Anticipating Trouble with its Remedy - The Haftara of Behaalotekha
Student Summaries of Sichot of the Roshei Yeshiva
Yeshivat
Har Etzion
PARASHAT
BEHA'ALOTEKHA
GUEST
SICHA BY RAV MOSHEH LICHTENSTEIN
Anticipating
Trouble with Its Remedy:
The
Haftara of Beha'alotekha
Translated
by David Strauss
At first glance, the connection between the haftara for
Parashat Beha'alotekha (Zekharya 2:14-4:7) and the parasha
is the menora that appears prominently in the haftara, this being
connected to the lighting of the lamps at the beginning of the
parasha. It should be noted,
however, that this is not such a simple choice, for the menora mentioned
at the beginning of the parasha is only one of many topics discussed
therein, each one important and meaningful in its own right. While it is true that the section
dealing with the menora is located in a place of honor, it is still not
the focus of the parasha, and to a great degree, Chazal viewed it
as being connected to the previous parasha. The bottom line is that we can point to
the connection between the two menoras and between the priests identified
with each of them as the reason for reading this week's haftara. This means, however, that when we
read the haftara, we are really relating to only a small part of the
haftara and to an even smaller portion of the parasha. For this reason, I would like to point
out a more systemic connection between Parashat Beha'alotekha and the
prophecy of Zekharya. This
connection takes into account not only the section of the lamps, but also the
larger context in which it is found.
THE
DANGERS OF EXILE
Zekharya prophesies during the period of the return to Zion, when part of
the Jewish people returns from exile in Bavel to Eretz Israel, and it falls upon
the prophet to deal with the challenges of the period. The destruction and the exile besides
the loss of the Temple and the tragic human cost at the time presented the
people with a very difficult challenge.
On the spiritual and national level, an existential situation was created
that was different, unfamiliar, and far more threatening than anything that had
come before it, namely, the exile.
Two spiritual dangers presented themselves to the people with respect to
their reactions to the new situation:
The first was the feeling that they continued to be reprimanded in the
wake of the destruction and the exile and that the quality of judgment was still
stretched out over them in a way that did not allow for reconciliation. More difficult than this was the
assumption that their sins had caused God to despise them and to cast them off,
so that Israel was no longer connected to God. In a well-known midrash, Chazal
make use of the metaphor of a slave who was sold by his master[1]
in order to express this idea that with the destruction of the Temple, the
relationship between the Jewish people and their Maker had been
severed.
The
common denominator here is the loss of all hope of repairing the situation and
the spiritual and national paralysis that such feelings are liable to give rise
to. This is the situation with
which Zekharya struggles from the very beginning of the book, which opens with
the simple description of the situation as "The Lord has been much displeased
with your fathers" (Zekharya 1:2).
His primary mission, then, is to raise the people's spirits so that they
may engage in repentance and return to God, and not fall into the depths of
despair.
This
is accompanied by an additional problem, namely, the state of the nations who
continue to provoke Israel and God in the wake of the destruction, and the
unbearable gap between the tranquility enjoyed by these nations and the distress
suffered by Israel.[2]
"AND
I SHALL DWELL IN YOUR MIDST"
At this point in Zekharya's prophecy, we reach the section constituting
our haftara, which opens with words of consolation. The initial verses are directed toward
the nations and constitute a continuation of what had been stated previously
regarding the feeling of the nations that God had abandoned and forsaken
Israel:
Sing
and rejoice, O Daughter of Zion; for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst
of you, says the Lord. And many
nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day, and shall be My people:
and I will dwell in the midst of you, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts
has sent me to you. And the Lord
shall inherit Yehuda as his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem
again. Be silent, all flesh, before
the Lord: for He has roused himself out of His holy habitation. (2:14-17)
The essential point here is that God has returned to dwell among
Israel. This is presented not as a
spiritual achievement in and of itself, but as a response to the ideas
circulating among Israel and the nations regarding the meaning of the
destruction. Therefore, emphasis is
placed not only on the idea that "I will dwell in the midst of you" - familiar
to us from the Mishkan in the wilderness and from the mitzva to
construct the Mikdash based on the command of "And let them make Me a
sanctuary, that I may dwell among them" (Shemot 25:8) - but also on the
significance of that idea for Israel's situation, namely, the conclusion that
"you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you." The prophet promises
not only "inheritance in the holy land," but a renewed and constant selection of
Jerusalem.[3]
[Another interesting point that is made in these verses is the impact
that Israel's return to Zion will have on the nations who will undergo an inner
upheaval and join those who serve God and become part of His people. The expression, "And many nations shall
join themselves to the Lord on that day," is very reminiscent of the prophecy of
Yeshayahu, who expands upon this idea: "Also the sons of the stranger, that join
themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be
His servants, every one that keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and all
that take hold of My covenant" (Yeshayahu 56:6).]
