parsha bit: Ha'azinu

[cellio]

Moshe's final poem begins with the words "give ear, oh heavens... let the earth hear". According to the midrash the word "ha'azinu", "give ear", refers to a listener who is nearby, while "tishma" (hear, or listen) refers to one who is farther away. Moshe and Isaiah both use both words; Moshe applies "ha'azinu" to heaven and "tishma" to earth while Isaiah reverses them. The midrash (Sifrei) says that Moshe was closer to heaven than to earth so he asked heaven to "give ear" and the earth to "listen"; Isaiah, on the other hand, while a prophet, was solidly of the world, so he asked the world to "give ear" and heaven to "listen". (Sifrei 306)

Moshe was closer to heaven than any other prophet, knowing God "panim el panim" (face to face). Perhaps this is one more reason that he needed to not be the one who led Israel into the promised land; perhaps they needed someone more "of the earth" than "of the heavens".