Category Archives: Special Shabbatot

August 14, 2014 · 16:57

Eikev – Impossible Hope

In the second of the series of seven Haftarot of Consolation, the Haftarah of Eikev begins by airing a specific fear of the Jewish People:

וַתֹּאמֶר צִיּוֹן עֲזָבַנִי ה’
Tzion said, “Hashem has abandoned me (Yeshayahu 49:14)

The Jewish People feel that the endless exile and the desolation of the Land of Israel is a clear sign that G-d no longer cares about them. In order to give them faith and hope that they will resettle and rebuild Jerusalem, the prophet reminds them of their forebears, Avraham and Sarah:

הַבִּיטוּ אֶל אַבְרָהָם אֲבִיכֶם וְאֶל שָׂרָה תְּחוֹלֶלְכֶם כִּי אֶחָד קְרָאתִיו וַאֲבָרְכֵהוּ וְאַרְבֵּהוּ
Look to Avraham your father, and to Sarah, your founder.
For he was alone when I called him, I blessed him and multiplied him. (Yeshayahu 51:2)

How are Avraham and Sarah relevant to the Jewish People’s fear of abandonment? The Midrash explains:
כשם שנתיאשו ממנה האומות שלא נבנית והיא תבנה שנאמר האומר לירושלים תושב. … אם תמהים אתם הביטו אל אברהם אביכם ואל שרה תחוללכם (ישעיה נא) כשם שעשיתי לאברהם ולשרה כך אעשה לירושלים.
It’ll be just as the nations will have given up on her that she will ever be rebuilt, and she will be rebuilt….If you are incredulous, “look at Avraham your father and Sarah your creator” (Yeshaya 51) – just as I did it for Avraham and Sarah, so I will do for Jerusalem. (Midrash Tanchuma VaYeira 16)

The Midrash says that in order to keep up our hope that Jerusalem will be rebuilt, and not to give up in despair, we should consider what G-d did for Avraham and Sarah. Avraham and Sarah had been barren for years, and G-d promised them that they would be the founders of nations. The years passed, and they were still barren.
The Midrash explains just how impossible their hope for children actually was:

אמר רב נחמן אמר רבה בר אבוה: שרה אמנו אילונית היתה שנאמר: +בראשית י”א+ ותהי שרי עקרה אין לה ולד אפי’ בית ולד אין לה.
R’ Nachman said in the name of Rava bar Avuha: Our mother Sarah was sterile, as it says, “Sarai was barren; she had no child” (Breishit 11) – she did not even have the organs for childbirth. (Talmud Bavli Yevamot 64a)

Avraham and Sarah knew that what they were asking for was close to impossible, but G-d had promised, so they kept praying and kept hoping.

Why did G-d create this situation? Of all the people in the world whom He might have picked to be the father and mother of His nation, why did G-d pick someone who lacked the physical ability to be the father and mother of anyone at all?

א”ר יצחק: מפני מה היו אבותינו עקורים? מפני שהקב”ה מתאוה לתפלתן של צדיקים
R’ Yitzchak said: Why were our forefathers barren? Because G-d desires the prayer of the righteous. (Talmud Bavli Yevamot 64a)

If they could have had children without G-d’s help, then they would not have needed to ask for His help. Their prayers, over decades, filled with increasing desperation and the ebb and flow of hope, created a deep relationship with G-d.
In Parshat Eikev, we learn that the same dynamic is present in G-d’s choice of the Land of Israel. Instead of giving us a land like Egypt that requires minimal effort to provide water for crops, G-d gave us a land which depends on rain from the Heavens. The reason for this is stated explicitly: to deepen our relationship with G-d.

