Why Is Ha’azinu Called a Song If It Speaks About Exile?

Why does Moshe call his words in Parashat Ha’azinu a “song,” a word associated with joy, when the portion speaks about the Jewish people’s exile among the nations?

The Gemara teaches: “The Jewish people were exiled among the nations only so that converts would be added to them” (Pesachim 87b).

The Kedushat Levi offers a deeper, mystical explanation of this teaching. He explains that throughout exile, the Jewish people elevate “holy sparks” that are scattered among the nations.

According to this concept, sparks of holiness have fallen into the kelipot, the spiritual forces that conceal holiness. Part of the Jewish people’s purpose in exile is to elevate and restore those sparks to their proper spiritual source.

The Kedushat Levi writes:

“And Moshe wrote the words of this song in a book, until their completion. As our Sages of blessed memory said (Pesachim 87b): ‘The Jewish people were exiled among the nations only so that converts would be added to them.’ For the Jewish people elevate the holy sparks within the nations, and through this they take all the sparks from them.”

What Happens When the Sparks Are Elevated?

The Kedushat Levi continues: “And then, when holiness is exhausted from them, they will consequently be destroyed.”

In other words, he explains that as the Jewish people elevate the sparks of holiness from among the nations, the spiritual forces sustained by those sparks are gradually weakened.

This, according to the Kedushat Levi, explains why Moshe’s words can be called a “song” even though they describe exile:

“This is why Moshe’s words in Parashat Ha’azinu are called a song, alluding to joy. Even though it says that the Jewish people will be in exile, the exile itself is a source of joy: the Jewish people will elevate the sparks of holiness from them, and when holiness is exhausted from them, they will consequently be destroyed.”

Finding the Purpose Within Exile

Why, then, is Ha’azinu called a song?

Because according to the Kedushat Levi, exile is not only a period of suffering and distance. There is also a spiritual purpose unfolding within it.

The Jewish people are engaged in a process of uncovering and elevating holiness from places where it has been concealed. What appears outwardly to be darkness can therefore contain the seeds of a deeper spiritual transformation that ultimately leads toward redemption.

The Kedushat Levi concludes:

“This is the meaning of ‘And Moshe wrote the words of this song’: it is called a song because it indicates joy, even though it speaks of exile. Therefore, it says ‘until their completion,’ meaning that exile brings about the destruction of the nations, because the Jewish people elevate the sparks of holiness from among them.”

The Kedushat Levi therefore offers a striking way to understand the Song of Ha’azinu. Exile is painful, but it is not without purpose. Even within darkness, holiness can be uncovered and elevated.

That hidden process, moving the Jewish people and the world toward their ultimate redemption, is the joy contained within the “song.”