Lech Lecha, Isaiah 40:27 – 41:16

Context

Where are we in the book of Yishayah? The book begins with several threads of prophecies concerning Yehudah and the other nations in the first 35 chapters. Chapters 36 – 39 tell stories about King Chizkiyah (by all accounts, a righteous king) and his interactions with Yishayah during a siege on Jerusalem and his subsequent illness. The first 26 verses of Chapter 40 are the famous haftarah of “נחמו”, “Take comfort, my nation”. The leadup to verse 27 is generally about the greatness and incomparability of G-d.

Overview

Which brings us to our haftarah! Here’s a breakdown into three units:

[40:27-31] G-d never grows tired, so no one can hide from him. Men grow tired, but G-d gives renewed strength to those who have faith in him.

[41:1-7] The nations shall come for judgment, but someone rises from the East to mete out justice. All was ordained by G-d. Men who craft weapons will help and encourage each other.

[41:8-16] Do not fear, Israel, for I [G-d] am with you. Though you feel weak, I will make you strong to defeat your enemies.

The second two units hold together relatively well: the nations approach to face judgment in the form of some battle. Israel is encouraged to face that same battle with the knowledge that G-d supports them. The first unit in that light can be seen as a statement of general principles outlining this battle: the followers of G-d (Israel) will be given strength, and those who would hide from G-d (the nations) will grow tired and be destroyed.

“They shall exchange their strength”

The same phrase appears in two seemingly quite different sentiments in neighboring verses. In 40:31, we see the following:

לא וְקוֹיֵ יְהוָה יַחֲלִיפוּ כֹחַ, יַעֲלוּ אֵבֶר כַּנְּשָׁרִים; יָרוּצוּ וְלֹא יִיגָעוּ, יֵלְכוּ וְלֹא יִיעָפוּ

And the faithful of Hashem will exchange their strength; they will raise their wing like vultures; they shall run and not grow weary, walk and not become tired.

(I’m translating “nesher” as vulture, since this is likely the original meaning, even though it is popularly translated as eagle.)

The idea of “exchanging strength” is akin to the English idiom “catching a second wind”; when you run out of energy, you exchange your used-up energy for a brand-new energy. Radak refers us to Iyov 14:7, where a tree is cut down but has still hope to grow again — the Hebrew there uses the “exchange” root as well:

“כִּי יֵשׁ לָעֵץ תִּקְוָה: אִם-יִכָּרֵת, וְעוֹד יַחֲלִיף”

This becomes especially cool when you consider the next phrase: “they will raise their wings like vultures”. The JPS Commentary points us to Tehilim 103:5, where the passuk says תִּתְחַדֵּשׁ כַּנֶּשֶׁר נְעוּרָיְכִי, “your youth will be renewed like the vulture”. Rashi comments on this strange verse:

תתחדש כנשר נעוריכי. כנשר הזה שמחדש כנפיו ונוצה משנה לשנה, ויש מדרש אגדה על מין נשר

שכשמזקין חוזר לנערותו:

Your youth will be renewed like the vulture. Just as the vulture renews its wings and feathers each year, and there is a midrash telling of a type of vulture who, when it becomes old, returns to its youth.

Sounds like a midrashic analogue of the phoenix from Greek mythology! Anyways, using this interpretation, the verse has beautiful parallelism:

1) The faithful will exchange their strength = 2) they will regrow their wing like vultures

3) They will run and not grow weary = 4) they will walk and not become tired.

Moving on to the next verse, we run into some difficulty:

א הַחֲרִישׁוּ אֵלַי אִיִּים, וּלְאֻמִּים יַחֲלִיפוּ כֹחַ; יִגְּשׁוּ אָז יְדַבֵּרוּ, יַחְדָּו לַמִּשְׁפָּט נִקְרָבָה.

Keep silent to me, islands; and nations, exchange your strength; they will approach, then speak, together we will approach justice.

 

The translation of החרישו as “keep silent”, as chosen by Radak, Metuzdat David, and the JPS among others, is problematic for two reasons:

1. The following word אלי, “to me”, does not fit with the verb “keep silent”. In comparable verses in Yirmiyahu 38:27 and Iyov 13:13, the accompanying preposition is from, ממנו or ממני, respectively.
2. “Keep silent” is hard to fit in to the parallelism of the verse; note that “mishpat” at the end of the verse can also refer to a discussion:
   1) “hacharishu” to me islands = 2) exchange your strength, nations
   3) they will approach then speak = 4) together, we come close to discuss.
   Da’at Mikra preserves the parallelism by making both (1) and (2) a request to wait — be silent and wait, then wait and replenish your strength. Still that explanation uses “exchanging strength” in a much different sense than the previous verse — I want to keep the meanings similar.