(י) כִּי הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בָא שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ לֹא כְאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם הִוא אֲשֶׁר יְצָאתֶם מִשָּׁם אֲשֶׁר תִּזְרַע אֶת זַרְעֲךָ וְהִשְׁקִיתָ בְרַגְלְךָ כְּגַן הַיָּרָק: (יא) וְהָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם עֹבְרִים שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ אֶרֶץ הָרִים וּבְקָעֹת לִמְטַר הַשָּׁמַיִם תִּשְׁתֶּה מָּיִם: (יב) אֶרֶץ אֲשֶׁר ה’ אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ דֹּרֵשׁ אֹתָהּ תָּמִיד עֵינֵי ה’ אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ בָּהּ מֵרֵשִׁית הַשָּׁנָה וְעַד אַחֲרִית שָׁנָה:

(10) For the land that you are coming to inherit, is not like the land of Egypt, that you have left, where you would plant your seeds, and irrigate on foot like a vegetable garden. (11) The land that you are crossing to inherit, is a land of hills and valleys. By the rain of the heavens you will drink water. (12) The land that Hashem your G-d scrutinizes; the eyes of Hashem your G-d are always upon it, from the beginning of the year, until the end of the year.

The land that G-d had promised to give to the descendents of Avraham and Sarah requires constant prayer. We can never take it for granted that there will be water, and we rely on G-d for our very survival, year by year. The flip side of this is that G-d’s attention is always upon this land, year by year. Whatever happens here, for better or for worse, is because G-d means for it to happen, and is a direct reflection of our relationship with Him.

Avraham and Sarah had an impossible dream; it took years of prayer and hope and waiting, but ultimately they were answered and were blessed with all the bounty they had been promised. The dream of the Jewish People, to return to their land and rebuild it, had seemed just as impossible, and the wait seemed interminable. But the act of waiting, the prayers and the hoping was not a sign that G-d has abandoned us, but quite the contrary. It has always been a sign of our relationship with Him, and of our faith that everything He does for us has meaning and purpose.

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Copyright © Kira Sirote
In memory of my father, Peter Rozenberg, z”l
לעילוי נשמת אבי מורי פנחס בן נתן נטע ז”ל

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August 7, 2014 · 20:58

VaEtchanan / Nachamu

On the Shabbat after Tisha B’Av we read the first of the seven Haftarot of consolation, known as the Sheva de’Nechemta, all of which are taken from Yeshayahu. Because this Haftarah begins with the words, “Nachamu, Nachamu Ami”, this Shabbat is known as Shabbat Nachamu. It always falls out for the Parsha of VaEtchanan.

Linear annotated translation of the Haftarah of VaEtchanan

The seven Haftarot form a progression, and this is the First Step

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· 20:50

VaEtchanan / Nachamu – The First Step

On the Shabbat after Tisha B’Av we read the first of the seven Haftarot of consolation, known as the Sheva de’Nechemta. This Haftarah begins with G-d commanding the prophets to give hope and comfort to the Jewish People, “Nachamu, Nachamu ami.” As a result, this Shabbat is known as “Shabbat Nachamu.”

But how should the prophet go about consoling the Jewish People for the seemingly unending series of tragedies that is Jewish history? What can he say that will give us comfort and rather than causing additional pain? If he describes the glorious future that awaits us, will that help? Or would it be so far-fetched, so distant from our experience of anguish and hopelessness, that we would dismiss is as unrealistic? The nations that stood in the way of us returning to our land – the Babylonians, the Persians, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Caliphates, the Ottomans, the British – each of these was an empire of epic proportions. How is it possible for a tiny nation with no political or military resources to defy them?
Thus, the first thing the prophet needs to do in order to give us hope is to prove that the path to Redemption is a possibility, and that G-d is capable of affecting history and bending it to His will.

