Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on October 2, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
Howl in the Darkness
the language of parshat ha’azinu seems to be in a poetic world of its own, amidst the torah verses that surround it. a prophetic moshe, nearing the end of both his journey and his life, spews forth a mixture of his own words with God’s in another rage against the people’s disobedience.
according to moshe, “ימצאהו בארץ מדבר ובתוהו ילל ישמון יסבבנהו יבוננהו … He found him in the wilderness land, in the waste of the howling desert. He encircled him and gave mind to him” (devarim 32:10, trans. robert alter)
this visual is nothing short of striking and disturbing. i am immediately reminded of allen ginsberg’s howl in which he depicts the “best minds of [his] generation destroyed by madness.” this jewish people, lost and raving in the desert, are the same great minds of whom allen ginsberg writes. they are desperate seekers, searching for love, for community, for meaning, for God, for some sort of wisdom they can tap into which will make it all make sense. “who wandered around and around at midnight in the railroad yard wondering where to go, and went, leaving no broken hearts…” (ginsberg).
in the jewish story, God finds this lost people in the desert and hands them the answer: the Torah. a set of rules and stories compiled to tell us how to live and toward whom to direct our search for meaning. seemingly, the Torah solves this dilemma of meaning neatly for generations to come. the question is: did it ever really work? and, if so, does it still work for us now?
exposed in the wild,
wind howling at my back,
questions at my ears.
sometimes finds herself lost in the desert,
avi
please, check out this first bit of howl. or, full version here.
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howl by allen ginsberg