THE
DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE HAFTARA
This is the first part of the haftara, which is directed toward
the nations and their challenge to Israel in the aftermath of the
destruction. The haftara's
primary interest, however, is not in the nations, but in Israel and their
redemption because of their special relationship with God, and in the processes
that are meant to lead to that redemption.
The haftara turns to this point in the next stage, after it
finishes the prophecy regarding God's revelation to the nations of the
world. As is plainly evident, the
rest of Zekharya's prophecy is divided into two parts and directed at two
individuals:
1)
the prophecy to Yehoshua the High Priest;
2)
the word of God to Zerubavel.
Thus,
the haftara is divided into three sections, each section being separated
from the next by means of a parasha setuma.
NO
REDEMPTION WITHOUT REPENTANCE
The
prophecy to Yehoshua comes to deal with the cardinal problem of the period. On the one hand, redemption is
absolutely necessary, so that Israel not despair and see themselves as having
been rejected by God in the aftermath of their exile. On the other hand, "Israel will be
redeemed only through repentance." Zekharya himself emphasized this principle at
the beginning of the book "Turn to Me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will
return to you, says the Lord of hosts" (1:3) but the Jewish people of that
generation were not worthy. This is
the essence of the Satan's argument against the redemption of Israel: "And He
showed me Yehoshua the High Priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and
Satan standing at his right hand to thwart him" (3:1). The angel serves as the advocate who
defends Israel (see 1:12-15), Yehoshua stands before him in order to actualize
the promised consolations, and Satan argues that Israel cannot be redeemed
without repentance.
At
this point God is asked, as it were, to decide between Satan and the angel, and
He accepts the argument that Yehoshua and the people he represents are unworthy
of redemption. The verse itself
describes Yehoshua as "clothed in filthy garments" (3:3), which is clearly a
metaphor for sins[4]
(as it is explicitly stated later, that removal of the filthy garments is
equivalent to removal of the sins) and his inability to stand before the king as
a worthy servant. God, however,
agrees to redeem Israel because they are "a brand plucked out of the fire"
(3:2). Expression is thereby given
to the principle that appears in several places in the books of the Prophets
that Israel may be redeemed because of its suffering and troubles, even if their
actions do not justify redemption.
Already at the burning bush, Moshe was told that redemption became
necessary because of the severity and depth of the
bondage:
And
the Lord, said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt,
and have heard their cry by reason of their masters; for I know their sorrows;
and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of Egypt, and to bring them
up out of that land. (Shemot
3:7-8)
So too Yirmiyahu prophesies about "the people who were left of the sword
who found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest" (Yirmiyahu
31:1), whose redemption follows from the fact that they are "left of the
sword." The rest itself has religious and moral value, and if God waits before
redeeming them, who knows whether or not a remnant of the people will
survive. The brands are, therefore,
plucked from the fire as they are, without first examining the cleanliness of
their spiritual clothing.
