Parashat Ha'azinu: The Power of Listening

"Give ear, O heavens, let me speak!"  (Deuteronomy 32:1)

During the Ten Days of Repentance, we seek to make amends for all our transgressions of this past year.  The hardest and the most important place to do this is in our relationships with others.

When we have a disagreement with a colleague, when we distance ourselves from a friend, when a family feud develops with a relative; we form a narrative in our own mind.  This narrative tells us what happened and why we are angry or hurt but it rarely tells us why the other person is angry or hurt.

Relationships break down, crimes are committed and wars are fought because everybody walks around with a set of narrative so strong that it leaves no space for alternative versions.

Rosh Hashanah 2011: V'yeilchu Shneichem Yachdav.

And the two of them walked on together.

Twice in the Binding of Isaac, we read these words.  When Abraham leaves the servants at the foot of Mount Moriah, he and Isaac continue the journey alone:

"And Abraham took the wood for the sacrifice, and laid it on Isaac, his son.  He himself carried the fire and the knife; and the two of them walked on together."

(Genesis 22:6) 

The father and son then engage in a brief conversation.  It is quite clear from the narrative that the basic situation has not changed; they have not been joined by others, they have not parted company and they are still walking and yet we are told this fact again.

Rosh Hashanah Sermon 2010

"The only reason for being a bee that I know of is making honey....and the only reason for making honey is so I can eat it."  (Winnie the Pooh in 'The House at Pooh Corner')

Honey is perhaps the original superfood. Mesolithic rock paintings in Spain that are thought to be over 10,000 years old show women collecting honey from a wild bee nest. Since then, in every part of the world, people have kept bees, collecting their honey and using its delicious natural sweetness in baking and cooking, in drinks and deserts and, of course, drizzled on apples.


For nearly 3,000 years, honey has been used for its medicinal qualities; as an antiseptic for cuts and burns; as an antibiotic for infections and sore throats; as an antiallergenic for pollen-related hayfever; and more recently, as an antioxidant for boosting the body's defenses against serious illness. Certain varieties, like New Zealand Manuka Honey, have become incredibly popular in recent years as an all-round healing miracle food.