מִי מָדַד בְּשָׁעֳלוֹ מַיִם וְשָׁמַיִם בַּזֶּרֶת תִּכֵּן וְכָל בַּשָּׁלִשׁ עֲפַר הָאָרֶץ וְשָׁקַל בַּפֶּלֶס הָרִים וּגְבָעוֹת בְּמֹאזְנָיִם:…הֵן גּוֹיִם כְּמַר מִדְּלִי וּכְשַׁחַק מֹאזְנַיִם נֶחְשָׁבוּ הֵן אִיִּים כַּדַּק יִטּוֹל:
Who measured the sea with His handfuls, and affixed the sky with a ruler? And placed in a measure all the dust of the earth, weighed mountains on a scale and hills on a balance? …
The nations are a drop in a bucket, reckoned like dust on a balance, so, the continents are like a dust mote. (Yeshayahu 40: 12, 15)

The Haftarah reminds us that G-d created the universe and all that is in it. When measured on the scale of the Universe, nations and empires are infinitesimal. What power do they have relative to the Creator?

Likewise, in the Parsha, Parshat VaEtchanan, which is always read on Shabbat Nachamu, we read how Moshe Rabbeinu reminds the Jewish People of their personal experience of G-d’s power over history:

אוֹ הֲנִסָּה אֱלֹהִים לָבוֹא לָקַחַת לוֹ גוֹי מִקֶּרֶב גּוֹי
בְּמַסֹּת בְּאֹתֹת וּבְמוֹפְתִים וּבְמִלְחָמָה וּבְיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה
וּבְמוֹרָאִים גְּדֹלִים כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לָכֶם ה’ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם בְּמִצְרַיִם לְעֵינֶיךָ:
אַתָּה הָרְאֵתָ לָדַעַת כִּי ה’ הוּא הָאֱ-לֹהִים אֵין עוֹד מִלְבַדּוֹ:

Has G-d attempted to come and take Himself a nation from another nation,
with miracles, signs, and wonders, with war and a strong hand and an outstretched arm, with great awe, like everything that He did for you, Hashem, your G-d, in Egypt, before your eyes?

You were shown so you would know that it is Hashem who is G-d, there is nothing besides Him. (Devarim 4: 34-5)

Having experienced the Exodus, the Jewish People know for a fact that G-d can depose any tyrant and bring ruin the most invincible of empires. No so-called “superpower” can stand in the way of G-d’s plans for our destiny.

The Haftarah goes on to point out that the Jewish People do not actually need any proof of this fact, as it is something that they already know:

הֲלוֹא תֵדְעוּ הֲלוֹא תִשְׁמָעוּ הֲלוֹא הֻגַּד מֵרֹאשׁ לָכֶם
הֲלוֹא הֲבִינֹתֶם מוֹסְדוֹת הָאָרֶץ:
וְאֶל מִי תְדַמְּיוּנִי וְאֶשְׁוֶה יֹאמַר קָדוֹשׁ:
Do you not know, have you not heard? Has it not been foretold to you?
Do you not understand the foundations of the earth? ….
To whom can you liken Me, and find Me equal? says the Holy One.
(Yeshayahu 40:21,25)

According to the Haftarah, the Jewish People are expected to know that G-d is not only the creator of the world, but also the only power in it. We are have been shown that He can affect not only the forces of nature, but also the forces of history. If He wants the Jewish People to come back to the Land of Israel, nothing will stand in His way.

Still, in the midst of pain and tragedy, it is hard to remember that this is so, and we need the prophet to remind us.

By renewing our buried memory of G-d’s intervention in our history, the Haftarah begins the process of renewing our faith in our future. This is the first step in the seven-step process of comforting the Jewish People and giving us a vision of our destiny as a feasible, attainable goal.

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Copyright © Kira Sirote
In memory of my father, Peter Rozenberg, z”l
לעילוי נשמת אבי מורי פנחס בן נתן נטע ז”ל

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April 10, 2014 · 17:00

HaGadol

Shabbat HaGadol is the Shabbat before Pesach, and it has a special Haftarah, the last chapter of Malachi.

Linear annotated translation of the Haftarah of Shabbat HaGadol.

There are many connections to explore between Pesach and the Haftarah – the role of Eliyahu, the meaning of G-d’s protection, the importance of Ma’aser. But the one I chose is my favorite Midrash of all time, which is based on a verse in the Haftarah.

Shabbat HaGadol – “Who will write for us?”