SETTING
A SPIRITUAL CHALLENGE
Unlike that prophecy of Yirmiyahu, however, Zekharya is not satisfied
with redemption that comes to Israel owing to its wretchedness, and the angel
once again forewarns Yehoshua and sets before him a spiritual
challenge:
And
the angel of the Lord forewarned Yehoshua, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts;
If you will walk in My ways, and if you will keep My charge, and you will also
judge My house, and will also guard My courts, then I will give you access among
those who stand by. Hear now, O
Yehoshua the High Priest, you, and your fellows who sit before you: for they are
men of good omen: for, behold, I will bring my servant Tzemach. (3:6-8)
Here we have come to the heart of the matter. Israel of that generation leaves
Babylonia for Eretz Israel and enjoys redemption. It is up to them, however, to choose
which redemption will be materialized.
Will it be a narrow process of redemption in which the resting of God's
Shekhina in the Mikdash will be minimal and the political reality
will be limited to peace with the surrounding nations and rescue of the brands
plucked out of the fire? Or perhaps it will be a full redemption that will
realize Chaggai's prophecy that "the glory of this latter house shall be greater
than that of the former" (Chaggai 2:9), and that the kingdom of Israel
will be established in its full glory.
The potential for this exists, but the key for actualization rests in the
hands of Israel. The degree to
which the redemption will be narrow and minimal or grand and perfect depends
upon their actions. This is the
essence of what the angel says to Yehoshua. That is to say, that it is not enough
that Israel be redeemed as brands plucked out of the fire, for if so, it will be
a narrow process that provides for their needs as survivors, but nothing
more. The potential to be counted
among the remarkable and to bring about the coming of the messianic king, "my
servant Tzemach," does indeed exist, but this depends upon the degree of
social justice and religious intensity that will be achieved by the members of
that generation.
THE
VARIOUS POSSIBLE TRACKS
The assumption that during the period of the return to Zion there stood
before Israel various possibilities regarding the process of redemption, and
that the script regarding the nature of the redemption of the second Temple
depended upon Israel's actions, finds sharp expression in a famous Gemara in
tractate Yoma (9b):
"If
she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver, and if she be a door,
we will enclose her with boards of cedar" (Shir Ha-shirim 8:9). Had you made yourselves like a wall, all
of you going up in the days of Ezra, you would have been likened to silver which
is not subject to decay. But now
that you went up like doors, you are likened to cedar which is subject to
decay.
This appears to be the metaphoric meaning of the stone mentioned in the
prophecy:
For
behold the stone that I have laid before Yehoshua: upon one stone are seven
facets: behold, I will engrave its inscription, says the Lord of hosts.
(3:9)
The
stone symbolizes the potential of the building; on the physical level, the stone
is connected to the building of the Temple as a structure built of stones, but
on the more symbolic level it marks the entirety of spiritual building. Yehoshua is told that the stone of the
building has the potential to give rise to various decorations and to express
thereby various ideas, each facet representing a different direction and an
additional potential, so that it is possible to base upon it seven different
principles and processes. If they
inscribe it properly, seven facets will blossom from it, but if they inscribe it
only partly, it will have only two or three facets, and if they do not exploit
its potential whatsoever, God forbid, then it will not give rise to even a
single facet. It will give
protection to the plucked brands by way of its very material nature, but the
moral principles that are meant to come to expression through the artistic
inscriptions will not come into the world at all.
MONARCHY
AND PRIESTHOOD
At this point, the haftara moves on to discuss Zerubavel. The connection between Yehoshua and
Zerubavel is clear, explicitly stated in the book of Chaggai (2:2). Yehoshua is the High Priest, whereas
Zerubavel is the political leader ("the governor of Yehuda"). The message given to Zerubavel at the
end of the haftara that the political leadership must subordinate itself
to the spiritual leadership, and that the essence is not physical strength, but
spirit, is a fundamental message of Judaism and the essence of the prophecy, so
basic that there is no need to expand upon it.
