The Hebrew Scriptures are not readily or easily understood by native English speakers, we post a weekly addition to regular Torah commentary. "Cutting to the Root" is intended to promote an understanding of the complexity of the Hebrew language and thereby gain a richer and deeper understanding of the Scriptures. It is our goal that these notes will teach tolerance and understanding.Please visit our web site at www.shefaisrael.com

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Reading for Chanuka

Chanukah
22nd December – 29th December
25th Kislev – 2nd Tevet 5769



The History of Chanukah
Chanukah, the Festival of rededication, is also known as the festival of lights. Chanukah is an eight day festival, and always falls on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev, even though its corresponding date in the English calendar varies. This year, 2008, Chanukah begins on Monday, December 22nd in the evening. In the Western world, Chanukah is probably one of the best known Jewish holidays, principally because of its proximity to Christmas. While many may think of this holiday as the "Jewish Christmas," including elaborate gift-giving and decoration, Chanukah is actually a simple historical commemoration, celebrating the victory of a small band of rebels fighting against the imposing might of the Hellenistic Assyrian army. Commemorating this fight against oppression and assimilation, we kindle lights to remember the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, and to rededicate ourselves to strengthening our own identities today.
Talmudic Beginnings.


The rabbis of the Talmud ask a strange question: ‘Ma hi Chanukah?’ (Shabbat 21b). Loosely translated, this means, "What the heck is Chanukah about anyway?" At this point you may be asking: "you mean the ancient sages of our tradition didn't know the story about the wicked Antiochus. ‘Achashverosh’ in Hebrew - and the flask of oil that lasted eight days and about latkes and dreidels and little chocolate coins?"


Well, except for the latkes and dreidels and little chocolate coins part, the ancient sages did know that story. In fact, they gave it to us. What they were not sure was how to properly celebrate the holiday, or how all the different traditions that had developed fit together.


To explain how the ancient rabbis saw Chanukah, first let's take a step back and look at the historical record, as best we understand it. In 167 B.C.E., a king named Antiochus Epiphanus (interestingly ‘Epiphanus’ means in the Greek ‘as God’) ruled over a chunk of the Middle East that included the land of Israel. He wanted to unify all the peoples under his rule with one culture, the Greek-Roman culture called Hellenism, which had been handed down from the time of Alexander the Great (ca 323 B.C.E.). So Antiochus outlawed the study of Torah and the practice of Judaism, and put Greek gods in Jewish holy places.


Some Jews went along with Antiochus's edicts and assimilated into Hellenism, but other Jews rebelled against these oppressive laws. The most successful rebel was a Hasmonean priest named Mattathias. He and his five sons, including the legendary Judah the Maccabee (Judah the "Hammer") led a successful rebellion to retake Jerusalem and reestablish Jewish sovereignty. Eventually, they even established themselves and their descendants as native Jewish kings. When they took over the Temple and cleaned out all the remnants of the idolatrous Greek worship, they rededicated the Temple and then immediately held a late observance of the eight day festival of Sukkot, the most important festival of Temple times. The next year, to commemorate their victory and the rededication of the Temple, a "late Sukkot" was held again, thereby giving birth to our eight-day celebration of Chanukah - which means "dedication".
The deeds of the Maccabees were recorded and reported to other Jewish communities throughout the Land of Israel and to those communities outside the land that developed during the first exile and who never returned. The oldest sources we have for the story of the Maccabees is the First and Second Books of the Maccabees. The First Book of Maccabees is a simple history, telling the story of the revolt and continuing the story of resistance that continued after the revolt when the Hasmoneans took over the monarchy. The Second Book of Maccabees was composed as a letter, written to the Jewish community of Alexandria, explaining the events that took place and encouraging them to commemorate the Hasmonean victory by observing the new holiday of Chanukah.