So, how should we translate “החרישו”? Perhaps it means something like its use in Shmuel Alef 23:9. David observes that Sha’ul is plotting against him, which the Navi describes as וַיֵּדַע דָּוִד–כִּי עָלָיו, שָׁאוּל מַחֲרִישׁ הָרָעָה using the same verb form to describe “scheming”. It seems that there is an agricultural root for that usage; “choresh” can mean “to plow”, so a scheme is like “plowing” the ground in preparation for something. There are a bunch of usages like this in Tehilim and Mishlei, but in a different verb form.

This allows us to retain the parallelism: hatching a plot is comparable to regaining strength to fight anew. It also fixes the preposition problem, you create a scheme to actively entrap someone, not passively withdraw from them. It’s not a perfect fix, but I think it reads well in context. It also gives an alternative tone to begin this section — the nations are plotting and coming to face off with Israel. This aligns nicely with verses 6-7 where war preparations are being made.

To close off this discussion, we point out that the phrase “להחליף כח” comes up only twice in Tanach — both in this haftarah!

“Justice from the East”

Verses 41:2-4 are framed as a pair of rhetorical questions surrounding a description of might; roughly translated:

 

Who raised up out of the East?

Justice greets his feet; He places nations before him and he causes to rule over kings.

His sword makes like dust, his bow makes like a wind-driven reed.

Who has acted and done this?
The one who called/read generations from the beginning,

I, the Lord, am first, and I will be He with the last.

 

The commentators seem to all agree that this passage refers to some historical figure brought to power by G-d. Chazal, in the gemara in Bava Batra 15a, claim that this hero from the East is none other than Avraham, who was born in Ur Kasdim, which is located to the East of Canaan. Most of the commentators cite this opinion. Ibn Ezra points to Koresh (i.e. the Persian ruler Cyrus) as the conqueror from the East.

I think another plausible reading is that the whole passage refers to G-d. The difficulty in making this reading is the causative verbs “העיר” and “ירד”. These make it seem like G-d wakes up or raises up someone, and causes that someone to crush or rule over kings. However, neither of these translations is particularly clear: the former could be read as “Who wakes [people with sunrise] from the East?” along the lines of Yishayah 50:4. The latter is a unique verb formation in Tanakh, so it’s hard to say it must be truly causative.

I think this makes the whole passage read better, since it’s about G-d giving strength to Israel to combat the other nations — not any historical figure.

“The seed of Avraham, My friend”

Now, we will try to answer the standard question: what does our haftarah have to do with Parashat Lech Lecha?

As we mentioned, some interpret the bringer of justice from the East as a reference to Avraham. That would be a more convincing reason to use this as the haftarah. However, if we choose to read that section differently, we would hope that there would be another reason to choose this haftarah.

I think there are two main parallels to the parsha:

1. One explicit connection comes in verse 41:8 when the passuk says “But you, Yisrael, My servant, Yaakov, whom I have chosen, Seed of Avraham My friend”. Avraham is the star of this week’s parsha and he makes an appearance here as well. He shows up only about 5 times in the Prophets, so this is significant. Actually, the word “zera” or “seed” appears a few times in the parsha as well.
2. The war in which Avraham single-handedly destroys the armies that had captured his nephew Lot. In our haftarah, also, Israel is told that they will have the assistance of G-d to defeat the overwhelming force (and cooperation) of the other nations around them. Verses 6-7 exemplify the alliance formed by the four kings that Avraham bravely fights.

May the shabbat rest help you grow new vulture wings! Until next week…

Shabbat Rosh Chodesh (Isaiah 66)

I’ve gotten some great tips regarding the origin of “haftarah” — thank you to everyone who shared their sources! I hope to post a follow-up in the future. This week, though, we’re focusing on the haftarah for Shabbat Rosh Chodesh. B’ezrat Hashem soon!

Let’s jump right into the haftarah for shabbat rosh chodesh, the Sabbath coinciding with the new month of Marcheshvan. The reading is the final chapter of Yishayah (Isaiah), chapter 66. In my assessment, the chapter breaks down into roughly six units that can be summarized as follows:

[1-4] G-d created the world, but cares for the poor. He does not need a Temple, but hypocrites worship him there. He will eventually punish them.

[5-6] G-d addresses the poor: I will punish your enemies.

[7-13] Extended mixed metaphor of Jerusalem/G-d as a mother who gives birth to the Jewish people, nurses them with the waters of peace, and comforts them.

[14-17] G-d will destroy the hypocrites and sinners with fire.

[18-22] G-d describes His plan to send out emissaries to gather people from all over the world to come to Jerusalem to witness his glory and serve Him.

[23-24] Everyone will come on a monthly and weekly basis to bow before G-d. When they depart, they will be disgusted by the still-rotting corpses of the hypocrites.

