Haftorah Beam - Ba'Ha'alot'kha

This Parsha - literally meaning "as you raise up" - is about redemption.  The Torah reading appears fraught with strife, but is ultimately concerned with the resolution of conflict, Moses reconciling with the people, and the people turning back towards G*d.  The Haftorah is more explicitly about the reconciliation: Joshua (representing the people) starts out in a state of defilement, which is divinely removed from him so that he can take on the tasks of High Priest.  It is here that we find such immortal gems such as:

ב  וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-הַשָּׂטָן, יִגְעַר יְהוָה בְּךָ הַשָּׂטָן, וְיִגְעַר יְהוָה בְּךָ, הַבֹּחֵר בִּירוּשָׁלִָם; הֲלוֹא זֶה אוּד, מֻצָּל מֵאֵשׁ.

2 And the LORD said unto Satan: 'The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan, yea, the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee; is not this man a brand plucked out of the fire?'

and

ו  וַיַּעַן וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלַי, לֵאמֹר, זֶה דְּבַר-יְהוָה, אֶל-זְרֻבָּבֶל לֵאמֹר:  לֹא בְחַיִל, וְלֹא בְכֹחַ--כִּי אִם-בְּרוּחִי, אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת.

6 Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying: 'This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying: Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

This is the essence of redemption: we are but a glowing ember, rescued from the flames by the strength of spirit alone.

Haftorah Beam - Nasso

OK, back to work!

The Torah portion for Nasso includes the laws of the Nazir, and the Haftorah recounts the story of one of the most famous Nazirim, Samson.

Most of the text pertains to the preparations undertaken by Samson's parents, from the announcement by the angel to the mother-to-be:

"You are barren and have borne no children; but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Now be careful not to drink wine or other intoxicant, or to eat anything unclean. 5 For you are going to conceive and bear a son; let no razor touch his head, for the boy is to be a nazirite to God from the womb on. He shall be the first to deliver Israel from the Philistines."

She repeats this announcement to her husband, who disbelieves her, and entreats G*d to send the messenger again.  The angel reappears, and repeats the same instructions.  When the angel refuses a reward for these news, the man becomes suspicious:

 17 So Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "What is your name? We should like to honor you when your words come true." 18 The angel said to him, "You must not ask for my name; it is unknowable!"

Manoah and his wife proceed to offer a sacrifice to G*d, which is consumed (accepted).  Even then, Manoah fears the implications, only to be reassured by his wife:

22 And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, for we have seen a divine being." 23 But his wife said to him, "Had the Lord meant to take our lives, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and meal offering from us, nor let us see all these things; and He would not have made such an announcement to us."

And she, in fact, has the last word:

24 The woman bore a son, and she named him Samson. The boy grew up, and the Lord blessed him.

This mother, who is never named, understood what was going on at each stage. It would have been so easy to get frustrated with Manoah and his insistence on second-guessing her.  But she did not do that.  She patiently supported him in seeking additional information from the angel, and reassured him without belittling his concerns.  She was truly an Eshet Chayil.

Another year older

I had my birthday this past weekend.  A time of reflection, but also a time of action.  Action that took my attention away from blogging.  Am I being cryptic? A bit.  But I also have some Haftorah Beam to catch up with......

Haftorah Beam - Bamidbar

The first Torah reading in the book of Numbers is connected to the divine Covenant with the People of Israel, and the Haftorah reading relates to its restoration in the time of the prophet Hosea.  Having strayed from G*d, the people are returning to their traditions and observances, and will be rewarded with a renewed closeness with G*d:

א  וְהָיָה מִסְפַּר בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, כְּחוֹל הַיָּם, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יִמַּד, וְלֹא יִסָּפֵר; וְהָיָה בִּמְקוֹם אֲשֶׁר-יֵאָמֵר לָהֶם, לֹא-עַמִּי אַתֶּם, יֵאָמֵר לָהֶם, בְּנֵי אֵל-חָי.