While these books tell the important story of the Maccabees, they were not universally embraced by Jews everywhere, and when the time came for the canonization (selection process) of the Hebrew Bible, they were left out. They were, however, preserved by the early Church, who did include the Books of the Maccabees in the Apocrypha, the Greek writings that appear in Christian Bibles between the "Old" and "New" Testaments.


So what happened to the story of the oil and the miracle of the lights? Well, that's where the rabbis come in. In the rabbinic sources, we find virtual silence on the topic of Chanukah in the Mishnah. It is only in the Gemara (the later rabbinic material which, along with the Mishnah makes up the Talmud) that we find the new story about the oil and the miracle of the lights. By the time of the development of the Talmud, around 200-500 C.E., the Jews were living under Roman rule in Israel and under Persian rule in Babylon. In these circumstances, celebrating stories about military rebellion might not be viewed in too positive a light by the authorities, and the sages also feared that some Jewish hotheads might stir up trouble and cause all kinds of problems for the Jewish community. So the Talmudic sages put a new spin on the established holiday: YHVH wrought a great miracle for the people, enabling the few to triumph over the many, and YHVH showed the people another miracle in the oil, when a flask of ritually pure oil sufficient for one day lasted for all eight days.


But there is also more. The battle fought by the Maccabees was not only a revolt against religious oppression and colonial domination, but it was a civil war as well, fought between pietistic adherents to a strict traditional observance of Judaism (as practiced in those days) and those who were attracted to the might and worldliness of Hellenism and sought to acculturate. Ironically though, after their victory, the Hasmoneans assumed the Monarchy of Israel - which, in of itself was prohibited for a priestly family, and eventually, after some generations, became advocates of Hellenization and invited the Roman Empire to become protectors of Israel, setting the stage for the eventual Roman conquest. As a priestly family, the Hasmoneans sided with the Sadducees, the priestly advocates of the authority of Temple Sacrifice, against the Pharisees, the forerunners of the rabbis and the form of rabbinic Judaism we continue to practice today. With the destruction of the Second Temple, the fall of the Sadducees, and the ultimate conquest of the Land of Israel by the Romans, the new rabbinic authorities assume the mantle of religious authority. Unhappy with the Hasmoneans and critical of the eventual outcome of the Maccabean revolt, the Rabbis set out to relegate Chanukah and the Maccabees to a mere footnote in Jewish history. Hence the exclusion of Maccabees from Hebrew Scriptures and the shift in the emphasis of Chanukah from the victory of the Maccabees to YHVH's miracle of light. Effectively, the Rabbis sought to write the Maccabees out of Jewish history. Like the exclusion of Moses from the Passover Haggada, the Maccabees were removed from Chanukah, and the spotlight was put on YHVH.


So back to our Talmudic question: ‘Ma hi Chanukah?’ "What is Chanukah?" Well, the answer depends on your perspective. It could be a holiday of religious freedom, inspired by the people's desire to shake off oppressive laws. It could be commemoration of the human capacity for courage and hopefulness, as we remember the Maccabees' brave revolution. It could be an opportunity to reflect on Jewish distinctiveness and the miracle of Jewish survival in societies that offer so many opportunities to just chuck it all and assimilate. It could be a spur to many Jews to reach out to each other across denominational and ideological boundaries, inasmuch as the Maccabean revolt was also a civil war between Hellenized and non-assimilated Jews. It could be, as the Talmud suggests, a time to thank YHVH for the miracles in our lives; a time to think about what is in YHVH's hands and not in human hands. It could be a chance to ask ourselves: what seemingly ordinary things can I experience as miracles today?


Chag Sameach

Parashat Miketz - the Haftara

Parashat Miketz – the Haftara
Zecharia 2:14- 4:7
Reading date: 27th December 2008 – 30th Kislev 5769



Our highlighted Haftara text
“Then Solomon woke; it was a dream!” I Kings 3:15
Do we 'wake up' from a dream or do we roll over and go back to sleep?
In our parasha, Joseph is recognized for his divine wisdom and appointed royal vizier to Pharaoh. Similarly, King Solomon is known for his wisdom demonstrated by his solving the case of the true mother with his test of threatening to cut the live baby in two. Both the parasha and the haftara begin with the king (or Pharaoh) awakening ‘vayikatz’ from a dream.


