17 Sep 2026 Ha’azinu/Yom Kippur 5787: Hearing to Change

Parshas Ha’azinu contains one of the final messages that Moshe Rabbeinu delivers to Am Yisrael before his death. It is called a shira (song), but it is also a warning, a history, a reminder of the relationship between Hashem and His people, and ultimately, a call to remember who we are and where we come from.

The timing of the reading of this parsha is significant. We read it during the Aseres Yimei Teshuva, as we move toward Yom Kippur. The shira of Ha’azinu asks us to stop and listen – not only to the words of Moshe, but to the message those words contain for each of us.

Moshe opens the song with: הַאֲזִינוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וַאֲדַבֵּרָה וְתִשְׁמַע הָאָרֶץ אִמְרֵי־פִי, Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; let the earth hear the words of my mouth (Devarim 32:1).

Why does Moshe use two different expressions – ha’azinu, give ear, and tishma, hear?

Moshe is warning us, beckoning us, and inviting us to listen carefully. It is not sufficient to simply ‘hear’ words. We are being called upon to pay attention to what is being said.

There is an important difference between hearing and listening. We can hear many things throughout the day without really listening to them. We can hear a person speaking while our minds are somewhere else. We can hear words of Torah without allowing those words to enter our hearts. We can even hear the words of tefilla without stopping to think about what those words mean.

Ha’azinu teaches us that there are moments when we need to stop and truly listen. It is interesting to note that in English, the letters that make up the word ‘listen’ are the same as those that make up the word ‘silent.’ In order to truly listen, we must be still and silence the noise around us.

This is true of our interaction with others, as well as in our avodas Hashem.

At the end of the shira, Moshe says: הַרְנִ֤ינוּ גוֹיִם֙ עַמּ֔וֹ כִּ֥י דַם־עֲבָדָ֖יו יִקּ֑וֹם וְנָקָם֙ יָשִׁ֣יב לְצָרָ֔יו וְכִפֶּ֥ר אַדְמָת֖וֹ עַמּֽוֹ, Sing out praise, O you nations, for His people, for He will avenge the blood of His servants, inflict revenge upon His adversaries, and appease His land [and] His people (Devarim 32:43).

While the shira describes the consequences of turning away from Hashem, there is, nevertheless, an underlying message throughout: Hashem has not abandoned His people. Even after describing the sins and punishments of Am Yisrael, Moshe concludes with Hashem’s promise to ultimately defend His people and bring them back.

This is particularly meaningful as we approach Yom Kippur, a day when we are asked to listen to the message of our own lives.

We spend the day saying Vidui. We confess sins that we may have committed in the past year. But the purpose of Vidui is not simply to make us feel regret about what we have done. It is meant to make us recognize what needs to change.

If we say the words but do not listen to them, we have missed the point. Teshuva requires acknowledging the truth of our actions. We cannot change something that we are unwilling to recognize.

Perhaps this is the message of our parsha, and its connection to this time of the year.

Before we can change, we need to hear and listen.

Furthermore, Moshe tells us to look backward, to remember, to ask questions, and to learn from those who came before us, “Remember the days of old; consider the years of generations past. Ask your father, and he will tell you; your elders, and they will say to you” (Devarim 32:7).

The Aseres Yimei Teshuva also ask us to look backward: What did I do well this past year? Where did I fall short? What relationships need repair? What habits have I allowed to develop? What words did I say that I should not have said? What words should I have said that I did not? Did I come closer to Hashem, or did I allow myself to drift?

Remembering the past is meant to help us create a different future.

The Aseres Yimei Teshuva give us the opportunity to listen to the lessons of the past and use them to shape the future.

“What did I do?” we ask ourselves. And “What am I going to do better this year?”

That may be the deeper message of Ha’azinu. Moshe is speaking to a nation that will make mistakes. He knows that Am Yisrael will sometimes forget Hashem, make the wrong choices, and suffer the consequences. Yet he also knows that the story does not end there. There is always the possibility of returning. There is always another chapter.

As we approach Yom Kippur, we are given a precious opportunity to listen carefully. To listen to the words of Torah and tefilla, to Hashem’s world of nature, and to the people around us.

And perhaps most importantly, to listen honestly to ourselves. What is Hashem asking of me? What have I learned this past year? What needs to change? And what is one step I can take, beginning now, to become a better person, Jew and eved Hashem?

May we be zocheh to listen carefully, to return to Hashem with sincerity, and to enter the new year with renewed strength, purpose, and resolve to embrace the Torah more fully in the year ahead.

בברכת בשורות טובות וגמר חתימה טובה,

Michal