1 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass that, instead of that which was said unto them: 'Ye are not My people', it shall be said unto them: 'Ye are the children of the living God.'

The rest of the Haftorah deals with this in greater detail, comparing the People of Israel with an unfaithful wife, rejected and forlorn. It concludes with the restoration of intimacy, which is initiated not by repentance but by G*d:

טז  לָכֵן, הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי מְפַתֶּיהָ, וְהֹלַכְתִּיהָ, הַמִּדְבָּר; וְדִבַּרְתִּי, עַל-לִבָּהּ.	16 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly unto her.
יז  וְנָתַתִּי לָהּ אֶת-כְּרָמֶיהָ מִשָּׁם, וְאֶת-עֵמֶק עָכוֹר לְפֶתַח תִּקְוָה; וְעָנְתָה שָּׁמָּה כִּימֵי נְעוּרֶיהָ, וּכְיוֹם עֲלוֹתָהּ מֵאֶרֶץ-מִצְרָיִם.	17 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she shall respond there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
יח  וְהָיָה בַיּוֹם-הַהוּא נְאֻם-יְהוָה, תִּקְרְאִי אִישִׁי; וְלֹא-תִקְרְאִי-לִי עוֹד, בַּעְלִי.	18 And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call Me Ishi, and shalt call Me no more Baali.

The reconciliation begins with G*d leading us, as he has done with His people since Abraham, into the wilderness.  In the empty, barren wilderness, we can hear His "small still voice" as it "speaks tenderly" unto us.  In that place we can see the love that has always been there, and can respond with our own prayers.

In similar vein, we should see our fellow man not as "not my people", but as "children of a living G*d".

Proverbs 31

A fellow blogger mommy posted this on Facebook the other day.  She is a Christian woman, relating what she learned about Proverbs 31 from a Jewish friend.  This passage apparently has a very different context in the two traditions.  In Judaism, this is the source of the song Eshet Chayil ("Woman of Valor"), which men traditionally sing to their wives for Shabbat, celebrating them and their accomplishments. In Christianity, many apparently take it as a to-do list for women..... Very different!

Well, as I often do when people reference the Bible, I went to look it up in context.  I found it interesting that the famous acrostic poem does NOT start at the beginning of the chapter, but only on the tenth verse.  The skipped verses are:

א  דִּבְרֵי, לְמוּאֵל מֶלֶךְ--    מַשָּׂא, אֲשֶׁר-יִסְּרַתּוּ אִמּוֹ.	1 The words of king Lemuel; the burden wherewith his mother corrected him.
ב  מַה-בְּרִי, וּמַה-בַּר-בִּטְנִי;    וּמֶה, בַּר-נְדָרָי.	2 What, my son? and what, O son of my womb? and what, O son of my vows?
ג  אַל-תִּתֵּן לַנָּשִׁים חֵילֶךָ;    וּדְרָכֶיךָ, לַמְחוֹת מְלָכִין.	3 Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.
ד  אַל לַמְלָכִים, לְמוֹאֵל--אַל לַמְלָכִים שְׁתוֹ-יָיִן;    וּלְרוֹזְנִים, או (אֵי) שֵׁכָר.	4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine: nor for princes to say: 'Where is strong drink?'
ה  פֶּן-יִשְׁתֶּה, וְיִשְׁכַּח מְחֻקָּק;    וִישַׁנֶּה, דִּין כָּל-בְּנֵי-עֹנִי.	5 Lest they drink, and forget that which is decreed, and pervert the justice due to any that is afflicted.
ו  תְּנוּ-שֵׁכָר לְאוֹבֵד;    וְיַיִן, לְמָרֵי נָפֶשׁ.	6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto the bitter in soul;
ז  יִשְׁתֶּה, וְיִשְׁכַּח רִישׁוֹ;    וַעֲמָלוֹ, לֹא יִזְכָּר-עוֹד.	7 Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.
ח  פְּתַח-פִּיךָ לְאִלֵּם;    אֶל-דִּין, כָּל-בְּנֵי חֲלוֹף.	8 Open thy mouth for the dumb, in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.
ט  פְּתַח-פִּיךָ שְׁפָט-צֶדֶק;    וְדִין, עָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן.	9 Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.

