Category Archives: Connections

August 28, 2014 · 18:15

Shoftim – Seeing Eye to Eye

As the fourth of the series of seven Haftarot of Consolation, the Haftarah of Shoftim talks about the return of prophecy. In the Tanach, prophecy is described in two ways: as speech, and as sight. The first of these is defined in Parshat Shoftim:

נָבִיא אָקִים לָהֶם מִקֶּרֶב אֲחֵיהֶם כָּמוֹךָ וְנָתַתִּי דְבָרַי בְּפִיו וְדִבֶּר אֲלֵיהֶם אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר אֲצַוֶּנּוּ:
I will establish for them a prophet from among their brothers like yourself, and I will place My words in his mouth, and he will speak to them, all that I command him. (Devarim 18:18)

The job of a prophet is to receive a message from G-d, and to pass it on to the Jewish People. The Haftarah describes it thus:

וָאָשִׂים דְּבָרַי בְּפִיךָ וּבְצֵל יָדִי כִּסִּיתִיךָ לִנְטֹעַ שָׁמַיִם וְלִיסֹד אָרֶץ וְלֵאמֹר לְצִיּוֹן עַמִּי אָתָּה
I will put My words in your mouth, I will shade you with My hand, while I stretch out the sky and form the earth, and say to Tzion: You are My people.
(Yeshayahu 51:16)

The full manifestation of being G-d’s People is the ability to communicate with Him directly. We receive His undiluted message, and we know precisely what He wants us to do.
But there is a level that is even higher than that. Prophets are also described as צופה, “lookout” – one who sees into the distance. This level is also mentioned in the Haftarah:

קוֹל צֹפַיִךְ נָשְׂאוּ קוֹל יַחְדָּו יְרַנֵּנוּ כִּי עַיִן בְּעַיִן יִרְאוּ בְּשׁוּב ה’ צִיּוֹן:
Your lookouts will raise their voices, together they will sing; for they will see eye to eye, as Hashem returns to Tzion. (Yeshayahu 52:8)

The Midrash sees this level of prophecy as being even greater than that of Moshe Rabbeinu:

אמר הקב”ה בעה”ז על שהיו רואין את כבודי היו כלין שנאמר (שמות לג) כי לא יראני האדם וחי – אבל לעתיד לבוא כשאחזיר שכינתי לציון אני נגלה בכבודי על כל ישראל והן רואין אותי וחיים לעולם שנאמר (ישעיה נב) כי עין בעין יראו בשוב ה’ ציון
G-d said: In this world, if people see My glory, they can’t survive it, as it says, “For no man can see Me and live” (Shemot 33), but in the Future, when I bring My Presence back to Tzion, I will appear in My glory to all of Israel, and they will see Me and live forever, as it says, “for they will see eye to eye, as Hashem returns to Tzion”. (Midrash Tanchuma Bamidbar 17)

This Midrash refers to the time after the sin of the Golden Calf, after G-d had already forgiven the Jewish People. Moshe Rabbeinu asked G-d to show him His glory. G-d refused, saying,

(כ) וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא תוּכַל לִרְאֹת אֶת פָּנָי כִּי לֹא יִרְאַנִי הָאָדָם וָחָי:
He said, “You will not be able to see My “face”, for no man can see Me and still live.” (Shemot 33:20)

The Midrash says that while Moshe Rabbeinu could not see G-d, in the future, at the time of the Redemption, the Jewish People will have no problem perceiving G-d’s full glory and His full Presence. The proof of this is the verse from our Haftarah, “they will see eye to eye”.
What was it that Moshe couldn’t see, that we will be able to see? This term, “eye to eye” is not very common in the Tanach, appearing only three times. In two of those times, the Haftarah and one other, it refers to prophecy. The third time appears in Parshat Shoftim:

וְדָרְשׁוּ הַשֹּׁפְטִים הֵיטֵב וְהִנֵּה עֵד שֶׁקֶר הָעֵד שֶׁקֶר עָנָה בְאָחִיו:וְלֹא תָחוֹס עֵינֶךָ נֶפֶשׁ בְּנֶפֶשׁ עַיִן בְּעַיִן שֵׁן בְּשֵׁן יָד בְּיָד רֶגֶל בְּרָגֶל:
And the judges will analyze it carefully, and find that it is false witness; he witnessed falsely against his brother. Do not spare him; life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, arm for arm, leg for leg. (Devarim 19: 18-19)

These verses are talking about a case when people lie to the court to get a particular person punished for crimes that he did not commit. The law is that whatever they had planned for their victim must be done to them.

Now we know, based on a similar phrase of “eye for an eye” elsewhere in the Torah, that “for” refers to monetary compensation, the way one buys merchandize “for” money. However, the fact that the Torah says it so starkly has a purpose. It tells us that in the ideal world, in the world of pure Truth, what the person deserves is literally an “eye for an eye”. From the prophetic perspective, a person who planned to use the system of justice to cause harm to another person, deserves to have that identical harm boomerang back to him in every respect. Unfortunately, in the real world, it is not practical to do so with perfect precision, and it is more likely to cause injustice than otherwise. Thus money serves as a representation, the closest approximation of justice and truth.
Moshe Rabbeinu asked if He could see G-d’s “face”, that is, the pure justice and meaning in how He runs the world. G-d answered him that in the real world, or more precisely, the world that we currently know as real, this is not possible. The disconnect between the prophetic eye and the physical eye is too great. They cannot be aligned.

The Haftarah tells us that the future world will be different. G-d’s Presence will be so strong and His relationship with the Jewish People will be so pure and unobstructed, that the physical eye and the prophetic eye will align perfectly. There will be no disconnect between them, no warping in the lens of pure truth and justice. When we shall see, “eye to eye”, the Return to Tzion, we will also be able to see, “eye to eye”, G-d’s justice and meaning in His world.

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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 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 · 20:50

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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July 31, 2014 · 17:00

Devarim / Chazon – Eicha?!

On Tisha B’Av, we read Megillat Eicha, lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem. On the Shabbat before Tisha B’Av, known as Shabbat Chazon, we read two other Eichas, one in the Parsha and the other in the Haftarah.

