Haftara of Re'eh: "O You Afflicted, Tossed with Tempest, Not Comforted"
Introduction
The haftara for Parashat Re'e (Yeshayahu 54:11-55:5) is the third in the series of seven haftarot of consolation. It continues the confrontation with exile, delving deeper in its treatment of the issue and addressing its causes in a more fundamental manner. The haftara of Nachamu, the first in the series of haftarot of consolation, turns to the people of
Objective and Subjective Exile
It should be emphasized, however, that the lack of comfort does not stem from a failure on the part of the prophetic words that were read last week to penetrate the hearts of the people. Rather, it follows from the fact that various different problems vex the exiled nation. On the one hand, the fact of exile in and of itself is constraining and painful; on the other hand, it also impairs the feeling of closeness and partnership between God and His people. Borrowing a metaphor that is commonly employed by Chazal, we can say that a son who was sent away from his father's table suffers from two difficulties: First of all, a lack of food and means of support. And second, the banishment attests to the anger and alienation that exists between him and his father. Similarly, a woman whose husband sent her away is forced to deal with the problems of support and personal security, and also remains alone and forsaken. The same is true about
For our purposes, the haftara for Parashat Ekev dealt with the subjective feeling of "But Zion said, The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me" (49:14), and its primary concern was to prove to
From Rags to Riches
It follows that if the suffering of the exile is what is causing the pain, and Israel is defined as poor and afflicted, then the resolution lies in their being taken out of poverty. Thus the prophetic promise relates to affluence and prosperity:
Behold, I will lay your stones with fair colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires. And I will make your windows of rubies, and your gates of beryl, and all your borders of the choicest stones. (54:11-12)
This is the first time in the Yeshayahu's prophecies of consolation that he focuses on the promise of material wealth as a goal in and of itself. Thus far, his prophecies of consolation focused on the glory of heaven, on the redemption of
If we ask what is the meaning of the ostentation in the prophetic vision, which speaks of windows and streets plated with precious stones - it seems that its role is not to set an aesthetic ideal or the boundary between modesty and magnificence, but to serve as a model of upheavals of fate from darkness to light. One of the most difficult aspects of poverty, aside from the actual suffering that it causes, is the despair and hopelessness to which it gives rise. A poor person bears the heavy burden of debts that mortgage even his future. He is unable to make long-term investments that would improve his situation, because the very factors that brought him to his present state will continue to press upon him and cause him to fall.[2] Even if he sees the light at the end of the tunnel, it is the hope to break out of poverty and neediness and reach a state of median subsistence. The transition from poverty to a royal palace is not a realistic option but merely a fantasy and a pipe dream. The prophet uses this image to stir up the hope that radical change is possible, and that if God wills it, it is not a fairy tale. Therefore, even though the exile looks like immutable reality, and the transition from exile to redemption is likened to going from rags to riches, the message of these verses is that redemption will indeed come. Not only is it bright and shining, but it is also possible, despite the fact that it appears distant and unattainable.[3]
Redemption through repentance
From here we move on to a second characteristic of this prophecy, namely, the emphasis placed on repentance in the framework of redemption. In "Aniya so'ara" redemption is not a free gift to the people, but rather it demands action on their part – "In righteousness shall you be established: keep away from oppression, then you shall not fear" (v. 14) – and the promised good is conditioned on fulfillment of God's will:
Hearken diligently to Me, and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come to Me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure loving promises of David. (55:2-3)
In the prophecies that we have encountered thus far, it was emphasized that redemption is based on the connection between God and
To clarify the difference, let us recall the words of the Yeshayahu that we read in the haftara for Parashat Vayikra, several chapters earlier:
Remember you, O Ya'akov and
As can be seen, the verse means to say that the pardon of
In light of this, the confrontation with the nations takes place against the backdrop of
Summary
To summarize what we have said thus far, we can say that the prophet deals with two issues – solving the problem of poverty and deprivation and establishing repentance as the basis for redemption. These two things are not necessarily connected, for we can talk about redemption following from God's compassion for his poor people, even without repentance, and it is possible to base redemption on the demand to engage in charity and study, even not out of poverty. In our prophecy, however, they operate together, and therefore Chazal interpreted the poverty and the abundance in our haftara as referring to spiritual poverty and wealth. Regarding poverty, this is stated explicitly in Yalkut Shimoni (ad loc., 478):
I was already informed by the prophet Yeshayahu, who said: "O you afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted" – poor in righteous men, poor in Torah, and poor in mitzvot and good deeds.
As for the promised abundance, we are familiar with the well-known Gemara in Ta'anit (7a):
Rabbi Chanina bar Idi said: Why are the words of Torah likened to water, as it is said: "O, whoever is thirsty, go to the water" (Yeshaya 55:1)? To say to you: Just as water leaves a high place and goes to a low place, so too are the words of the Torah not retained except by someone whose mind is humble.
And Rabbi Oshaya said: Why are the words of the Torah likened to the following three liquids, to water, and to wine, and to milk, as it is written: "O, whoever is thirsty, go to the water," and it is written: "Go, buy, and eat; and go, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (ibid.)? To say to you: Just as these three liquids are not preserved except in the least of vessels, so too are the words of the Torah not preserved except in someone whose mind is humble.
In light of what we have seen, this is not merely a homiletical interpretation, but rather it is based on the prophet's combination of poverty and spiritual progress, and on the transitions in the verses that weave these two ideas together. The verse that precedes, "O, whoever is thirsty, go to the water," is "every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn; this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and the recompense of their righteousness appointed by Me, says the Lord." And the verse that follows soon thereafter is: "Incline your ear, and come to Me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure loving promises of David." It is no wonder then that the verses found in the middle which speak of "O, whoever is thirsty, go to the water," and "Hearken diligently to Me, and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness" are interpreted as referring to spiritual food. In short, to the material consolation found in the plain meaning of the haftara, the Midrash adds spiritual consolation and combines them with
(Translated by David Strauss)
[1] See, for example, Yirmiyahu 31:8: "They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, in which they shall not stumble: for I am a father to
[2] This is the reason that the Torah so heavily emphasizes helping a poor person to make a new start, rather than continuing to support him through tzedaka, as can be seen in the mitzva to lend money (which is one of the most fundamental principles of the mitzva of tzedaka), release of debts during the Sabbatical year, the prohibition of interest, and the like.
[3] See Radak, who brings a disagreement as to whether these images should be taken literally or metaphorically: "These things might perhaps be realized literally, or perhaps they are a metaphor for the enormity of
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