Cheerful, I know. So cheerful, in fact, that the common minhag is to repeat verse 23 to end the haftarah on a lighter note.

I don’t know much about Yishayah; I’ve read a few chapters, but I don’t have a great idea of his prophetic priorities. If I were to judge from this chapter alone, I would say that a major concern for him is the annihilation and humiliation of sinners. The sinners are described in numerous ways; some of them are pretty standard: שנאיכם — your [the righteous’] haters, מנדיכם — your [the righteous’] mockers, איביו — His [G-d’s] enemies, הפשעים בי– those who sin against me. But there are some much more targeted epithets. Verse 3 goes as follows:

ג שׁוֹחֵט הַשּׁוֹר מַכֵּה-אִישׁ, זוֹבֵחַ הַשֶּׂה עֹרֵף כֶּלֶב, מַעֲלֵה מִנְחָה דַּם-חֲזִיר, מַזְכִּיר לְבֹנָה מְבָרֵךְ אָוֶן–גַּם-הֵמָּה, בָּחֲרוּ בְּדַרְכֵיהֶם, וּבְשִׁקּוּצֵיהֶם, נַפְשָׁם חָפֵצָה.

3. He slaughters an ox, he slays a man; he sacrifices a lamb, he breaks a dog’s neck; he offers a meal-offering, he offers swine’s blood; he makes a memorial-offering of frankincense, he blesses an idol…

The translation here is a bit tricky, which is why I left the English rocky. Most mefarshim (e.g. Ibn Ezra, Radak) maintain that each clause is meant to compare the one doing the first action to someone who does the second. For example, one who slaughters an ox in my Temple, presuming to holiness and sanctity, while conducting himself in evil ways in the rest of his life, G-d views him as equally repulsive to a murderer. The Tanach translator on the Sefaria website (possibly the 1985 JPS Bible, but not sure) makes a different choice: each pair of clauses indicates one person doing two contradictory acts. For example, these sinners slaughter an ox in worship one day and commit murder the next. In an even more literal way, this exposes the hypocrisy of the people that G-d describes here.

The next unusual reference to sinners is in verse 17:

יז הַמִּתְקַדְּשִׁים וְהַמִּטַּהֲרִים אֶל-הַגַּנּוֹת, אַחַר אחד (אַחַת) בַּתָּוֶךְ, אֹכְלֵי בְּשַׂר הַחֲזִיר, וְהַשֶּׁקֶץ וְהָעַכְבָּר–יַחְדָּו יָסֻפוּ, נְאֻם-יְהוָה.

Those who sanctify and purify themselves to enter the groves, after one in the center, eating the flesh of the swine, the reptile, and the mouse, shall one and all come to an end—declares the LORD.

The majority of the mefarshim read this verse as a description of people undergoing ritual purification (e.g. bathing) in order to worship an idol. Rashi says the gardens refer to a garden filled with idols, while Ibn Ezra says its a tree that is itself worshipped — an asheirah; either way — straight idolatry. Radak gives a slightly different take: he says that the first words of the verse do not describe ritual purification, rather they describe those who make themselves out to be pure, who see themselves as holy. The Radak claims that the gardens surround pools where people bathe, and despite their self-image as holy, they engage in immoral behavior there. Here, too, at least in the reading of the Radak, the key to G-d’s criticism is hypocrisy.

There’s a lot more to delve into here, particularly the long and confusing metaphor regarding motherhood, and the cryptic prophecy regarding the emissaries going out to the nations. Unfortunately, there’s not enough time in the day — I will mention a couple of textual goodies that connect to our parsha though. Verse 19 has so many references to Parshiyot Breishit and Noach that it seems almost too convenient:

יט וְשַׂמְתִּי בָהֶם אוֹת, וְשִׁלַּחְתִּי מֵהֶם פְּלֵיטִים אֶל-הַגּוֹיִם תַּרְשִׁישׁ פּוּל וְלוּד מֹשְׁכֵי קֶשֶׁת–תֻּבַל וְיָוָן: הָאִיִּים הָרְחֹקִים, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-שָׁמְעוּ אֶת-שִׁמְעִי וְלֹא-רָאוּ אֶת-כְּבוֹדִי–וְהִגִּידוּ אֶת-כְּבוֹדִי, בַּגּוֹיִם.

19. And I will put a sign on them, and I will send those that escape unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard My fame, neither have seen My glory; and they shall declare My glory among the nations.

The אות placed on the messengers sounds a lot like the אות placed on Kayin last week. The Hebrew word for bow is קשת — same as the rainbow from our parsha. Tubal and Javan also appear in this week’s parsha as grandchildren of Noah. I don’t have a great idea to explain the connection to the beginning of Bereishit, but I’d love to hear your thoughts!