King Solomon, the son of King David reigned from 970 BCE to 928 BCE. Through marriage alliances and international treaties, Israel had extensive and close relations with neighboring countries that brought gold, spices and exotic animals. During his reign, Israel was a dominant political and economic force, with a flourishing agriculture (every person living safely and peaceably 'under their vine and fig tree'), spice trade and mining industry for valuable metals (copper, silver and brass). The prosperity of Solomon's reign, however, was short-lived, and after his death the Northern Kingdom of the Ten Tribes seceded. The books of Song of Songs, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are traditionally ascribed to King Solomon. Although he was considered the 'wisest of men' and many Midrashim talk of the wonders of his powers and his monarchy, he was also an absolute monarch who dealt harshly with his subjects.


Dreams figure prominently in the Joseph narratives. Joseph is known as a dreamer, and last week, he had the dreams of being bowed down to by his brothers (which will come true this week) and interpreted the dreams of his fellow prisoners, the baker and the wine steward. This week, it is Pharaoh himself who has a (two-part) dream of 7 cows and 7 stalks of wheat (emmer- not corn, notwithstanding most children's books and the King James translation). Joseph had the uncanny ability to see the true messages within others' dreams. In the haftara, King Solomon, awoke from his dream where he had asked YHVH for wisdom instead of riches.


What exactly are dreams? Science hasn't yet adequately explained the phenomenon of dreaming, and dreams still fascinate us. Are they messages of the future, or simply the brain doing its housekeeping at night? The advice to 'sleep on it' refers to going to bed in the hope that overnight, we might find a solution to a problem or gain some insight that eludes us during the day and when we're awake. The scientist Kekulé is said to have discovered the arrangement of the benzene molecule, when he saw a chain of carbon atoms rotating in a circle, like a snake chasing its own tail in a dream. Other discoveries (like the sewing machine's needle) have been attributed to dreams, too.


In the ancient world, dreams were thought to be divine communication and were considered to be omens. However, dreams (both then and now) are largely symbolic and therefore require interpretation, called ‘oneiromancy’. The dream, like even the Torah, has little meaning without proper interpretation. (Today, dream interpretation 'dictionaries' are available online, but even in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, there existed 'dream books', that deciphered the images). But these have little value because the true meaning of the symbols in the dream relate to the individual's unique associations. Jung writes in Civilization in Transition, "The art of interpreting dreams cannot be learnt from books" (pg. 327).


It may be that in our 'collective consciousness' as a species, certain archetypes have specific meaning in our dreams, but more likely, it is our own private, personal associations that have significance. In a Midrash from Bereishit Rabbah, a man came to R. Jose ben Halafta, saying: "I was told in a dream to go to Kappadokia, where I should find the money of my deceased father." When the rabbi learned that the man (or anyone in his family) had never been to Kappadokia, he explained the dream as follows: "Count twenty beams in your house, and in the twentieth you will find the treasure, for 'Kappadokia' means [kappa=] "twenty" and [dokia=] "beams".
It is not the literal message of the dream (ie. going to Kappadokia) that is important, but the meaning assigned to it. Again, Jung writes of the danger of dream interpretation: "Every interpretation is an hypothesis, an attempt to read an unknown text. An obscure dream, taken in isolation, can hardly ever be interpreted with any certainty" quoted from "The Practical Use of Dream Analysis" (1934) in The Practice of Psychotherapy, pg. 322.


It was also believed that individuals could not accurately interpret their own dreams. Yet, the importance of understanding dreams was still deep-rooted in the time of the Talmud that 24 dream interpretation 'professionals' worked in Jerusalem. Jewish tradition is divided over the significance of dreams.