Happy Pesach!

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· 16:42

HaGadol – Who will write for us?

One of the reasons that the Shabbat before Pesach is known as Shabbat HaGadol, “the Great Shabbat”, is that this is the day that the Jewish People performed the very first commandment that was given to them as a nation. It was on that day, Shabbat, 10th of Nissan, that they took the lambs for the Pesach sacrifice into their homes.  It marked the transition between the era of the Avot, forefathers, of individuals who do G-d’s will, to the era of the Jewish Nation, an entire people who do G-d’s will.

The Haftarah of Shabbat HaGadol is taken from the last chapter in the section of the Tanach known as “Ne’vi’im”, Prophets. It also marks a transition, the transition from the era of prophets to the era of Torah. The last time that G-d addresses the Jewish People through a prophet, He says:

זִכְרוּ תּוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה עַבְדִּי אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִי אוֹתוֹ בְחֹרֵב עַל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל חֻקִּים וּמִשְׁפָּטִים:

Remember the Torah of My servant Moshe, that I commanded to him in Chorev for all of Israel, the laws and the statutes.  (Malachi 3:22)

We no longer have prophecy, but the Torah that G-d gave Moshe, with all its laws and statutes, is enough for us to know what G-d wants us to do.

Still, the lack of prophecy is a great loss to the Jewish People. When we had prophets, our leaders could ask God for direction in handling political and military events. When we had prophets, we didn’t have to wonder if something was “good for the Jews” or “bad for the Jews,” and if the answer was “no,” we would know why. When we had prophets, they would identify the individuals whose lives had an impact on the Jewish People, and record their deeds in the Tanach. Now that prophecy is gone, and the Tanach is sealed, perhaps it is no longer possible for individuals to affect the course of Jewish history and for our actions to matter on a prophetic level.

The following Midrash suggests otherwise:

א”ר יצחק בר מריון בא הכתוב ללמדך שאם אדם עושה מצוה יעשנה בלבב שלם. שאלו היה ראובן יודע שהקב”ה מכתיב עליו (בראשית ל”ז) וישמע ראובן ויצילהו מידם בכתפו היה מוליכו אצל אביו. ואילו היה יודע אהרן שהקב”ה מכתיב עליו (שמות ד’) הנה הוא יוצא לקראת, תופים ובמחולות היה יוצא לקראתו. ואלו היה יודע בעז שהקב”ה מכתיב עליו ויצבט לה קלי ותאכל ותשבע ותותר,עגלות מפוטמות היה מאכילה. ר’ כהן ור’ יהושע דסכנין בשם ר’ לוי לשעבר היה אדם עושה מצוה והנביא כותבה ועכשיו כשאדם עושה מצוה מי כותבה אליהו כותבה ומלך המשיח והקדוש ב”ה חותם על ידיהם הה”ד (מלאכי ג’) אז נדברו יראי ה’ איש אל רעהו וגו’. (רות רבה ה’)

An expanded translation of the Midrash:

R’ Yitzchak bar Meryon said: The text comes to teach you that if a person does a Mitzvah, he should do it with his whole heart.

When Yosef went to meet his brothers and they decided to kill him, Reuven managed to protect Yosef from being murdered. He did not do enough to prevent him being sold into slavery, yet the Torah records: “Reuven saved his life”. If Reuven had known that G-d would dictate this to be written, he would have picked up Yosef and carried him on his shoulders back to his father.

When Moshe was negotiating with G-d about his role in the Exodus, one of the obstacles to his accepting the position of the leader of the Jewish People was his fear of displacing his brother Aharon. G-d tells him, “He is coming, and when he sees you, he will be happy in his heart.”  If Aharon had known that G-d would dictate this to be written, he would have come out with a marching band to show how truly happy he is to have Moshe back, and to have him lead the Jewish People out of slavery.

When Boaz met Ruth for the first time, and was impressed with her character and loyalty, he made sure that she did not go hungry, and it says: “he gave her toasted wheat.” If he had know that G-d would dictate this to be written, he would have fed her stuffed veal.