In Parshat Devarim, as Moshe Rabbeinu reviews the history of the Jewish People, the very first topic he talks about is justice. Moshe knew that as their leader, the ultimate responsibility of providing justice was his, and he shares some of his worries about implementing it properly:

וָאֹמַר אֲלֵכֶם בָּעֵת הַהִוא לֵאמֹר לֹא אוּכַל לְבַדִּי שְׂאֵת אֶתְכֶם:
ה’ אֱ-לֹהֵיכֶם הִרְבָּה אֶתְכֶם וְהִנְּכֶם הַיּוֹם כְּכוֹכְבֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם לָרֹב:
אֵיכָה אֶשָּׂא לְבַדִּי טָרְחֲכֶם וּמַשַּׂאֲכֶם וְרִיבְכֶם:
הָבוּ לָכֶם אֲנָשִׁים חֲכָמִים וּנְבֹנִים וִידֻעִים לְשִׁבְטֵיכֶם וַאֲשִׂימֵם בְּרָאשֵׁיכֶם:

I said to you at that time, saying, I will not be able to bear you alone.
Hashem, your G-d, has multiplied you;
now you are today as many as the stars in the heavens…
How could I bear alone, your bothering, your burdens, and your conflicts?
Get yourselves some men, wise and understanding and well known to your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads. (Devarim 1:9-13)

If the Jewish People were a small group of people, than Moshe could handle their case load on his own. If they were a harmonious, amicable people, then despite their size, Moshe could handle the case load on his own. But Moshe Rabbeinu himself describes the Jewish People as quarrelsome and litigious. It is not possible to have a single address for all their disputes, and Moshe has no choice but to look for people who could be trusted to serve as judges. He then describes the Torah’s expectations of justice:

וָאֲצַוֶּה אֶת שֹׁפְטֵיכֶם בָּעֵת הַהִוא לֵאמֹר
שָׁמֹעַ בֵּין אֲחֵיכֶם וּשְׁפַטְתֶּם צֶדֶק
בֵּין אִישׁ וּבֵין אָחִיו וּבֵין גֵּרוֹ:
לֹא תַכִּירוּ פָנִים בַּמִּשְׁפָּט
כַּקָּטֹן כַּגָּדֹל תִּשְׁמָעוּן
לֹא תָגוּרוּ מִפְּנֵי אִישׁ …
I instructed your judges at that time, saying,
Hear what is between your brothers and judge righteously,
between a man and his brother, and between a convert.
Do not show favoritism in court,
listen to the great and small alike;
do not fear any man… (Devarim 1: 16-17)

The expectations are high: honesty, impartiality, equal standing before the law regardless of social standing and connections. But for the Torah, this is just a starting point. Rashi explains that these commandments are not about the court case itself – not showing favoritism in court has already been commanded, it is obvious, it is a given. These commandments are for the people appointing the judges in the first place:

לא תכירו פנים במשפט: זה הממונה להושיב הדיינין, שלא יאמר איש פלוני נאה או גבור, אושיבנו דיין, איש פלוני קרובי, אושיבנו דיין בעיר, והוא אינו בקי בדינין נמצא מחייב את הזכאי ומזכה את החייב. מעלה אני על מי שמנהו כאילו הכיר פנים בדין

Do not show favoritism in court: This refers to the one responsible for appointing the judges, so that he shouldn’t say this candidate is handsome or brave, let me appoint him, or that candidate is my relative, I’ll appoint him; and he’s not competent in law – it will turn out that he convicts the innocent and acquits the guilty. I consider whoever appointed him, as if he showed favoritism in court.

The Torah places the responsibility for justice not only on the judges themselves, but on all of society. Those who appoint judges are just as responsible for the outcome as the judges themselves.

When Moshe asks, “Eicha?” “How”, he is worried that this responsibility will prove too much for the Jewish People. He knows how hard it is for him, Moshe Rabbeinu, to dispense justice in a timely manner to the contentious Jewish People, he knows how hard it is for him to find judges who are “wise and understanding”. How will future generations manage? How will they handle the high expectations that the Torah has for them? Will they be able to maintain the high standards that it sets for justice and righteousness?

The Haftarah confirms Moshe’s worst fears:

אֵיכָה הָיְתָה לְזוֹנָה קִרְיָה נֶאֱמָנָה?
מְלֵאֲתִי מִשְׁפָּט צֶדֶק יָלִין בָּהּ וְעַתָּה מְרַצְּחִים
כַּסְפֵּךְ הָיָה לְסִיגִים סָבְאֵךְ מָהוּל בַּמָּיִם:
שָׂרַיִךְ סוֹרְרִים וְחַבְרֵי גַּנָּבִים כֻּלּוֹ אֹהֵב שֹׁחַד וְרֹדֵף שַׁלְמֹנִים
יָתוֹם לֹא יִשְׁפֹּטוּ וְרִיב אַלְמָנָה לֹא יָבוֹא אֲלֵיהֶם:

How has she become a whore, the faithful city?
I filled her with justice, righteousness would find rest there,
but now there are murderers!
Your silver is dross, your liquor is diluted with water.
Your ministers are crooks, associates of thieves,
all loving bribes, and chasing graft;
an orphan they would not judge,
the cause of a widow would not reach them. (Yeshayahu 1: 21-23)

Instead of justice and righteousness, Jerusalem is full of fraud, corruption, and even murder. There is no equality before the law; unless you know someone who knows the judge, your case will not get a hearing in the first place. If you have no one to protect you, no “protektzia”, then no one will stand up for you.

The prophet cries out “Eicha?!” – how it is possible? How can the nation of the Torah, the people of Moshe Rabbeinu, of whom so much was expected, how can they sink so low?!

The result of that failure leads directly to the third Eicha, the Eicha that we will read on Tisha B’Av, as we lament the destruction of Jerusalem:

אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה בָדָד
הָעִיר רַבָּתִי עָם הָיְתָה כְּאַלְמָנָה
How does she sit alone?
A city full of people, has become like a widow?! (Eicha 1:1)

The prophet describes the destroyed Jerusalem as widow – alone and helpless, who needs someone to stand up for her and plead her cause, and no one does.

That is how corruption and injustice is repaid, measure for measure. When the Eicha of Moshe, worrying about the best way to organize a justice system, is replaced by the Eicha of Yeshayahu, distraught about a justice system that serves only the wealthy and powerful, then the result is the Eicha of Lamentations.