This isn’t the haftarah of Noach though: so, why is this haftarah read on shabbat rosh chodesh? The simplest answer is the mention of the words שבת and חודש in verse 23. Obviously, this isn’t particularly satisfying. Perhaps, the thing to remember about Rosh Chodesh is that it doesn’t have a strong identity as a holiday. It’s true that there may have been a custom to refrain from work (perhaps just for women; see Talmud Bavli Rosh Hashanah 23a or Megillah 22b), but Biblically, it’s just a regular day for most of us. The place where it’s truly observed is only…in the Temple. Unlike the usual sacrifice of two lambs a day, the sacrifice on Rosh Chodesh was two cows, one ram, and seven lambs. Perhaps on such a Temple-centric holiday, the Sages thought that it was important to remind us that ritual sacrifice, if not accompanied by true worship of G-d, is hypocrisy.

Haftarah Project 5778

Inspired by Rabbi Yonatan Cohen’s drasha at Congregation Beth Israel this week, I am resurrecting this blog for a yearlong project. I will iy”H delve into the weekly haftarah.  I’m not 100% certain about the format, but I hope it will clarify itself as time progresses.

For the first post, I thought I would look into a question that I’ve always wondered: what is the word “haftarah” and where does it come from?

I would bet I’m not the only Jewish kid who thought “haftarah” was “Half Torah” until at least age 12. The common mythos about the innovation of the haftarah is that it was instituted when Antiochus or some other tyrant outlawed reading of the Torah. The Jews responded by instituting weekly readings from the Prophets with elements related to the Torah portion. According to this legend, “half Torah” is only half nonsense. [The legend though is pretty hard to buy. Torah illegal, but prophets A-OK?]

In any case, the word “הפטרה” comes from the Hebrew root “פ.ט.ר”, conjugated in the “הפעיל” form. This root is most common in the Talmudic literature in the form פטור, exempt, which serves as an antonym for חייב, obligated. Usually this appears in reference to a transgression, and whether it is grave enough to incur an obligation to bring an animal sacrifice in atonement.

In Biblical Hebrew, the general usage seems to follow this general idea — freedom or separation from something.  (I’m using the online BDB Lexicon for the references) Two examples:

1. Shemot 13:2 — the first-born is described as “פטר כל רחם” the “peter” of every womb.
2. Divrei Ha-Yamim Bet 23:8 —  “פָטַר” means “dismiss” or “send away” with reference to the priestly divisions, who were asked to stay longer at the Temple.

But, the only usage in the “הפעיל” form is from Tehilim 22:8, where it is used to describe someone parting their lips. This isn’t a very convincing analog to our context, so we’re a bit short on evidence.

Instead let’s look at Mishnaic Hebrew.  Using Mechon Mamre, I found two usages of “מפטיר” in Talmud Bavli outside of the context of readings from the prophets:

1. Pesachim Ch 10 — אין מפטירין אחר הפסח אפיקומן. “You cannot maftir after the Passover offering an afikoman”. Bartenura hews close to the Biblical meaning, interpreting it as “separating one’s lips to speak” or “departing from the Passover feast.” The Tiferet Yisrael (in the Yachin) cites Rabeinu Eliezer Ashkenazi that both maftir and afikoman are Greek words meaning “taste” and “dessert”.  I couldn’t locate corroborating sources for those Greek words; still, it’s intriguing that he connects it to a non-Biblical root.
2. Moed Katan Bavli 5b — מאי שדה בוכין רב יהושע בר אבא משמיה דעולא אמר שדה שמפטירין בה מתים. “What is a field of weeping? Rav Yehoshua bar Abba says in the name of Ulla that it’s a field where people maftir the dead.”  Rashi explains that (like the Biblical root) this field was where those accompanying the dead would depart, handing off the deceased to others.  Ritva takes issue with this explanation — he asks, if it is the live escorts who are departing, why does the phrase say that the dead are being “maftir”-ed?  Instead, he connects it to Yerushalmi Berachot 20a, where it means “eulogize” (see also Yerushalmi for Avodah Zarah 18b, Horayot 18b).

“Eulogize” seems like an interesting avenue for comparison.  Arguably, this could be connected to the Biblical meaning of separation,  as it is a farewell speech to the departed. Still, the grammatical note of the Ritva implies something of a distinct nature.

After this meandering exploration of the word Haftarah, we are left with the question: why would we use this word for the reading of the Prophets on shabbat? The straightforward answer, given by R’ S.R. Hirsch and others, is that the haftarah is the concluding portion, or dismissal, from the Shacharit service (see Wikipedia). A more speculative explanation I’m hazarding now: perhaps the minor-key dirge-like quality of the Haftarah trope brings to mind the cadence of a eulogy.

Hopefully, as I learn more about Haftarot, I will gain a better understanding for what it means. I hope you’ll join me!