They did not know at the time that what they were doing was anything out of the ordinary, but from the point of view of prophecy, their deeds were valuable enough to be recorded in the Tanach. Thus, concludes R’ Yitzchak b’ Meryon, one should always do all good deeds to the utmost, because one never knows what is being recorded, what has eternal meaning.

But then, the Midrash presents a challenge in the name of R’ Levi: “In the past, a person would do a Mitzvah, and the prophet would write it. Now, a person does a Mitzvah, who writes it?” If prophecy is over, then our deeds are not recorded at all. Perhaps they have less meaning than the deeds of those who lived at the time of prophecy.

He answers by referencing the Haftarah:

 אָז נִדְבְּרוּ יִרְאֵי ה’ אִישׁ אֶת רֵעֵהוּ וַיַּקְשֵׁב ה’ וַיִּשְׁמָע וַיִּכָּתֵב סֵפֶר זִכָּרוֹן לְפָנָיו לְיִרְאֵי ה’ וּלְחֹשְׁבֵי שְׁמוֹ:

הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי שֹׁלֵחַ לָכֶם אֵת אֵלִיָּה הַנָּבִיא לִפְנֵי בּוֹא יוֹם ה’  הַגָּדוֹל וְהַנּוֹרָא:

“Then those who fear Hashem speak to each other; Hashem pays attention, and hears. He writes a book of remembrance before Him,  for those who fear Hashem, and care about His name…. I am sending to you the prophet Eliyahu, in advance of the coming of the Day of Hashem, the great and dreadful.” (Malachi 3:16, 23)

R’ Levi says: “If a person does a Mitzvah, who writes it? Eliyahu and the King Moshiach, and G-d signs it.”

Jewish history is not over just because prophecy is over. Our actions still matter, they are still being written. Eliyahu, the prophet who never quite died, represents the eternity of the connection between G-d and the Jewish People, regardless of historical circumstances and eras. The Midrash asserts that throughout the generations, our deeds have mattered. Eliyahu has been writing them down, as the eternal historian of the eternal people. One day, there will be another transition to another era, where we will have an even greater level of prophecy than ever before. Eliyahu will lead us to it, and he will also show us what he has been writing down all these centuries.

And then, we too will see which of our ordinary everyday actions had eternal meaning.

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Copyright © Kira Sirote
In memory of my father, Peter Rozenberg, z”l
לעילוי נשמת אבי מורי פנחס בן נתן נטע ז”ל

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March 27, 2014 · 18:50

Shabbat HaChodesh

This Shabbat is the last of the four special Shabbatot. We read Parshat HaChodesh that relates the commandment of Rosh Chodesh and of the first Pesach, and the Haftarah is of from Yechezkel, describing the dedication of the final Temple.

Linear annotated translation of the Haftarah of Shabbat HaChodesh

There are so many interesting ideas that the Haftarah brings up in connection with Rosh Chodesh Nissan, and Rosh Chodesh Nissan itself is such an interesting date, it was hard to find just one thing to focus on. So perhaps some day in the future I will write about whether the world was created in Nissan or Tishrei and what difference it makes, and about the Gates of the East and the return to Gan Eden. This time I wrote about the 1st of Tishrei as the New Year for kings.

This is also a chance to summarize the 4 special Shabbatot that prepare us for the season of national independence and achievement:

  • Shekalim on the power and utility of money, which is one of the bases of society.
  • Zachor on the shared values that are worth standing up to protest
  • Parah on the paradoxical nature of Jewish history, and on the potential for change
  • HaChodesh on how we became a nation in the first place.

    May this season bring only good news and joy to the entire Jewish People, wherever they may be.

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· 18:30

Shabbat HaChodesh – New Year for Kings

Shabbat HaChodesh is the fourth and last of the special Shabbatot, the Shabbat immediately preceding Rosh Chodesh Nissan.