But the Haftarah does not leave us without hope. The Jewish People are tasked with being the beacon of justice and righteousness in the world, and even if we have failed in the past, the future is before us, and G-d will make sure that we will succeed.

וְאָשִׁיבָה שֹׁפְטַיִךְ כְּבָרִאשֹׁנָה
וְיֹעֲצַיִךְ כְּבַתְּחִלָּה
אַחֲרֵי כֵן יִקָּרֵא לָךְ עִיר הַצֶּדֶק
קִרְיָה נֶאֱמָנָה:
צִיּוֹן בְּמִשְׁפָּט תִּפָּדֶה
וְשָׁבֶיהָ בִּצְדָקָה:
I will restore your judges as at first,
and your advisors as at the beginning;
after that, you will be called the city of justice,
the faithful city.
Through justice, Tzion will be redeemed,
and those who live within her, through righteousness! (Yeshayahu 1:26-27)

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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July 17, 2014 · 17:22

First of the Three Weeks (Pinchas or Matot) – Calamity and Consolation

The three weeks between the 17th of Tammuz and 9 B’Av are a time of mourning the destruction of Jerusalem and all the calamities that have befallen the Jewish People throughout history. For those three Shabbatot, the custom is to read a specific set of Haftarot that are called in Aramaic, “Tlata de’Puranuta” (“the three of calamity”). The first week, which falls out on either Pinchas or Matot, we read the first chapter of Yirmiyahu.

One might think that the Haftarah would focus on describing the sins of the Jewish People which led to the destruction of Jerusalem, or on describing the destruction itself. However, the first chapter of Yirmiyahu is just not that scary. It only hints at the destruction with allusions and symbolic images, and the sins are mentioned only in passing.

So if the Haftarah is not about the causes of the destruction and not about the destruction itself, why do we read it during the weeks of mourning of the destruction?

The Haftarah ends with the following verses:

הָלֹךְ וְקָרָאתָ בְאָזְנֵי יְרוּשָׁלִַם לֵאמֹר
כֹּה אָמַר ה’
זָכַרְתִּי לָךְ חֶסֶד נְעוּרַיִךְ
אַהֲבַת כְּלוּלֹתָיִךְ
לֶכְתֵּךְ אַחֲרַי בַּמִּדְבָּר בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא זְרוּעָה
קֹדֶשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל לַה’ רֵאשִׁית תְּבוּאָתֹה
Go and call out to the ears of Jerusalem, saying,
so says Hashem:
I recall the kindness of your youth,
the love of newlyweds,
when you walked after me in the desert, in a land that is not sown.
Israel is holy to Hashem, the first of His crop…(Yirmiyahu 2:2-3)

After telling Yirmiyahu that the enemies are on their way to besiege Jerusalem, G-d reminds us of our earliest memories together, our time in the desert.

The Midrash presents a parable to explain the apparent incongruity:

משל למלך שנטל אשה היה אומר אין נאה הימנה אין משובחת הימנה אין מיושבת הימנה נכנס שושבינה לבית ראה אותה מנוולת הבית אינה מכוונת המטות אינם מוצעות אמר לה שושבינה הלואי את שומעת שהיה בעליך משבחיך לתוך השוק אין אותו השבח מעשי’ הללו אמר השושבין אם כשהיא מנוולת כך הוא משבחה אלו היית מתוקנת עאכ”ו כך דורו של ירמיה חוטאין והוא אומר להם (ירמיה ב) זכרתי לך חסד נעוריך וגו’ אמר להם ירמיה אלואי אתם שומעין מה הוא אומר עליכם הלוך וקראת באזני ירושלים וגו’ זכרתי לך חסד נעוריך וגו’ קדש ישראל וגו’ אמר אם בשעה שהם חוטאים כך הוא מחבבם כשהם עושין רצונו עאכ”ו

A parable of a king that married a woman and was saying about her,
“There is no one more beautiful than she is, there is no one more accomplished than she is, there is no one more cultured than she is.” Meanwhile, her guardian came into the house and saw that she is a mess, her house is a wreck, the beds are not made. He said to her, “If only you were to hear your husband praise you in public! His praises do not match your actions!” The guardian said, “If when she’s such a mess, this is how he praises her, if she were to put herself together, how much more so!”

So, too, the generation of Yirmiyahu were sinners, and G-d says about them, “I recall the kindness of your youth, etc.” Yirmiyahu said to them, “If only you were to hear what He says about you! ‘Go call out to the ears of Jerusalem’, and ‘I recall the kindness of your youth,’ and ‘Israel is holy to Hashem.’ If that is how much He loves you when you sin, when you do His will, how much more so!” (Midrash Bamidbar Rabba 2)

The point of this Haftarah is not to tell us how evil we are . The point is to tell us how important we are to G-d, how much He loves and cherishes His people. Even when we disappoint Him, He reminds Himself of our earlier acts of loyalty and love.

From this we learn that the destruction of Jerusalem and the other calamities that we mourn during these weeks were not a sign of G-d rejecting us. In fact, it is the opposite. G-d’s motivation in all of His interactions with us is to get us to fulfil our commitments to Him, and strengthen our relationship.

This is why, when G-d tells Yirmiyahu about his mission as a prophet earlier in the Haftarah, it is defined as:

לִנְתוֹשׁ וְלִנְתוֹץ וּלְהַאֲבִיד וְלַהֲרוֹס
לִבְנוֹת וְלִנְטוֹעַ
… to abandon, to smash, to ruin, and to destroy;
to build and to plant. (Yirmiyahu 1:10)

Yirmiyahu is tasked with warning us of impending destruction and ruin, and at the same time he is tasked with rebuilding.

The ultimate purpose of the destruction of Jerusalem, and all the destructions that the Jewish People have faced throughout our history, was to build a better nation and to plant the seeds of a better society.

We will spend the seven weeks after Tisha B’Av reading the Haftarot called “the Seven of Consolation” (“Sheva de’Nechemta”), seven selections from Yeshayahu’s words of comfort and hope. Yet even the Tlata de’Puranuta are founded upon G-d’s unconditional love for His people.