The vision that Zekharya sees in this context is that of the
menora with the seven lamps and two olive trees. The two olive trees serve as receptacles
for oil that stand above the menora and drip oil into it. As the commentators explain in light of
the verses in the continuation that are not included in the haftara, the
two "benei yitzhar" (4:14), that is, the olive trees, refer to the
monarchy and the priesthood, namely, Yehoshua and Zerubavel. Both the political leader and the High
Priest are anointed with oil, and therefore the metaphor is aptly applied to
them. The meaning of the vision is
that they are meant to cooperate with each other in order to achieve a common
goal. Just as the two olive trees
stand on the two sides of the menora and together feed it with oil, so
too the priesthood and the monarchy are supposed to work together in harmony and
without tension. Not separate
centers of power, but cooperation between two leaders. So too Chaggai in his prophecy (chap. 2)
sees the two as working together and prophesies about them in the same
prophecy.
COMMON
GOAL
Now, if we examine the objective toward which the two leaders are
working, both in the prophecy of Chaggai and in that of Zekharya, we will see
that their joint objective is the construction of the Temple. This means that the political leader
also plays an important role in the building of the Temple. Indeed, Chazal have already
taught us that the appointment of a king is a mitzva that must precede
the construction of the Temple, and they learned from David how the king must be
involved in that project.[5]
This is stated explicitly in the context of our period in the verses that
immediately follow our haftara: "Then the word of the Lord came to me,
saying, The hands of Zerubavel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands
shall also finish it" (4:8-9).
A
TEMPLE WITHOUT INDEPENDENCE
Attention should also be paid to the fact that this appears to have been
their exclusive goal. Indeed, the
construction of the second Temple differed in essence from the construction of
the first Temple, in that the essence of the redemption was focused on the
Temple. During the first Temple
period, an independent political entity was established. Israel entered the land, settled it, and
established a national homeland.
Only after more than four hundred years had passed was the Temple
erected. In other words, Israel's
entry into the land, which Chazal referred to as "the first entry," was
detached from the construction of the Temple and constituted an independent
achievement. During the second
Temple period, in contrast, there was no political independence, but only
partial autonomy under the aegis of foreign kings, there was no Davidic dynasty,
and all that was left was the construction of the Temple. During this period, the majority of the
Jewish people did not leave Babylonia for Eretz Israel, so that there was not
even an ingathering of the exiles.
The redemption of that time expressed itself exclusively through the
construction of the Temple. The
opening words of the book of Zekharya, which appear to serve as an
innocent dating of the prophecy and nothing more, also allude to this: "In the
eighth month, in the second year of Daryavesh, the word of the Lord came to
Zekharya, the son of Berakhya, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying"
(Zekharya 1:1). The verse
means to imply that all of Zekharya's work was in the political framework of
Persian rule over the land.
DESPISE
NOT THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS
Thus, we have reached the end of the haftara, but we must still
take a quick look at the verses that immediately follow
it:
Then
the word of the Lord came to me, saying, The hands of Zerubavel have laid the
foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and you shall know
that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.
For who has despised the day of small things? For those seven shall
rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubavel; the eyes of the
Lord, they rove to and fro through the whole earth. (4:8-10)
Earlier
I pointed out that Zekharya sets before Yehoshua the challenge of realizing the
full possible potential of the redemption of the second Temple, and encourages
him to strive for the perfect redemption that will develop from the stones of
the building. Israel, as we know,
did not merit. The second Temple
did not reach the level of the resting of the Shekhina that was reached
by the first Temple, and the political achievement of the return to Zion was
very limited. The reader could
easily arrive at the conclusion that the entire business was a failure and that
the achievements of rebuilding the Temple and the partial return of the people
to Eretz Israel were meaningless.