According to the Talmud, "The words of dreams neither benefit nor harm" (Gittin 52), and "We see at night in dreams only that of which we were thinking by day" (Berachot 55b). The Talmudic sage Jonathan expresses the Freudian idea: "A person is shown in a dream only what is suggested by one's own thoughts" (Berachot 55b). When R. Meir had a dream to apologize to the head of the academy, R. Simon ben Gamliel, he didn't go, because according to him 'dreams are of no consequence' (Horayot 13b). Other sages still held the view that dreams were a form of prophecy.


Not all dreams come true; there are also false dreams. Even if dreams are full of meaning, how are we to understand them? The point is that true wisdom (like Joseph and Solomon) is not in having dreams, but in waking up and knowing their 'true' interpretation. Joseph demonstrates this by not only 'interpreting' the dream, but suggesting a course of proper and sensible course of action.


Rabbi Aharon of Karlin compares Jacob's dream with Pharaoh's. When Jacob dreamed, it says, "He awoke from his sleep, and said, 'Surely YHVH was in this place.' “(Gen. 28:16). In contrast, when Pharaoh awoke, he went back to sleep, for it says, "He awoke, and he dreamed a second dream...." (Gen. 41:5). We can ask ourselves the same question: do we 'wake up from a dream' or do we roll over and go back to sleep? Dreams are dreams, and what their meaning is may be debatable, but the point is, when we finish dreaming, are we truly awake.


Shabbat Shalom & Chag Chanukah Same'ach.

Parashat Vayeshev - the Haftara

Parashat Vayeshev – the Haftara
Amos 2:6 – 3:8
Reading date: 20th December 2008 – 23rd Kislev 5769


Our highlighted Haftara text
“People of Israel, hear this word the Eternal has spoken about you, about the whole crowd that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:You alone have I known of all the families of the earth--therefore I will punish you for all you iniquities. For the day of the Eternal draws near for all the nations:As you have done, so shall it be done to you;Your deeds shall come back to haunt you”. Amos 3:1 - 2

With great power comes great responsibility.
The book of Genesis now begins its final episode: the extended novella of the Joseph narrative. The haftara from the prophet Amos begins with a list of the sins of Israel. The first example, selling the righteous ‘tzaddik’ for silver, echoes the brothers who sell Joseph (called ‘Yosef Hatzaddik’ in rabbinic literature – in rabbinic literature one who is referred to as a ‘tzaddik’ is one without sin) for silver. His second example of a man and son who go to the same woman recalls the story of Judah who sleeps with his son's wife, Tamar.

Amos is the first of the 'literary' prophets. He lived and prophesied around 784-748 B.C.E. during the reign of King Jeroboam. Like Moses, Amos was a 'reluctant' prophet. That is, he described himself as a sheep breeder and tended sycamore figs and was called by YHVH to proclaim a message warning of Israel's destruction. He prophesied in the Northern Kingdom of Israel against the immoral practices that he saw. His message was the classic prophetic message: that rituals and religious piety do not have YHVH's approval when there is inequity between people and social injustice.

Judaism has never valued asceticism, and if one can afford good things, there is no sin in enjoying life. We don't have to suffer. At the same time, we must be careful that our enjoyment does not become the be-all and end-all. Those of us who are blessed with a high standard of living know that we should do more for those in the world without clean water, enough food or decent housing even though we don't always put that knowledge into practice.

Amos, a peasant coming from Judah, is similarly disturbed by the ill treatment of the poor. He is shocked by the lifestyle of the rich and famous in Israel's North Country. His listeners were probably annoyed by his message, thinking, 'Hey, we're comfortable. Don't bother us.' But he wouldn't relent, and in passionate language, he castigates those hypocrites who exploit the poor. We think our situation is different; we don't enjoy our privileged life on the backs of the poor and the disadvantaged. Unless you've read 'No logo' by Naomi Klein and realize that the clothes we wear and the sneakers we buy are being produced by workers (often children) in Bangladesh under inhumane conditions and with no rights. Let us remember the climactic verse from Amos (regrettably not included in our Haftara), "Let justice well up like water, righteousness like a raging stream" (Amos 6:24).