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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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July 3, 2014 · 17:40

Balak – G-d does not work for us

When discussing the relationship between G-d and the Jewish People, as prophets often do, the Haftarah mentions Balak and Bilaam:

עַמִּי זְכָר נָא מַה יָּעַץ בָּלָק מֶלֶךְ מוֹאָב וּמֶה עָנָה אֹתוֹ בִּלְעָם בֶּן בְּעוֹר מִן הַשִּׁטִּים עַד הַגִּלְגָּל לְמַעַן דַּעַת צִדְקוֹת ה’:
My nation! Remember what Balak king of Moav conspired, and how Bilaam ben Beor answered him, from the Shitim to the Gilgal – in order to know the righteousness of Hashem. (Micha 6:5)

But then instead of explaining what it is we have to remember about that story, the Haftarah continues with an apparent non-sequitur, questioning the purpose of sacrifices:

בַּמָּה אֲקַדֵּם ה’ אִכַּף לֵא-לֹהֵי מָרוֹם הַאֲקַדְּמֶנּוּ בְעוֹלוֹת בַּעֲגָלִים בְּנֵי שָׁנָה; הֲיִרְצֶה ה’ בְּאַלְפֵי אֵילִים בְּרִבְבוֹת נַחֲלֵי שָׁמֶן הַאֶתֵּן בְּכוֹרִי פִּשְׁעִי פְּרִי בִטְנִי חַטַּאת נַפְשִׁי:
With what gift shall I greet Hashem, submit to G-d Above? Shall I greet Him with offerings, with yearling calves? Will Hashem be pleased by thousands of rams, by myriads of rivers of oil? Should I give my first-born for my crime, my offspring for the sin of my soul? (Micha 6:6-7)

What do these questions about sacrifices have to do with Balak and Bilaam?

Parshat Balak tells us of Balak, king of the nation of Moav which would share a border with the land of Israel. He saw how the Jewish People destroyed Sichon and Og, the powerful kings of the Emori, and did not want the same thing to happen to him. He knew that he was much weaker than the Emori, and that on the military front, he would have no chance against the Jewish People. He also understood that a major component of their success was G-d’s blessing and favor. He thus decided to attack the Jewish People on the religious front, and approached a well-known miracle man, the non-Jewish prophet, Bilaam ben Beor. When Balak asked him to curse the Jewish People, he piously answered, “I can only say what G-d tells me.” And less piously, “but I’ll give it my best shot.”

Bilaam’s mission was to drive a wedge between G-d and the Jewish People. To that end, he asked Balak to build him seven altars and to sacrifice three animals on each. These sacrifices did not yield the desired effect: the words G-d put into his mouth were words of blessing. He tried again, from a different angle, with seven new altars, and yet again a third time. Despite the multitude of sacrifices, G-d continued to bless the Jewish People. Finally, Balak and Bilaam gave up in frustration.

What did Balak and Bilaam think they were going to accomplish with these sacrifices? Why would they turn G-d against the Jewish People? The Midrash connects Bilaam’s seven altars with the verses in the Haftarah, turning them into a conversation between Bilaam and G-d:

בלעם הרשע הוא היה סנגורן של אומות העולם ועל ידי האומות הוא מדבר הדבר הירצה ה’ באלפי אילים ברבבות נחלי שמן רוצה הוא מה שאתם מקריבין לו לא לוג שמן אתם מקריבין לו אנו מקריבין לו רבי רבבות נחלי שמן מה הקריב אברהם לפניו לא איל אחד … אם רוצה אנו מקריבין לו אלפי אלפים ומה הקריב אברהם לא בנו אני אקריב לו בני ובתי …ראה בלעם הרשע כמה היה ערום התחיל אומר את שבעת המזבחות ערכתי לא אמר שבע מזבחות אלא המזבחות אלו הן משנברא אדם הראשון עד עכשיו שבע מזבחות בנו ואני מקריב שבע כנגד שבעתן … אמר ליה הקב”ה רשע מה אתה עושה בכאן אמר ליה את שבעת המזבחות ערכתי ואעל פר ואיל במזבח אמר ליה הקב”ה הירצה ה’ באלפי אילים…א”ל הקב”ה רשע אלו הייתי מבקש קרבן הייתי אומר למיכאל ולגבריאל והיו מקריבין
Bilaam the Villain was arguing for the nations of the world. He said, “Will Hashem be pleased by thousands of rams, by myriads of rivers of oil? (Micha 6:6) Does He want what you, the Jewish People, bring to Him? Barely a pint of oil? We, the Nations of the World, bring Him millions of rivers of oil! What did Avraham bring, barely a ram? We bring thousands of rams! What did Avraham bring, not even a son? I’ll bring my son and my daughter!”

Look at this villain Bilaam, how devious he was! He said, “I have arranged these seven altars” (Bamidbar 23:4), not just “seven altars”, but very specific seven altars. He said, “Since Adam was created until now, the Jewish People have built seven altars, and I am going to bring seven altars to counteract them.” G-d said to him, “You villain! What are you doing here?” He said, “I have arranged these seven altars and brought cows and rams on the altar”. G-d said to him, “Will Hashem be pleased by thousands of rams?” (Micha 6:5) “Villain! If I had wanted a sacrifice, I would have told [the angels] Michael and Gavriel, and they would have brought them for Me!” (Midrash Tanchuma Tzav 1)

Bilaam attempts to discredit the Jewish People by pointing out to G-d that the nation He has chosen is not sufficiently dedicated to Him. The sacrifices that they bring are pitifully small. The Nations of the World are willing to do much more. They are willing to bring thousands of rams, rivers of oil, their sons and daughters; without limit.

Bilaam does a simple calculation: if G-d favors the Jewish People due to seven altars that were brought by their ancestors, then by offering triple the number of sacrifices, he is guaranteed to earn G-d’s favor.

G-d responds by pointing out that He does not actually need any of these “gifts” in the first place. G-d does not auction off His favor to the highest bidder. As Rachelle Fraenkel phrased it, G-d does not work for us. He is not an employee who will do whatever project his employer requests as long as he gets paid. We do not get to make demands on Him, He makes demands on us.

