The reading of Parashat Ha'azinu takes place this coming Shabbat. Once this is read, only one portion (*V'zot HaBerachah*) will remain to complete the Book of Devarim, and the Jewish Community of Porto will have completed 11 full reading cycles, all while maintaining a robust minyan.

For the Community, Ha'azinu represents the path to sustaining God's presence for decades to come. This is not good news for its adversaries—ranging from corrupt politicians and journalists to the lowest, most mediocre elements of society.

Almost entirely composed of the Shirat Ha'azinu (the Song of Moses), this prophetic, poetic text outlines the grand arc of Jewish history: divine favor, human complacency, exile, persecution, and ultimate vindication.

For a Jewish community grappling with rising antisemitism and persecution, Ha'azinu offers profound psychological and spiritual blueprints for survival. Persecution is part of the game, a jarring reminder of the Jewish community's inescapable distinctiveness.

The text implies that true safety is not found in trying to blend seamlessly into the surrounding cultures, and to be friend of everyone, but in maintaining a distinct moral clarity and commitment to the Covenant.

When facing external hostility, the initial reaction of simple men is assigning absolute power to the oppressor. Ha'azinu shifts the paradigm. It restores agency to the Jewish people. The community's actions matter enough to bring about restoration and the reconfiguration of facts as the Universe intends them.

The persecution faced is not a reflection of the enemy's superiority, but a test of endurance. Nahmanides (Ramban) highlights this as a guarantee of Jewish eternity. The portion reminds the community that oppressors are merely temporary actors on the stage of history. They will go to the grave without fulfilling any worthy mission in life and still be loaded with stains and rot.

The climax of the song transitions from rebuke to fierce defense of the Jewish people. God promises to “repay those nations who cause others to hate Me” and to avenge the blood of His servants (Deut. 32:41-43).

Kabbalah teaches the divine vengeance and repayment in Deuteronomy 32:41-43 as a cosmic process of spiritual elimination of illusion. It views the "sword" as the divine attribute of strict judgment, known as Gevurah or Din. God sharpening the blade means activating a state of intense spiritual accounting. It cuts away falsehood and ego, separating truth from illusion.

Enemies of God represent the Sitra Achra (the "Other Side"), the realm of ego, materialism, and forces that completely hide the awareness of the Infinite (Ein Sof) from the world. The ultimate goal of this vengeance is the removal of darkness so that divine light and peace can flow freely through all realms.

The portion states an unshakeable promise of vindication and survival. It teaches the community to look at history with a long-term lens. Empires that have persecuted the Jewish people have faded, while the Jewish story continues.

Survival relies heavily on passing down the narrative across generations so that the community never loses its identity under external pressure.

Uniquely, God commands Moses to write this final teaching down specifically as a song (Deut. 31:19). By turning history—even its painful parts—into music, Judaism teaches that communal trauma must be processed through shared expression, culture, and memory.

Parashat Ha'azinu is read on September 19, 2026, corresponding to 8 Tishrei 5787 on the Hebrew calendar. Because this date falls between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, it holds the prestigious status of Shabbat Shuvah, the Sabbath of Return.