The job of leaders today, they say, is to 'comfort the afflicted' and 'afflict the comfortable.' And as we are in full swing of the season of consumer shopping, it is hard, but maybe more necessary than ever, to hear the message that the goal in life is not more 'stuff.' It is a challenge to teach children to understand the difference between: I need, and I want. (The sentence from your teenager: "I really need the new iPod nano" should be corrected: "I really want the new iPod.")
A few weeks ago in Parashat Lech Lecha we talked about the possible meanings of 'being chosen.' The prophet Amos says something else: Being chosen means being accountable to a higher standard. As the children’s story teaches, "With great power, comes great responsibility." Amos might say, "With great affluence, comes great social responsibility." It's a message suitable for all of us, not just those with super powers.

Don’t we often feel like Scrooge at this time of year? Many have long forsaken the tradition and religious celebration of Christmas; we need to realize that we live in a multicultural society. Rather it is the incessant marketing of mostly unnecessary products that irritates us. As we celebrate Chanukah next week, celebrating the light of our freedom, one of our Chanukah gifts one night should be a donation to any number of charitable causes that increase social justice in the world.

Especially looking back at the untold suffering caused this past year by the natural disasters, war and economic hardship, helping to heal the world would make the Chanukah candles glow just a bit brighter.

Shabbat Shalom

Parashat Vayishlach - the Haftara

Parashat Vayishlach – the Haftara
Hosea 11:7 – 12:12
Reading date: 13th December 2008 – 16th Kislev 5769


Our highlighted Haftara text
"And Jacob set up a pillar at the site where YHVH had spoken to him, a pillar of stone, and he offered a libation on it and poured oil upon it...
Over her grave Jacob set up a pillar; it is the pillar at Rachel's grave to this day”. (Gen. 35:14, 20)

“Rock of Ages”
Stones seem to be a trade mark for Jacob; they just keep appearing in Jacob’s life. In this week’s Parasha VaYishlach, we learn that Jacob [again] at Beth El, sets up a (matzevah) stone pillar (Gen. 35:14). Last week, when we read of Jacob’s journey from Canaan, Jacob stopped at Luz/Beth El where he built an altar of stones. The term ‘beth el’ (literally, House of YHVH) refers to this specific type of stone pillar, but later became associated with a sacred site at the town of Luz. The shrine on the boundary of Ephraim and Judea was of great importance in the time of Judges and Kings. Jeroboam made it the chief sanctuary to compete with the southern Jerusalem. Consequently, in the prophets, Beth El became a symbol of Israel’s iniquity, and was condemned by Amos and Hosea, notwithstanding its association with the patriarch Jacob.
But Beth El is not the only place that we see Jacob with rocks. Last week, we read how Jacob set up a stone cairn at Gilad after making a pact with Laban. And twenty years earlier in the story, he had put a rock under his head for a pillow where he had his famous angel dream (‘sulam’ here means staircase, not the ladders we imagine today). And when he met Rachel at the well- in a moment of passion (and super strength) he rolled the stone from the mouth of the well. When Rachel died en route Hebron, Jacob buried her, and again we read that he sets up another [stone] pillar. Jacob even uses the term ‘ehvehn’ in his final blessing to Joseph to describe YHVH: “By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob— There, the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, The God of your father who helps you, And Shaddai who blesses you. With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that couches below, Blessings of the breast and womb. The blessings of your father Surpass the blessings of my ancestors, To the utmost bounds of the eternal hills” (Gen. 49:24b-26a).