The prophet Micha says it explicitly, in the last verse of the Haftarah:

הִגִּיד לְךָ אָדָם מַה טּוֹב וּמָה ה’ דּוֹרֵשׁ מִמְּךָ כִּי אִם עֲשׂוֹת מִשְׁפָּט וְאַהֲבַת חֶסֶד וְהַצְנֵעַ לֶכֶת עִם אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ
He has told you, mankind, what is good, what Hashem demands of you: simply doing justice, and loving kindness, and walking modestly with your G-d. (Micha 6:8)

The demand that G-d makes – not only of the Jewish People, but also of the Nations of the World – is to do justice and kindness. It is the Jewish People’s commitment to His values of justice and kindness that is the reason why G-d continues to bless us, regardless of what the Bilaams of the world demand.

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

ולעילוי נשמות יעקב נפתלי בן רחל דבורה, גיל-עד מיכאל בן בת-גלים, ואייל בן איריס תשורה, הי”ד

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June 20, 2014 · 15:20

Korach – Not Even a Donkey

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In Parshat Korach, Moshe is confronted by Korach and his mob:

וַיִּקָּהֲלוּ עַל מֹשֶׁה וְעַל אַהֲרֹן וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֲלֵהֶם רַב לָכֶם כִּי כָל הָעֵדָה כֻּלָּם קְדֹשִׁים וּבְתוֹכָם ה’ וּמַדּוּעַ תִּתְנַשְּׂאוּ עַל קְהַל ה’:
They congregated upon Moshe and Aharon, and said to them, “Enough! The entire assembly is holy, and Hashem is in their midst! So why do you lord yourselves over the congregation of Hashem?!” (Bamidbar 16:3)

By suggesting that Moshe and Aharon “lord over” the Jewish People, Korach accused them of acting out of self-interest, desire for power, and personal benefit. Similartly, when Moshe tried to settle the conflict and called for a meeting with Korach’s partners, Datan and Aviram, they responded as follows:

וַיִּשְׁלַח מֹשֶׁה לִקְרֹא לְדָתָן וְלַאֲבִירָם בְּנֵי אֱלִיאָב וַיֹּאמְרוּ לֹא נַעֲלֶה: הַמְעַט כִּי הֶעֱלִיתָנוּ מֵאֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבַשׁ לַהֲמִיתֵנוּ בַּמִּדְבָּר כִּי תִשְׂתָּרֵר עָלֵינוּ גַּם הִשְׂתָּרֵר:
Moshe sent to call Datan and Aviram, sons of Eliav; they said, “We will not come up! Is it not enough that he took us from the land of milk and honey to kill us in the desert, that he should also rule over us? ” (Bamidbar 16:13)

Having called Egypt, “a land of milk and honey”, they accuse Moshe of being power-hungry, just for asking them to come to meet with him.
In response, Moshe turned to G-d with an unusual prayer:

וַיִּחַר לְמֹשֶׁה מְאֹד וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל ה’ אַל תֵּפֶן אֶל מִנְחָתָם לֹא חֲמוֹר אֶחָד מֵהֶם נָשָׂאתִי וְלֹא הֲרֵעֹתִי אֶת אַחַד מֵהֶם:
Moshe got very angry. He said to Hashem, “Do not accept their offering! I never took a donkey from them, I never did harm to any one of them!”(Bamidbar 16:15)

Moshe is very upset by their accusations, and defends himself by saying that he never took anything from them, in particular, not a single donkey.

In the Haftarah, we find the prophet Shmuel in a similar situation. After having dedicated his entire life to the Jewish People, literally from the cradle, and having served as arguably their most successful leader in centuries, he is told by the Jewish People that they would like to try a new political structure, “like all the other nations”. When handing over the reins to King Shaul, he asks the Jewish People:

הִנְנִי עֲנוּ בִי נֶגֶד ה’ וְנֶגֶד מְשִׁיחוֹ אֶת שׁוֹר מִי לָקַחְתִּי וַחֲמוֹר מִי לָקַחְתִּי וְאֶת מִי עָשַׁקְתִּי אֶת מִי רַצּוֹתִי וּמִיַּד מִי לָקַחְתִּי כֹפֶר וְאַעְלִים עֵינַי בּוֹ
Now answer me before Hashem and before His anointed, whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom did I oppress? Whom did I favor? From whom did I take a bribe, so that I would overlook him?” (Shmuel I 12:3)

Like Moshe, Shmuel also asserts that he never took a donkey from them. Why, of all things that they did not take from the Jewish People, did both Moshe and Shmuel mention donkeys? What made them get so upset?

לא חמור אחד מהם נשאתי מה שהיה דרכי ליטול לא נטלתי מהם בנוהג שבעולם אדם שהוא עושה בהקדש נוטל שכרו מן ההקדש ואני בשעה שהייתי יורד מן מדין למצרים היה דרכי ליטול מהן חמור שבשביל צרכיהם ירדתי ולא נטלתי וכן שמואל הצדיק אמר (שמואל א יב) הנני ענו בי נגד ה’ ונגד משיחו את שור מי לקחתי וחמור מי לקחתי … וכשהייתי חוזר ועושה דיניהם וצרכיהם והולך וסובב כל עיירות ישראל שנא’ (שם /שמואל א’/ ז) והלך מדי שנה בשנה וסבב בית אל דרך העולם בעלי דינין הולכין אצל הדיין ואני הייתי הולך וסובב מעיר לעיר וממקום למקום וחמור שלי

“I did not take a donkey from them”: Moshe said, “What should have been mine to take, I did not take from them. It is customary that a person who works for a charity can be paid by that charity, and I, when I left Midian to go to Egypt, I should have taken a donkey because I traveled for their benefit.”

Likewise, Shmuel said, “Whose donkey have I taken?” When he used to judge all their cases and see to all their needs, and he would travel around all the towns of Israel. He said, “It is the way of the world for the parties in a court case to go to the judge, and I used to go around from town to town and place to place, on my own donkey.” (Bamidbar Rabba 18:10)

Both Shmuel and Moshe dedicated their lives to serving the Jewish People. Neither one gained anything by it; not only did they not collect taxes, not only did they not accept gifts and offerings, but they did not even ask to be compensated for their expenses[1].
It was not only money that they dedicated to the Jewish People. The donkey that Moshe did not get compensated for was the donkey which he used to leave his home in Midian, upon which he placed his wife and sons to send them back while he was busy taking the Jews of out Egypt. The donkey that Shmuel never got compensated for was the donkey that he used to leave his home and family to travel on behalf of the Jewish People so they would have ready access to a judge and to spiritual leadership. They sacrificed not only their fortune, but also their homes and their family lives [2].

