"Listen O heavens, and I will speak: And the earth will hear the words of my mouth." (Devarim 32.1)
A person's body and soul come into this world as one. Man's body is transient, turning to dust when life in this world comes to an end. His spirit, however, which is eternal, passes on to the world of truth to be resurrected with the coming of the Moshiach.
In the normal course of events we find that people nurture their physical, materialistic existence since their wants and needs in this area are concrete, immediate and observable. Man's spiritual side is more abstract, intangible, and much easier to deny and overlook. It is, nevertheless, well-known - even as modern science has come to recognize - that the body and spirit are interdependent. An aimless spirit will steer the body off course and weaken it. An empty spirit will cause one to neglect his physical well-being, leading to illness and deterioration of body and mind.
The heavens and the earths symbolize spiritualism and materialism. We often refer to spiritual matters as heavenly and to material matters as earthly. Lest we think that we are e3xpexted to ignore earthly matters and live our lives in this world on a solely spiritual level, Moses informs us in this portion that two eternal witnesses, the heaven and the earth, stand together to symbolize for us the proper balance between the physical and the spiritual. Just as the vegetation on the ground cannot survive without the nourishment of the heavenly rains and dew, so too, our physical existence has its own legitimacy as long as it is nurtured by a righteous and rich inner soul. This is the intent of the verse that follows (Devarim 32.2): "My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew; As the small rain upon the tender grass, and as the showers upon the herbs."
Coordination and harmony between the "earthly" body and the "heavenly" soul, bear fruit. As Rashi comments: "...if they will be found worthy, these witnesses will come and reward them; the vine will give its fruit and the earth will yield its produce and the heavens will give their dew."
this area are concrete, immediate and observable. Man's spiritual side is more abstract, intangible, and much easier to deny and overlook. It is, nevertheless, well-known - even as modern science has come to recognize - that the body and spirit are interdependent. An aimless spirit will steer the body off course and weaken it. An empty spirit will cause one to neglect his physical well-being, leading to illness and deterioration of body and mind.