The word for rock is ‘ehvehn’ or ‘sela’. Rocks represent strength, stability and permanence. Another term ‘tzur’ is often used to refer to a large boulder, and hence conveys the sense of a place of shelter. Not surprising then that ‘tzur’ is an epithet for YHVH: ‘Tzur Yisrael’. "HaTzur- The Rock!—YHVH’s deeds are perfect, Yea, all YHVH’s ways are just; A faithful God, never false, True and upright is YHVH" (Deut 32:4). In just a few weeks, we will sing a Chanukah song with that reference to YHVH: ‘Ma’oz Tzur’ (Rock of Ages).

Rocks are also associated with Torah, since the Ten Commandments were written on stones. In one midrash, Rabbi Levi cites a parable of king who protects a city from attacking soldiers with soldiers of his own. So too, YHVH gave us the Torah to guard against our impulse to do evil. Since our impulse to do evil (“I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh (Ezek. 36:26)) is compared to a stone, the laws of Torah are called ‘stones’ (from the stone tablets). ‘Stones’ [of Torah] therefore effectively will guard against ‘stones’ [of evil impulse] like some will say that a remedy is for ‘like’ to cure ‘like.’

The Patriarchs and Matriarchs are seen as more than individuals; they are archetypes. Maybe one thing that made them special was their ability to see the Divine in particular aspects of nature: Abraham saw it in trees; Isaac in water. Jacob found holiness in rocks.
All this thinking about rocks’ potential to symbolize Torah or even YHVH reminds us of a modern day parable or ‘moshal’ of a Jewish school that wanted to create a small portable ‘Aron Kodesh’ (a Torah ark) to house a Torah for a classroom. They bought a standard, no frills white cupboard from a put-it-together-yourself furniture store and decorated it. How blessed this one cupboard was, to become a Holy Ark instead of a plain cupboard. And then we see an image- that the thousands and thousands of plain cupboards in this store's warehouse that were being probably being sold for kitchens and bathrooms and garages all had the potential for holiness, to be an ‘Aron Kodesh’.

Each of us has a special gift to discover holiness in the world; some find it in family, others in ritual, some feel it in nature, others in music. Like the Patriarchs, each of us can choose to uniquely find something holy in our lives that will ultimately lead to fellowship with YHVH.

Shabbat Shalom

Parashat Vayetze - the Haftata

Parashat Vayetze – the Haftara
Hosea 12:12 – 14:9
Reading date: 6th December 2008 – 9th Kislev 5769


Our highlighted Haftara text
“Jacob fled to the land of Aram,
Israel served for a wife;
and for a wife he kept watch [over sheep]”
Hosea 12:13

“Are we running towards something or running away”?
This week's Torah portion begins "And Jacob left Be'er Sheva and journeyed towards Haran" (Gen 28:10). The Ashkenazi haftara portion begins with an almost exact parallel to our Torah portion: "Then Jacob had to flee to the land of Aram..." (Hosea 12:13). While the Ashkenazim begin the story at verse 13 and continue to chapter 14:10, the Sephardic rite is to read the earlier verses found in Hosea chapter 11:7-12:12. In these prior verses, highlights from Jacob's life are retold recounting Jacob's struggle in the womb, and the later episode of his night-struggle with an 'angel.' There is one additional connection between Hosea's prophecy and this week's parasha pointed out by Ibn Ezra. Hosea prophesied in Beth El, the shrine established by Jeroboam. Beth El is where Jacob stopped for the night and had his dream of a staircase (not ladder) going to heaven. "Shaken, he said, 'How awesome is this place, this is none other than the abode of God and that is the gateway to heaven.' ... And he named that site Beth El" (Gen. 28:17, 19)

Hosea is the first prophet included in the second section of the Bible (Tanakh), after the historical books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. He lived around 700 BCE and was a contemporary of Amos. After the death of Solomon, the united kingdom had split into two. The northern tribes were called Israel (or Ephraim after the tribe of their first king Jeroboam) and the southern kingdom was called Judah. Although this was a time of material prosperity, it was also a time of moral laxity and growing paganism.