How ironic that the Jewish People would seek to supplant each of them with a political system that was the opposite of their attitude of self-sacrifice. Moshe was challenged by Korach, whose cry of equality was a thinly veiled bid for power and money. Shmuel was replaced by a monarchy, which would be sustained by taxes that are taken by force.

The Torah tells us that even prophets like Moshe and Shmuel are hurt by rejection. Those who dedicate their entire lives to the Jewish People without expecting anything in return, nevertheless need a modicum of appreciation.

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

 

[1] The Midrash explains that they were independently wealthy, and even lists wealth among the ideal qualifications for being a prophet.
[2] It is not coincidental that both Moshe and Shmuel had sons who were not fit to take over from them.

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June 12, 2014 · 13:49

Shelach – As Insects in Our Eyes

Parshat Shelach tells the story of the delegation that Moshe to check out the Land of Israel just before they were supposed to begin the conquest. They returned with a dangerously mixed message: true, the land is beautiful, but there is no way that they could conquer it. This report destroyed the morale of the Jewish People, who refused to risk being killed in battle and demanded to go back to Egypt. G-d responded by decreeing that they must stay in the desert for forty years, with the hope that the next generation would have more courage and more faith.

The Haftarah takes place at the end of those forty years. The entire original generation is dead, and Yehoshua is now poised to take the Jewish People into the Land of Israel and begin the conquest. Like Moshe, Yehoshua sends spies to scout out the land. His “secret agents” are identified within hours of arriving in Jericho, and after a single conversation with one person (Rachav the prostitute), spend the rest of their time hiding out from the authorities. Nevertheless, the Haftarah relates their mission not as a failure, but as a success. By understanding what went right with Yehoshua’s spies in the Haftarah, we can begin to understand what went wrong with Moshe’s spies in the Parsha.

The final report of Yehoshua’s spies shows us that they achieved the purpose of their mission. It states:

כִּי נָתַן ה’ בְּיָדֵנוּ אֶת כָּל הָאָרֶץ וְגַם נָמֹגוּ כָּל יֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ מִפָּנֵינוּ
“… that Hashem has given the entire land into our hands, and all the inhabitants of the land are helpless before us.” (Yehoshua 2:24)

Yeshoshua’s spies were not sent to get information about the weaknesses of the city and its army. That is not what the Jewish People needed to know in order to conquer the land. What they needed to hear was more basic:

  • It is G-d who decides who wins and who loses
  • Those who currently live in the land are aware of this, and therefore do not have the courage to fight back.

Armed with this belief, they would be able to take on the conquest of fortified cities defended by experienced, trained armies. Without this belief, it would be not only impossible but pointless.

Did Moshe’s generation not share this belief? Did they not know that it is Hashem who runs the world? In the Haftarah, when Rachav tells Yehoshua’s spies the reasons why the people of Jericho are terrified, she points to the Splitting of the Sea as the event that showed G-d’s power and His intervention on behalf of the Jewish People. Moshe’s spies had been there in person, they themselves crossed the Sea. Moreover, in the Song of the Sea, they sang:

אָז נִבְהֲלוּ אַלּוּפֵי אֱדוֹם אֵילֵי מוֹאָב יֹאחֲזֵמוֹ רָעַד נָמֹגוּ כֹּל יֹשְׁבֵי כְנָעַן
Then the chieftains of Edom are shaken, the heads of Moav are gripped by trembling, all the inhabitants of Canaan are helpless (Shemot 15:15)

Moshe’s spies knew that the Splitting of the Sea would cause the inhabitants of Canaan to feel helpless and powerless to oppose them. How, then, did they come back from their mission and say the following:

לֹא נוּכַל לַעֲלוֹת אֶל הָעָם כִּי חָזָק הוּא מִמֶּנּו
No, we cannot go up against that nation, for they are stronger than we are.
(Bamidbar 13:31)

It is as if G-d is not part of the equation at all. And when you take Him out of the equation, then in reality, the Canaanites were much stronger, physically and militarily, than the Jewish People, and Israel had no chance against them. The spies continued to report from that perspective:

…הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר עָבַרְנוּ בָהּ לָתוּר אֹתָהּ אֶרֶץ אֹכֶלֶת יוֹשְׁבֶיהָ הִוא וְכָל הָעָם אֲשֶׁר רָאִינוּ בְתוֹכָהּ אַנְשֵׁי מִדּוֹת: וְשָׁם רָאִינוּ אֶת הַנְּפִילִים בְּנֵי עֲנָק מִן הַנְּפִלִים וַנְּהִי בְעֵינֵינוּ כַּחֲגָבִים וְכֵן הָיִינוּ בְּעֵינֵיהֶם:
“…the land that we toured through is a land that eats its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw there were men of measure. There we saw the Nefilim, the sons of the giant, of the Nefilim! We were as insects in our eyes, and so we were in their eyes. (Bamidbar 13:32-3)

It is true that Canaan is a difficult land. It is true that the people who lived there were “men of measure”, and it is even true that some of the cities were inhabited by a race that could be considered “giants”.
But it is their last sentence that sheds the most light on the spies’ failure. “We were as insects in our eyes, and so we were in their eyes.” The Midrash calls them to task for this statement:

אמרו ונהי בעינינו כחגבים אמר הקב”ה ויתרתי עליהם אלא וכן היינו בעיניהם יודעים הייתם מה עשיתי אתכם לעיניהם מי יאמר שלא הייתם בעיניהם כמלאכים
They said, “we were like insects in our eyes”. G-d said, I would have let this pass, but “so we were in their eyes”?! How do you know how I made you look in their eyes? Who says that you weren’t like angels in their eyes?!
(Bamidbar Rabba 16:11)

It is natural and understandable that while encountering such powerful people, the spies would feel “like insects in our eyes.” It does not bode well for a military campaign to have that self-image, but it might have passed. However, when they projected this image of themselves onto their opponents, they showed that they did not believe what they said at the Sea. They did not believe that G-d could cause the inhabitants of Canaan to feel powerless against them.

If you see yourself as an insect, and you don’t believe that G-d has any power over how others see you, then you are an insect, and have no business fighting giants.

