which was instituted by the Sages after the time of the Tanaim.) Because of that, the zemer might have been written in the early Tannaitic period, making it one of our oldest zemirot.

Central elements of this parsha include Shirat Ha’azinu and Hashem’s telling Moshe to climb Har Neh’vo to view Eretz Yisrael.

Some of the zemer’s connections to the parsha:

  • 1st line of 2nd stanza: “בשיר וקול תודה נברך אלוקינו” (“With song and sound of thanksgiving let us bless our G-d”), and 2nd line of 4th stanza: “נשיר שיר חדש וברננה נעלה” (“We will sing a new song, and ascend with joyous singing”) – Shirat Ha’azinu makes up nearly the entire parsha.
    • In addition, in years when Ha’azinu is read after Yom Kippur (i.e., when it is not Shabbat Shuva), the centerpiece of its Haftarah is Shirat David.
  • First word of title and of chorus: “צור” (“The Rock”), and first line of 3rd stanza: “צורנו” (“Our Rock”) – Moshe refers to Hashem as “צור” five times in Shirat Ha’azinu (Devarim 32:4, 15, 18, 30, 31).
    • Moshe also contrasts Hashem to the false “צור’s” of the other nations of the world (Devarim 32:37).
  • 2nd line of 1st paragraph: “אכלנו את לחמו ויינו שתינו” (“We have eaten His bread and have drunk His wine”) – Moshe describes the culinary delights that await us, including grapes and wine (Devarim 32:14).
    • He also contrasts that wine with the wine of S’dom (Devarim 32:32) and with the wine that accompanies the sacrifices brought by other nations (Devarim 32:38).
  • 2nd line of 2nd stanza: “על ארץ חמדה טובה שהנחיל לאבותינו” (“For the land – desirable and good – that He gave as a heritage to our forefathers”) – The parsha ends with Hashem’s command to Moshe to go to Har Neh’vo to see Eretz Yisrael before he passes away (Devarim 32:49).
    • In Shirat Ha’azinu, Moshe also describes Hashem’s setting the boundaries of Eretz Yisrael (Devarim 32:8) and how Hashem will appease Eretz Yisrael (Devarim 32:43).
    • Regarding “our forefathers,” Rashi says that the “rope” in Devarim 32:9 refers to the three-stranded rope created by intertwining the merits of our 3 avot.
  • 1st line of 4th stanza: “עיר ציון תמלא” (“May the City of Zion be filled”), and 2nd line of 3rd stanza: “ציון משכן כבודך” (“Zion, the resting place of your Glory”) – Even more specifically within Eretz Yisrael, Rashi says that “mountains” (in Devarim 32:22) refers to Yerushalayim because “ירושלים הרים סביב לה” (“Yerushalayim is surrounded by mountains” – Tehillim 125:2).