It is often overlooked that before the curtain rises on our Parasha, the Torah has already told us that Jacob (Ya’akov) left for Haran: Then Isaac sent Jacob off, and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban... (Gen. 28:5). The Torah then briefly digresses with a notice of Esau's genealogy and the story's flow is interrupted with the details of Esau's family tree. According to Rashi, our parasha repeats Jacob's departure in order to resume our story with Jacob.

But why does Jacob leave Be'er Sheva? According to both the Torah (chap. 28) and our Haftara verse, Jacob is going to Haran to find a wife, similar to the servant's mission to find a wife for Isaac that we read two weeks ago (Chayei Sarah).

However, there seems to be another reason. If we look back at the conclusion of the previous chapter, we see that the blessing-stealing episode ended badly:
"Esau said to himself, 'Let but the mourning period of my father come, and I will kill my brother Jacob.' When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebecca, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, 'Your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. Now my son, listen to me. Flee at once to Haran, to my brother Laban. Stay with him a while until your brother's fury subsides'..." (Gen. 27: 41b-44)

Here we have a totally different motivation. Here, Jacob is not leaving to find a wife, but to escape his brother's wrath. Possibly, the Torah repeats Jacob's departure because there were two reasons.

Furthermore, many commentators consider the first phrase "And Jacob left Be'er Sheva" extraneous; after all, the important thing is that Jacob went to Haran. We can figure out for ourselves that he obviously also left where he was. Some commentators see Jacob as fulfilling the commandment of "Honor your father and mother"; according to Isaac, Jacob was going to find a wife; according to his mother Rebecca, he was running away from Esau.

The Haftara captures both the fleeing from something and going towards something by choosing the verb 'flee' instead of the Torah's more neutral 'left' (vayetze). This is true in our lives as well. When considering a new job or a new school (or even a new partner) are we making a positive choice, or simply running away from something negative? It is not enough to reject our childish notions of YHVH and Torah principles we have to also be pursuing a mature understanding of Torah. When Jacob left Be'er Sheva, on some level, he left his past behind him. It is fine to leave our past behind us if we are sure that we are moving forward and going somewhere!

Shabbat Shalom

Parashat Toldot - the Haftara

Parashat Toldot – the Haftara
Malachi 1:1 – 2:7
Reading date: 29th November 2008 – 2nd Kislev 5769


Our highlighted Haftara text

“Give honor to My name.
If you do not listen,
if you do not take it to heart,
says the God of heaven's hosts,
I will send a curse upon you,
and turn your blessings to curses.
In fact, I have [already] turned them into curses,
because you do not take it to heart”.
Malachi 2:2

“We should be careful that our actions 'say' what we mean”.

In this week's Haftara, YHVH reminds the Israelites that though Jacob and Esau are brothers, YHVH only loves Jacob. The prophet therefore criticizes the Israelites for their lackluster performance of the Temple sacrificial service. In the Torah portion, the relationship of children to their father is emphasized. The Haftara asks, why do the Israelites not honor YHVH like a parent? In Genesis, hands (disguised by animal skins) offer the father a prepared meal; the prophet says that YHVH will not accept an offering "from your hands." The Hebrew words for spurn (bozei, vayivzeh both from the Hebrew root: b.z.h.) are used to describe how the Israelites spurn YHVH through improper sacrifices (Malachi 1:6,7) just like Esau spurned his birthright (Gen. 25:34). YHVH wants the service of the heart.

Malachi, which simply means 'My messenger,' is more of a title, than an actual personal name. The anonymous individual we call Malachi was the last of the prophets, and lived in the middle of the 5th century B.C.E. before the reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah. (Some sources in fact identify him as Ezra.) At that time, Judea was still a province of Persia. While it seems that he lived at a time when the Temple had been rebuilt (515 B.C.E.) religious performance was perfunctory. Malachi calls for a religious revival.