But if you realize that how others see you is up to Him, then the giants are helpless before you. If G-d wants the inhabitants of Canaan to see the Jewish People as His avenging angels, then that is what they will see.

And so, a few chapters after the Haftarah, when the Jewish People fulfil the promise made to Rachav by Yehoshua’s spies to save her and her family, this is how they are described:

וְאֶת רָחָב הַזּוֹנָה וְאֶת בֵּית אָבִיהָ וְאֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר לָהּ הֶחֱיָה יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וַתֵּשֶׁב בְּקֶרֶב יִשְׂרָאֵל עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה כִּי הֶחְבִּיאָה אֶת הַמַּלְאָכִים אֲשֶׁר שָׁלַח יְהוֹשֻׁעַ לְרַגֵּל אֶת יְרִיחוֹ
And Rachav the prostitute and her family and all that was hers, Yehoshua protected; she lived among Israel until this day, for she hid the angels that Yehoshua sent to spy on Jericho (Yehoshua 6:25)

When Rachav encountered Yehoshua’s spies, she did not see two men who were amateur gatherers of military intelligence. She saw angels of G-d.

Moshe’s spies did not believe that they were seen as angels of G-d. They saw themselves as insects, and could not fathom that anyone might be helpless before them. They projected this self-image to the rest of the Jewish People, and made conquest impossible. Yehoshua’s generation, raised under the shadow of G-d’s Presence for forty years in the desert, internalized the concept that they are G-d’s People, representing Him as His messengers to the world. They had the courage and faith to be angels, and so they were seen by the inhabitants of Canaan.

PDF for printing, 3 pages A5 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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June 5, 2014 · 16:34

Beha’alotcha – The Light in our Midst

Parshat Beha’alotcha begins with the commandment to light the Menorah in the Mishkan (Tabernacle). The Haftarah of Beha’alotcha also talks about the Menorah, relating Zechariah’s vision of the Menorah with two olive trees around it. The Haftarah does not begin directly with the Menorah, but rather with the following verses:

רָנִּי וְשִׂמְחִי בַּת צִיּוֹן כִּי הִנְנִי בָא וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְתוֹכֵךְ נְאֻם ה’. וְנִלְווּ גוֹיִם רַבִּים אֶל ה’ בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא וְהָיוּ לִי לְעָם וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְתוֹכֵךְ
Sing and rejoice, Daughter of Tzion! For I am coming, and I will dwell in your midst, says Hashem. Many nations will attach to Hashem on that day, and become My people; and I will dwell in your midst … (Zechariah 2:14-15)

“I will dwell in your midst” was the purpose that G-d gave for building the Mishkan, when it was first introduced back in Terumah. Behaalotcha describes the last stages of its dedication, and the commandment to light the Menorah is the last step of that dedication. Chazal explain that the order of events were as follows: as soon as Moshe finished putting up the Mishkan, it was covered by the cloud of G-d’s Presence, signifying the fulfilment of “I will dwell in your midst.” Hashem called Moshe and told him to enter the Mishkan, within the cloud, in order to receive more commandments. The first of those was the commandment to light the Menorah:

דַּבֵּר אֶל אַהֲרֹן וְאָמַרְתָּ אֵלָיו בְּהַעֲלֹתְךָ אֶת הַנֵּרֹת אֶל מוּל פְּנֵי הַמְּנוֹרָה יָאִירוּ שִׁבְעַת הַנֵּרוֹת
Speak to Aharon and tell him: as you raise the candles toward the face of the Menorah, seven candles will give light. (Bamidbar 8:2)

Once the Mishkan was functional, and “I will dwell in your midst” came to pass, the next step is lighting the Menorah. Similarly, in the Haftarah, the prophet is told, “I will dwell in your midst,” and then he is shown a vision of the Menorah. Once G-d dwells in our midst, the Jewish People must respond by lighting the Menorah. For whom do we light these candles?

The Midrash on Beha’alotcha asks the following question: the candles that Aharon lights face inwards “towards the face of the Menorah”, not outwards, as if they are lit for G-d Himself. But, asks the Midrash, what need does G-d have of our light? He is the source of all light, it was the very first thing He created, why does He want us to light candles for Him each day?

אמרו ישראל לפני הקב”ה רבש”ע לנו אתה אומר שנאיר לפניך אתה הוא אורו של עולם …
ואתה אומר אל מול פני המנורה הוי כי אתה תאיר נרי אמר להם הקב”ה לא שאני צריך לכם אלא שתאירו לי כדרך שהארתי לכם
Israel said to G-d, “Master of the Universe! You’re telling us to light before You, when You are the Light of the Universe!”.. And You say, “raise the candles toward the face of the Menorah!”. …G-d said to them, “It’s not that I need you, but rather that you should light for Me like I lit for you.”

The Midrash asserts that our light is meant to reciprocate the light that G-d lit for us on the way in the desert. The Parsha describes the signal used for the camp to travel:

אוֹ יֹמַיִם אוֹ חֹדֶשׁ אוֹ יָמִים בְּהַאֲרִיךְ הֶעָנָן עַל הַמִּשְׁכָּן לִשְׁכֹּן עָלָיו יַחֲנוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְלֹא יִסָּעוּ וּבְהֵעָלֹתוֹ יִסָּעוּ Or two days or a month or a year, if the cloud would be dwelling a long time on the Mishkan, B’nei Yisrael would camp and not travel, and as it would rise, they would travel (Bamidbar 9:22)

The cloud that represented the Presence of G-d would rise above the Mishkan, and direct the way for the Jewish People in the desert. At night, this cloud appeared as a pillar of fire (Shemot 40:38), and lit their way. When G-d requested that we light the Menorah, it was to reciprocate Him lighting our way in the desert. The Midrash brings a parable to explain this:

משל למה הדבר דומה לפיקח וסומא שהיו מהלכין בדרך אמר לו פיקח לסומא כשנכנס לתוך הבית צא והדלק לי את הנר הזה והאיר לי אמר לו הסומא בטובתך כשהייתי בדרך אתה היית מסמכני עד שנכנסנו לתוך הבית אתה היית מלוה אותי ועכשיו אתה אומר הדלק לי את הנר הזה והאיר לי אמר לו הפקח שלא תהא מחזיק לי טובה שהייתי מלווך בדרך לכך אמרתי לך האיר לי
What is the analogy? A sighted person and a blind person who were traveling together. When they got to the house, the sighted one said to the blind one, “Go light a candle for me”. The blind one said, “All the time we were on the road, you led me and supported me, now you ask me to light you a candle?!” He said, “So that you shouldn’t be indebted to me that I accompanied you on the road.”