The first verse announces that this entire section is the King's mother instructing him in being a good king.  It is, start to finish, a woman's voice speaking to a powerful man, lovingly guiding him in reaching his full potential as a powerful, spiritual being.  And what is it that she tells him?

1. Don't be a womanizer!
2. Learn from the examples of others to avoid ruin.
3. Don't get drunk.  You are a powerful man, and alcohol will undermine your ability to fulfill your duties honorably.

So far, pretty straightforward advice. but she pushes on:

4. Rather than drinking yourself, give drink to the poor and suffering, to help them forget their misery.
5. Speak up for those who have no voice, who have been written off by society.
6. Speak up for justice, for all those who are poor and needy.

While the first three can be seen as selfishly good advice for living a happy, wholesome life, this set of instructions admonish the King to go beyond living honorably.  As one who is in a position of power, he must be proactive in using that awesome power for good.  He must seek out those who are suffering and have no voice, alleviate their suffering, speak up for them, and act on their behalf.

And how is he to do all this? The King's mother knows full well both the temptations of the world (1-3) and the daunting magnitude of standing up for the downtrodden (4-6).  Don't try to do it alone, she tells him:

י  אֵשֶׁת-חַיִל, מִי יִמְצָא;    וְרָחֹק מִפְּנִינִים מִכְרָהּ.	10 A woman of valour who can find? for her price is far above rubies.
יא  בָּטַח בָּהּ, לֵב בַּעְלָהּ;    וְשָׁלָל, לֹא יֶחְסָר.	11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, and he hath no lack of gain.
יב  גְּמָלַתְהוּ טוֹב וְלֹא-רָע--    כֹּל, יְמֵי חַיֶּיהָ.	12 She doeth him good and not evil all the days of her life.

And THAT is the context for Eshet Chayil.

Haftorah Beam - Bechukotai

This week's haftorah reading doesn't seem very closely connected with the Torah reading.  The theme is trust in G*d to meet our needs.  Relying on others, or even our own efforts, is seen as worthless without an underlying faith in G*d's supremacy.  This is very hard for people to internalize.  Relying on a deity feels (and often looks) like making no effort and expecting rewards to land in one's lap for the asking.  However, Jeremiah makes this sermon in the context of the commandment of Shmitta.

We fully expect to farm the land "by the sweat of our brow", and we do so for six consecutive years.  On the seventh, however, we are instructed to leave the land fallow, to give it a "Sabbath".  Today, modern agricultural science confirms that this practice allows the earth to restore nutrients for future growth, but in Biblical times this took an enormous leap of faith.  However, we are NOT instructed to make no effort.  The six years are to be front-ended, and that work is very concrete.  Furthermore, the sabbatical year is not one of passive "flopping", but of focused, directed faith in G*d.

⁷ Blessed is he who trusts in the Lord,Whose trust is the Lord alone.⁸ He shall be like a tree planted by waters,Sending forth its roots by a stream:It does not sense the coming of heat,Its leaves are ever fresh;It has no care in a year of drought,It does not cease to yield fruit.

"Work as though it all depends on you; Pray as though it all depends on G*d."

Haftorah Beam - BeHar

Once again, this week's Torah was part of a doubled parsha last year, and I kinda focused on the other parsha in my commentary.  The Haftorah reading is from Jeremiah, and mostly discusses a real estate deal between the prophet and another member of the community.  It concludes:

²⁴ Here are the siegemounds, raised against the city to storm it; and the city, because of sword and famine and pestilence, is at the mercy of the Chaldeans who are attacking it. What You threatened has come to pass — as You see. ²⁵ Yet You, Lord God, said to me: Buy the land for money and call in witnesses — when the city is at the mercy of the Chaldeans!"
²⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:
²⁷ "Behold I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too wondrous for Me?

When the problems of the world seem insurmountable, this is reassuring...