Isaac and Rebecca have twins: Jacob and Esau. Esau and Jacob are the opposite of identical twins. In the ancient world, twins were often depicted as the two complementary halves of a complete personality. This is what we find here: Esau is the active, physical individual, a hunter who loves the outdoors. Jacob, on the other hand is portrayed as a gentle, cerebral soul who stays inside. Both however, are to become the father of a people. Esau was born covered with red hair, (‘adom’ in Hebrew means red; hair is ‘se'ir’). Esau is therefore linked through this wordplay to the two names of the land of Edom, or Seir and is considered to be the father of the Edomites (Gen. 36:1). Like the name Israel, Edom can refer to the individual (Esau) or the people (the Edomites) or the land. The land of Edom, in what is now present day Jordan often appears red (think of the red rock of Petra). The sibling rivalry in the Genesis narrative foreshadows the enmity between the Edomites and the Israelites. The Edomites were displaced by the Nabateans, and in rabbinic times, the term 'Edom' came to represent Rome, and then later Christianity. Jacob and Esau become therefore, the archetypes for the Jew and non-Jew respectively.

The prophet begins his address by reminding Israel of YHVH's preferred relationship to Jacob over Esau, but then berates the Israelites for their cavalier attitude to YHVH's service. He warns them that the blessings YHVH has promised could in fact become curses. Blessings and curses are a theme which appears in the Torah portion since Jacob initially fears that in trying to steal his brother's blessing, he will be cursed instead. And Isaac's blessing to Jacob echoes the blessing that YHVH previously gave to Abraham, that "Cursed by they who curse you, Blessed they who bless you" (Gen. 27:29). YHVH's very blessings, and the special relationship with YHVH enjoyed by the Israelites, are at risk.

The prophets often admonish the Israelites for offering sacrifices while engaging in corrupt behavior. In future columns we will see that YHVH instead delights in kindness, justice and righteousness; YHVH does not even want sacrifices (Jeremiah 7:22-3). But here, we have a slightly different message. In our passage the prophet is not complaining of social injustice or the Israelites' moral failings. He is not even making the [legitimate] point that ritual observance also requires ‘kavannah’, proper intent. All that is for another time. Instead, the point being stressed here is that ritual acts, if they are to be done, need to be performed properly.
The Israelites 'lame' offerings YHVH will not accept, but surprisingly, incense and pure sacrifices offered to YHVH's name "from the setting of the sun to its setting among the nations" are acceptable. Abravanel comments: “You should have learnt from the ways of the nations. Though they have not been vouchsafed the light of the Torah... they magnify and exalt YHVH and perform the most pure sacrifice that they themselves are capable of doing according to their lights”.

This message is all the more exceptional because the Haftara begins by proclaiming that YHVH hates Esau. Yet, sincere religious devotion, (even pagan, it seems) is more acceptable to YHVH than improperly performing the rituals. When it comes to YHVH's blessings, we want the genuine article, not a cheap substitute, yet the Israelites are satisfied with offering blemished and unfit animals. The prophet's complaint is that the Israelites are taking YHVH's beneficence and special relationship for granted.

This is one of the challenges of Torah. To follow Torah is skill-based, and ritual observance often requires a minimum of technical expertise. We all know of individuals performing ritual in a sloppy manner: putting up a mezuzah incorrectly, (or even without the parchment!). They may have sincere intent. But just like the Israelites sent a clear message that they didn't really take their relationship with YHVH seriously in the way they performed the Temple rituals, we communicate how we feel about our faith by the effort and care we put into our actions.
When Jacob resorts to the subterfuge of disguising himself with animal skins, Isaac says: "The voice is the voice of Jacob, yet the hands are the hands of Esau" (Gen. 27:22). One interpretation of this verse is that it refers to hypocrites who say one thing with their mouths but do something else with their hands. Torah has always stressed action over belief: deed, not creed. We have to 'walk our talk.' Since actions speak louder than words, we should be careful that our actions 'say' what we mean.

Shabbat Shalom