The relationship between G-d and the Jewish People must not be entirely one-sided. There is a component that comes from G-d giving to us, and there is a component that comes from our actions, giving, as it were, to Him. Lighting the Menorah is the action that parallels G-d’s pillar of light.

The cloud of G-d’s Presence is a remarkable thing, a visible manifestation of a spiritual phenomenon. It was necessary for its time, both on a practical and on a spiritual level, but there was no way that such a situation could exist in perpetuity. Once the Jewish People entered the Land of Israel, the cloud was no longer needed, and it disappeared. But the Menorah remained, and we continued to demonstrate our part of the relationship by lighting the candles, for G-d.
When Shlomo built the Temple, the cloud of G-d’s Presence appeared again to signal G-d’s acceptance of it as His House. At the time of Zechariah, the prophet of the Haftarah, the second Temple was being rebuilt, but the visible sign of G-d’s Presence did not appear. One of the fears of the Jewish People was that G-d did not accept this new Temple. That is why the Haftarah goes out of its way to reassure the Jewish People that G-d would indeed dwell in their midst. It is also why Zechariah is shown a vision of the Menorah. Even when the cloud is not visible, the light of the Menorah affirms G-d dwelling in our midst. The Menorah represents our role as His people, to do what He asks of us, not because He needs us to, but because it binds us to Him.

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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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May 29, 2014 · 13:37

Naso – How it could have ended

The Haftarah tells the story of Shimshon’s birth. Shimshon’s mother, Mrs. Manoach, was barren until she was visited by an angel. This is how she tells her husband what happened:

וַתֹּאמֶר לְאִישָׁהּ לֵאמֹר אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים בָּא אֵלַי וּמַרְאֵהוּ כְּמַרְאֵה מַלְאַךְ הָאֱלֹהִים נוֹרָא מְאֹד וְלֹא שְׁאִלְתִּיהוּ אֵי מִזֶּה הוּא וְאֶת שְׁמוֹ לֹא הִגִּיד לִי: וַיֹּאמֶר לִי הִנָּךְ הָרָה וְיֹלַדְתְּ בֵּן
She spoke to her husband, saying: “A Man of G-d came to me, he looked like an angel of G-d, very frightening, and I did not ask him where he comes from, and he did not tell me his name. He said to me, ‘You are going to be pregnant and give birth to a son… (Shoftim 13:6-7)

If the story were told by a neighborhood “yenta”, it might have looked like this:

“You know that Mrs. Manoach, the one who’s barren, nebech? Guess what, she’s pregnant! But did you hear her story? She was out in the field, and an angel came to her. Yeah, sure, an “angel”… Poor Manoach. He’s so clueless.”

In the ancient world, there were many fables of women “visited” by divine beings, and the supernatural children that they bore. If Manoach had doubted his wife’s fidelity, nobody would have held it against him.

Parshat Naso offers a solution for a husband whose wife has been compromised and there is no way to know what happened: the Sotah ritual. Her husband can take her to the Temple, where she is made to drink a potion that kills her if she is guilty, or blesses her with fertility if she is innocent. It is an ordeal, in every sense of the word, but at least it provides closure. It is a way for him to prove to himself and to society that she was in fact innocent, a way to stop the rumors and the pitying looks, a way to repair their relationship.

But Manoach did not take his wife to the Sotah ritual. Their relationship did not need to be repaired.

In the conditions for the ritual, we find the following:

וְעָבַר עָלָיו רוּחַ קִנְאָה וְקִנֵּא אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ וְהִוא נִטְמָאָה אוֹ עָבַר עָלָיו רוּחַ קִנְאָה וְקִנֵּא אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ וְהִיא לֹא נִטְמָאָה
And he was seized by jealousy, and was jealous over his wife, and she had become impure; or, he was seized by jealousy and was jealous over his wife, and she did not become impure. (Bamidbar 5:14)

It is not enough for the woman to have appeared to stray. The husband must also be seized by jealousy. If he is not, then the ritual is not necessary.

What was Manoach’s reaction to hearing that “a man of G-d came to” his wife? He begs G-d to send him again, to hear what else he has to say. What was Manoach’s reaction when he shows up again, not to him as requested, but again to his wife, out alone in the field? Does he question her, or blame her, or wonder what the Man of G-d wants with her? None of that. When she runs in and tells him, “He is here again, the man that came to me the other day” –

וַיָּקָם וַיֵּלֶךְ מָנוֹחַ אַחֲרֵי אִשְׁתּוֹ
Manoach got up and went after his wife (Shoftim 13:11)

Manoach is nothing like the husband in the Sotah ritual. Not only is he not consumed by jealousy, but the thought does not even cross his mind. She is his wife; he goes where she leads.

So that we don’t miss this point, the Haftarah’s twenty-four verses use the phrase, אִשְׁתּוֹ “his wife”, seven times. Instead of saying, “he said to her,” it says, “Manoach said to his wife.” Instead of saying, “she answered,” it says, “his wife answered.” Similarly, in the Parsha of Sotah, the phrase, “his wife”, is repeated four times. Additionally, both sets of text use the somewhat rare term, אִישָׁהּ “her man”, three times in close proximity. This linguistic mechanism is meant to highlight that what is at stake here is the idea of “man and wife”.

The relationship known as “man and wife” goes back to Creation. Whereas the betrayal of this relationship, adultery, is one of the cardinal sins listed in the Torah, the Parsha takes it one step further, and tells us that jealousy alone might be equally destructive. It also offers a way to resolve it. The Haftarah takes it one step further than that, and tells us that jealousy is not the only possible reaction to such circumstances.

If Mr. and Mrs. Manoach had not thought of each other as “man and wife”, if he had not believed in her, if his faith in her had been affected by slander and sinister glances, than he might have taken her to be a Sotah.

If the husband of the Sotah had been more like Manoach, and had trusted his wife and stood by her even when things looked bad, then he would not have had to put her through the ordeal.

It could have ended differently.

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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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