Vayera - "Beloved Son" (Melakhim II 4:1-37)

1. a. From Prophecy to Prose

 

Following three haftorot selected from Yishayahu's prophecies of consolation (bringing the total number of "consolation" prophecies to ten: the seven traditionally read around Tish'a B'Av, and another three starting with the Haftora of parashat Bereishit), our Haftora this week is taken from the book of Melakhim, which recounts some of the wonders performed by the prophet Elisha.  This marks a transition from the wonders performed by the Creator to those demonstrating human initiative.  This may be hinted at in the fact that while until now the parshiyot have described the creation and God's handiwork ("lekh-lekha" included, since that parasha recounts the Divine selection of Avraham and the beginnings of the nation of monotheism), from our parasha onwards there emerges a discernible element of human partnership.

 

But both the parasha and the Haftora still retain some traces of the wonders of Creation, from the perspective of the laws laid down by God in His world, such that the wonders here appear to depart from these laws.

 

1. b. Common Ground Between Parasha and Haftora

 

The connection between the principal narrative of the Haftora and that of the parasha is clear and obvious: both stories contain a promise of offspring after a prolonged barrenness – to the extent that the promise sounds like a well-intentioned wish by a sympathizer with no chance of ever being fulfilled.  In both cases the women concerned – Sarah and the Shunamite - react with disbelief.  This reaction demonstrates, in both instances, on one hand the extent to which the child is wished for, and on the other hand, the extent to which this wish seems far from reality.

 

In both cases the promise is uttered as a result of open and warm hospitality.  In the parasha – a one-time visit; in the Haftora – extended hospitality.  In both cases the infant finally born almost dies, and in both cases the parent's merit is renewed as such.  There are, of course, differences between the narrative of the parasha and the events described in the Haftora, differences that demand our attention.  But the similarity itself does not justify the choice of this Haftora.  Moreover, the parasha concludes with the climactic test of the akeida and the blessing which comes in its wake, and there is already a sense that any additional reading would somehow diminish its power and soften its impact.

 

1. c. Can the Children of One Who Fears God Be Taken Away?

 

Let us therefore examine the first story recounted in the Haftora - a story which at first appears totally unrelated to the parasha, but which at a second glance bears some connection.

 

We conclude the reading of the akeida with the words of God's angel to Avraham ringing in our ears: "Now I know that you are God-fearing and you did not hold back your son, your only child, from Me" (22:12).  And then we hear the woman's cry to Elisha: "Your servant, my husband, died; and you know that your servant was God-fearing. Now the creditor has come to take my two sons qw his slaves" (4:1).

 

First we have a God-fearing man who is prepared to sacrifice his son for the sake of God; then it appears inconceivable that the children of someone who was God-fearing should be taken away – the injustice of this situation cries out to the heavens.

 

We cannot find an example of someone with more fear of Heaven than Avraham, about whom the Torah testifies, "Now I know that you are God-fearing;" and his situation appears very similar to that of the God-fearing man in the Haftora – just as the sons of the latter are to be taken away, so is Avraham's. Avraham - the one who fears God - has two sons – Yishmael and Yitzchak.  Yishmael has already been taken from him – not by strangers, but rather he himself is commanded to send the boy from his home, leaving him with only one son – Yitzchak.  And now, with God's command that he sacrifice this only son, his position becomes that of the God-fearing man in the Haftora, whose two sons are to be removed by the creditor.

 

But the wife of this God-fearing man fights against this fate and cries out to Elisha to save her. Avraham, by contrast, accepts the decree upon himself, knowing that it is God's will.

 

1. d. Different Mothers

 

Both stories recounted in the Haftora contain the common theme of a mighty battle waged by a mother on her child's behalf.  In one instance the mother fights against a human decree, while in the other the Shunamite mother resists a Divine decree that has not only been passed, but which has already in fact been fulfilled.  In contrast, in our parasha we have the image of a mother – Hagar - who certainly feels a mother's emotions, and they are certainly focused on her only child, who is ill.  But how quickly she comes to terms with what she perceives to be a Divine decree!  The water in the gourd is finished, and Hagar casts her son under one of the shrubs, ready to accept his impending death, and she already mourns for him: "And she lifted her voice and cried." This is not a cry of entreaty and pleading; it is a cry of pity for her son and for herself – a mother forced to abandon her child.  She does not even make the effort to seek water to revive her son.

 

1. e. A Decree is Not To Be Accepted

 

But Avraham, too, fails to put up a fight.  He, too, is ready to accept God's decree that his son be offered as a sacrifice.  The Haftora comes to teach us that even if something looks like a sealed and irreversible decree from Above, it should not simply be accepted, and neither the Shunamite woman nor Elisha accepts the Divine decision.  Certainly when faced with the dead child, it would seem that the proper response would be to accept the Divine will and to come to terms with it.  But they refuse to accept, and together the Shunamite woman and Elisha merit to see the boy revived and resuscitated.

 

This may also be one of the lessons of the akeida and the parasha: No! God never, under any circumstances, desires human sacrifice.  And a person should never attempt to make God's calculations.  Rather, he should do everything that he possibly and humanly can – and even what lies beyond his human power – in order to improve the situation and preserve life.

 

1. f. Jewish Mothers

 

There are two mothers in the Haftora and two in the parasha – Sarah and Hagar.  The two mothers in the Haftora battle like lionesses for the lives of their sons.  In the parasha, Hagar accepts her fate, but we know nothing of Sarah's reaction to the attempt to take Yitzchak from her, as the entire incident takes place without her knowledge.  But what is hidden by the Torah is revealed by our Sages in some of the midrashim.  They explain that Sarah's death is juxtaposed with the episode of the akeida because she died as a result of her hearing of her son's impending death.  But perhaps this, too, is something that the Haftora is coming to teach us: Sarah acted in a way similar to the Shunamite woman; both were true mothers of Israel.

 

(Translated by Kaeren Fish)