Parshas Haazinu commences with the dramatic appointment of Heaven and earth to be witnesses and guarantors to the Covenant between G-d and Israel.
There is a distinct disparity between the verbs used in the opening verse:
א. הַאֲזִינוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וַאֲדַבֵּרָה וְתִשְׁמַע הָאָרֶץ אִמְרֵי פִי
1. Listen, O heavens, and I will speak! And let the earth hear the words of my mouth. (Devarim 32:1)
Heaven is requested to listen to the proceedings with “הַאֲזִינוּ”, literally “to incline one’s ear”. Whereas the earth is merely told “to hear” – “תִשְׁמַע”. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch picks up on this point and explains it as follows: “Inclining one’s ear” expresses a greater degree of readiness to listen to what is being said than “hearing”. For surely one can hear without exerting any effort, or even without wishing to; but “to incline one’s ear” clearly means that one wishes to make an effort to listen and be concerned with what is going on.
We can now understand the reason why Heaven is commanded with a more active imperative and the earth a more passive one. The upholding of the Covenant comes in first place from Heaven and only then, indirectly, is it unfolded on earth. Heaven is indeed active, the earth more passive; for all blessings, and indeed curses, of the physical development of the earth and its dependants (human social conditions) hinge on extraterrestrial cosmic conditions which exist in what we term “the heavens”. What is to develop on earth must commence with the actions of the heavens. This is why God directly commands the heavens in this manner, whereas the earth is given a more passive role, for its conditions arise as a direct result of the goings on in Heaven.
The Sifre compares this introduction of Moshe’s speech to one given by Yeshaya. Yeshaya uses similar language and remarks: “shemu hashamayim, vehazini ha’aretz” (Yeshaya 1:2); this is the exact terms used by Moshe except the phrases are rearranged.The Sifre remarks: “Since Moshe was close to heaven he therefore said “הַאֲזִינוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם” and since he was far from earth he said “וְתִשְׁמַע הָאָרֶץ”. Yeshaya came and said “shemu shamayim” since he was far from heaven and “vehazini ha’arerz” because he was close to earth.
The Sifre means that since Moshe was one of the greatest prophets of all, he stood closer to Heaven than to earth and therefore had the ability to demand this of Heaven. Yeshaya, although on a higher spritual plane than we can understand, was not on the level of Moshe and therefore stood nearer to earth than Heaven. What we have said above of the relationship between heaven and earth is the underlying reason for these verses of the Sifre. Since Moshe considered himself to be near the active, dispensing activities of the Heaven, he used this language. Yet Yeshaya felt this would be above his station and that his mission was more akin to the passive earth and so he speaks accordingly.
During this Festival-rich period of our calender it is vital that we remember this idea – that everything we have and achieve is preordained by a higher power than ourselves. Our hopes, dreams, and desires, while requiring effort on our own part, depend very much on the will of Heaven. And if we are at all able to influence this, it is by strengthening the bond between G-d and ourselves through doing and appreciating the mitzvos בין אדם למקום as well as those בין אדם לחבירו.
