Heaven and Earth, Earth and Heaven

            Moses begins his farewell address to the People of Israel, with the “poem”: “Hearken (ha’azinu) O heavens and hear (v’tishma) O earth.” [Deuteronomy 32:1]

            As our sages note, the prophet Isaiah [1:2] too called upon heaven and earth to witness his message. However, the Sages point out, there is a slight variation between Moses’ and Isaiah’s calls. Moses calls upon the heavens to “hearken” and the earth to “hear”, while Isaiah reverses the verbs and asks the heavens to listen and the earth to hearken.

            The difference, the Sages explain, results from the fact that Moses was closer to heaven and Isaiah closer to earth. My father suggested that what the Sages convey to us is not the difference between the two prophets so much as the difference between their generations. The Rabbis want to teach us that there are two ways for spiritual uplifting. Though the two paths are quite different, each can lead towards repentance and improvement. One path is the realization of the greatness of God. Recognizing that it is a privilege to fulfill ones duties and to become God’s partner in creation and His representative on earth will bring one to improvement. The second path which may lead to repentance is achieved through the realization of where evil leads us.

            Both Moses and Isaiah tried to guide Israel in the path of Godliness, to bring them spiritual values and to teach them to fulfill their duties to God and to man. However, the times of Moses and of Isaiah were very different.  During the forty years of Moses’ leadership, the People of Israel witnessed great miracles and at Mount Sinai experienced the greatest divine revelation ever. In saying that Moses was closer to heaven, the Sages are telling us that his generation was closer. Therefore, Moses’ emphasis was on heaven. His message was to strive to maintain their high spiritual level. On the other hand, Isaiah lived at a time of low moral standards. Immorality was prevalent and justice almost non-existent. Isaiah therefore called upon the people to realize that their sinful behavior is what has brought trouble and misery upon them. His message is that only by raising themselves from the mundane and striving to achieve spiritual values will the people be able to survive.

            The Sages speak of T’shuva meAhava, repentance out of love (of God) and Teshuva meYirah, repentance out of fear. Perhaps the generation of Moses was on a level to do T’shuva meAhava while Isaiah’s generation was at best able to achieve Teshuva meYirah.