On Shabbat HaChodesh we read Parshat HaChodesh, the very first commandment that G-d gave to all of Israel as a nation[1]:

(א) וַיֹּאמֶר ה’ אֶל מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל אַהֲרֹן בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לֵאמֹר:

(ב) הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים רִאשׁוֹן הוּא לָכֶם לְחָדְשֵׁי הַשָּׁנָה:

1) Hashem said to Moshe and to Aharon, in the Land of Egypt, as follows:
2) This month will be for you the first of months, it will be the first for you among the months of the year.  (Shemot 12)

Not only was this the first commandment that Israel was given as a nation, it is this commandment that made Israel a nation in the first place. In the ancient world, what distinguished a nation from a bunch of tribes was that nations had kings. The Jewish People in exile were still just a large family, a dozen tribes. By giving us commandments, G-d made Himself our king, and made us a nation.

The 1st of Nissan is associated with kings in Halacha. When listing the various new years in our calendar, the Mishna states:

ארבעה ראשי שנים הם באחד בניסן ראש השנה למלכים ולרגלים :

There are four new years: 1st of Nissan is the new year for kings and for holidays (Mishna, Rosh Hashana 1:1)

What is a “new year for kings?” In the times of the Tanach, people would date their documents based on the reign of the current king, eg: “in the 2nd year of the King Yehoshafat.” The year was incremented not on the date of the coronation of that king, but rather on the 1st of Nissan. Let’s say King Yehoshafat had been crowned during Adar; starting with the 1st of Nissan of that year, we would start dating our documents as the 2nd year to his reign, even though he had only been king for a month.

The “coronation date” of the Jewish People is not the coronation date of a particular human king, like all other nations. Instead, it is the date that we accepted G-d as our king and became a nation, the date when G-d gave us our first commandment: the 1st of Nissan.

The Haftarah of HaChodesh describes the dedication ceremony of the final Temple, which begins on the 1st of Nissan[2]. It talks about the offerings that will be made on that day, in particular, by the leader of the Jewish People, whom Yechezkel calls “nassi.”[3] Surprisingly, the Haftarah begins a few verses before the description of the dedication ceremony, and ends a few verses later. Those extra verses refer to a seemingly unrelated topic: the laws that limit the power of the leader of the Jewish People.

This “nassi” has an important role, especially in the dedication of the final Temple: he must collect the taxes, and he must represent the people in bringing their offerings. He is shown respect: certain gates are opened especially for him, and he is allowed to use certain passages that others are not. But the Haftarah states explicitly that these privileges are only given to him when he is actively representing the nation. When he comes to the Temple as a private person, as an individual, he does not get any special treatment.

The Haftarah goes out of its way to point out that the leader of Israel, whether he be called “king”, or “nassi”, is given power only to the extent that he serves the nation. He represents them, he organizes them, he leads them, but he does not truly rule them. It is not his authority that defines them as a nation. Their years are not dated from the beginning of his reign, but from the beginning of G-d’s reign – the date of the first commandment given to Israel.

The nation of Israel may have many new years, but we have only One King.

PDF for printing, 2 pages
Copyright © Kira Sirote
In memory of my father, Peter Rozenberg, z”l
לעילוי נשמת אבי מורי פנחס בן נתן נטע ז”ל


[1] Avraham’s commandment of Brit Milah was given to him as an individual and the head of a family.

[2] The Mishkan’s dedication ceremony was also on the 1st of the 1st.

[3] “Nassi”, which is used in modern Hebrew to mean president. It is sometimes translated as “prince”, but a prince in English connotes the child of a king. It literally means,  “one who is raised”, as in “his highness”, or in the case of the Jewish People, “first among equals”. Which is why I went with “president”.

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March 20, 2014 · 20:15

Shabbat Parah

Shabbat Parah is the third of the four special Shabbatot of the spring, and the Haftarah is taken from one of the chapters of comfort of Yechezkel.

Linear annotated translation of the Haftarah of Shabbat Parah

For the connection between the Parsha of Parah, the Haftarah, Passover, and Purim (yes, Purim), see: Shabbat Parah – Paradox.

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· 20:09

Shabbat Parah – Paradox

Shabbat Parah is the third of the four special Shabbatot between Rosh Chodesh Adar and Roch Chodesh Nissan, a time of preparation for the Passover season. At the time of the Temple, Passover included an actual sacrifice that was brought and then eaten at the Seder, and in order to participate, one had to be ritually pure.  Hence the custom to read Parshat Parah, which describes some of the laws of ritual purity, several weeks before Passover.

In addition to the connection to Passover, the date of Shabbat Parah is related also to Purim. The Gemara says,

ואי זו היא שבת שלישית – כל שסמוכה לפורים מאחריה

“Which is the third week? The one right after Purim.” (Megilla 30a).

It could just as easily have said, “the week before Shabbat Hachodesh”, which is how it actually comes out on the calendar. Phrasing it as “after Purim” implies that Shabbat Parah is connected to the events that happened after Purim, and not only to the upcoming Passover.

The Haftarah of Parshat Parah begins by describing the shame of exile:

וַיָּבוֹא אֶל הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר בָּאוּ שָׁם וַיְחַלְּלוּ אֶת שֵׁם קָדְשִׁי בֶּאֱמֹר לָהֶם עַם ה’ אֵלֶּה וּמֵאַרְצוֹ יָצָאוּ:

They came to the nations to which they had come, and they desecrated the Name of My holiness, when it was said about them, “This is the people of Hashem, and they have left His land.”  (Yechezkel 36:20)

The prophet Yechezkel says explicitly that when the Jewish People are in exile, it is a “Chillul Hashem”, a desecration of G-d’s Name. It shows that we failed in our mission to further G-d’s plan for the world, and is an embarrassment to the Jewish People and to G-d Himself.

Why do we need to read this “after Purim”?  Purim was a great miracle; the Jewish People narrowly escaped destruction. But when it was all over, they were still in exile. The Haftarah of Parah tells us that this is not good enough. We must not for a moment think that our salvation on Purim shows that living “spread out among the nations” is an acceptable state for the Nation of G-d.

On the other hand, if even Mordechai and Esther, with all the power that they wielded, were unable to end the exile, then perhaps it was just too hard. We know from the Books of Ezra and Nechemiah that life in the Land of Israel at that time was barely tolerable. The state of the economy, security, even religion itself, were all sub-par, certainly relative to the strong and vital community in Shushan.  Given the problems that they were facing, they must have wondered if G-d was actually interested in them coming back. Perhaps they did not deserve to be redeemed.

The Haftarah of Parah tells us that G-d will not tolerate the shame of exile indefinitely, regardless of the relative merit of the Jewish People:

…לֹא לְמַעַנְכֶם אֲנִי עֹשֶׂה בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּי אִם לְשֵׁם קָדְשִׁי אֲשֶׁר חִלַּלְתֶּם בַּגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר בָּאתֶם שָׁם:

…וְלָקַחְתִּי אֶתְכֶם מִן הַגּוֹיִם וְקִבַּצְתִּי אֶתְכֶם מִכָּל הָאֲרָצוֹת וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם אֶל אַדְמַתְכֶם:…וְזָרַקְתִּי עֲלֵיכֶם מַיִם טְהוֹרִים וּטְהַרְתֶּם…

… It is not for your sake that I do this, House of Israel, but for the sake of the Name of My holiness that you desecrated among the nations to which you had come.
… I will take you from the nations, and I will gather you from all the lands, and I will bring you to your land… I will sprinkle you with pure water and you will be purified  (Yechezkel 36: 22-25)

When G-d chooses to do so, He will take the Jewish People out of exile and back to the Land of Israel. Once they are there, He will take steps to “purify” them, to make sure that they deserve to live in the Holy Land.

This appears to be illogical, out of order. It would make much more sense if the Haftarah first said, “I will purify you”, and then, “I will bring you to your land.”

This paradox is one of the lessons of Shabbat Parah. The section in the Torah that we read on this Shabbat describes the ritual of “Parah Adumah”: an unblemished red cow is slaughtered and burned, and its ashes are mixed with water to create a solution that is called “purifying water”. This solution is the only way to remove the ritual impurity caused by direct contact with death. Paradoxically, every person involved in the preparation of this “purifying water” becomes impure himself[1].  This law is not meant to be logical or understandable to human beings. To make this point, this commandment is introduced as an “חוקה”, a decree.  As Rashi puts it:

גזירה היא מלפני ואין לך רשות להרהר אחריה

It is a decree before Me and you have no permission to second-guess it. (Rashi, Bamidbar 19:2)

According to the following Midrash,  this is not only true of decrees that G-d made in the Torah, it is also true of decrees that He has made in history:

זאת חקת התורה זש”ה מי יתן טהור מטמא לא אחד (איוב יד) כגון אברהם מתרח חזקיה מאחז יאשיה מאמון מרדכי משמעי ישראל מעכו”ם העה”ב מן העה”ז מי עשה כן מי גזר כן מי צוה כן לא אחד לא יחידו של עולם … תמן תנינן כל העוסקין בפרה מתחלה ועד סוף מטמאין בגדים היא גופה מטהרת בגדים אלא אמר הקב”ה חקה חקקתי גזרה גזרתי ואין אתה רשאי לעבור על גזרתי.

As it says, “Who makes pure from the impure, not the one” (Job 14). E.g.: Avraham from Terach, Hizkiyahu from Ahaz, Yoshiahu from Amon, Mordechai from Shimi, Israel from pagan nations, the World To Come from the World As it Is. Who makes this happen, who decreed this, who commanded this? The One and Only … as we learned, “everyone involved in the red cow from beginning to end becomes impure, and it itself purifies.”  G-d said, I wrote an edict, I decreed a decree, and you may not transgress My decree. (Bamidbar Rabba Chukat 19)

It would make a lot more sense to us humans if pure would come from pure. Avraham ought to have come directly from the righteous Noach, and not from ten generations of pagans. Israel ought to have come into being in purity and isolation in the Holy Land, not in the immoral filth of Egypt. The World To Come should have been created in the first place, not as an outcome of the World As Is.

But that is not how G-d chose to run the world. Just as the laws of Parah Adumah do not make sense to us, yet we accept is as a decree from Above, so, too, we must accept G-d’s choices in history as a decree from Above.

We might have expected the steps toward redemption to proceed in a logical order, that the Jewish People would first be purified and only then return to our land. We might have expected that the redemption would be led by the purest and holiest of the Jewish People. Yet the Haftarah of Shabbat Parah tells us otherwise. If G-d chooses, the converse can be true: first we return to our land, and only then we are purified. This might not make sense to us, it might not be how we would have done it, but it is a decree from Above, and we do not have the right to second-guess it.

On the first Shabbat between Purim and Passover, we prepare for national redemption, an end to the shame of Exile, no matter what form it takes.

Copyright © Kira Sirote
In memory of my father, Peter Rozenberg, z”l
לעילוי נשמת אבי מורי פנחס בן נתן נטע ז”ל


[1] At a lower level of impurity, avoiding infinite recursion

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March 13, 2014 · 18:58

Shabbat Zachor

Shabbat Zachor is the Shabbat immediately before Purim. We read a special Maftir that talks about the commandment to remember to wipe out Amalek, and then we read a special Haftarah which talks about how King Shaul was charged with fulfilling this commandment.

The text, Linear annotated translation of the Haftarah of Shabbat Zachor is not short, but it is full of drama and emotion.

While the connection between Parshat Zachor and the Haftarah is obvious – Amalek – how it connects to Purim is less so. See: The Reboot for how Mordechai, Esther, and Haman are all found in the Haftarah and why.

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