In other words, if it was merely the beginning of the redemption
(atchalta di-ge'ula) and the potential was never exploited, it had no
importance. In these verses, the
prophet comes to protest against this idea and to establish that even a partial
achievement is meaningful. One must
not despise the day of little things, even if the desire and aspiration had been
to achieve a day of great things.
Even if there is only tin, and no gold or silver, there is still "the
eyes of the Lord roving to and fro through the whole earth," that is, a sign of
Divine providence over the people.
The promise of "I will engrave its inscription" was not achieved in the
tin, but it too reflects the eyes of God.
In other words, if someone comes to build a ten-story building, but only
succeeds in building two stories, he should, on the one hand, be disappointed,
for his vision was not realized in its full glory, but on the other hand, he
should take satisfaction in his partial accomplishment. This was Israel's situation during the
second Temple period.
SEEDS
OF EXILE
Let
us now return to our parasha.
It begins on a tranquil note with a continuation of the deployment and
organization around the Mishkan.
The lighting of the menora, the consecration of the Levites,
the paschal offering, and the section dealing with the trumpets all give
expression to a world that is in a state of repair where the people of Israel
are close to their father in heaven and where the spiritual and holy rule the
material. All seems to be
proceeding in accordance with the Divine plan for Israel, and advancing toward
the full realization of the redemption in Eretz Israel.
In
the second half of the parasha, however, there is a steep fall from the
world of sanctity to a world of lust, and a flight from holiness, the process of
which begins in our parasha.
It continues with the sin of the spies and the company of Korach and the
desire to return to Egypt. There is
a straight line leading from the situation in which pleasure is set as a
priority and the demand for cucumbers and melons is seen as encompassing the
total picture, to the decree which was issued against Israel in the wake of the
sin of the spies. We see then that
the seeds of exile and fall from God's people to the dead of the wilderness,
from the chosen people to a rebuked nation that is refused redemption, are found
already in the second half of Parashat Beha'alotekha. A chain of sin and ruin runs through
these chapters; from complaint to lust, from lust to the spies, from the spies
to the ma'apilim, from the ma'apilim to those who burnt strange
incense and demanded the priesthood, denying the leadership of God and Moshe His
servant. The people lack the
strength that is needed to struggle with and realize their destiny and they sink
into sin and are punished with exile.
[The
break is so significant that Chazal see it as a fissure that divides the
book of Bamidbar into units.
The courses of the book are so different that Chazal counted the
beginning of the book and its continuation as three separate books.[6]
The first book, from the beginning of chapter 1 until "And it came to pass, when
the ark set forward" (10:34) deals with the Israelite camp in the wilderness, in
which the vision and reality go hand in hand; the second book dealing with the
journey to Eretz Israel on the wings of the Shekhina is made up of the
eighty-five letters of the two verses beginning with "And it came to pass, when
the ark set forward" (10:35-36); and the third book (11:1-36:13), which opens
with the story of the complainers and continues until the end of
Bamidbar, describes the sins that lead to the non-fulfillment of the
vision in that generation's lifetime.]
ANTICIPATING
TROUBLE
What emerges from all this is that deeper contemplation of Parashat
Beha'alotekha teaches us about the need to anticipate trouble, for the
danger of exile lies not only in the exile in itself, but in the despair that is
liable to accompany it. Israel was
redeemed from Egypt and carried on the wings of eagles, and suddenly the decree
of exile awaits them. The world of
sin and exile that followed the revelation at Mount Sinai and the expectation to
enter the land of Israel, imperils the people with a danger similar to that
which will confront them following the destruction of the Temple. The Torah does not deal with this
problem explicitly, but the midrashim allude to it, and it is certainly
possible to read it between the lines.
The reading of the haftara from Zekharya, with its message
about rebuilding in the aftermath of severe fall, and the rehabilitation of the
people through the spiritual leadership of a priest and a political leader, fill
the needs bubbling beneath the surface of our parasha. Thus, in addition to the
menora and the status of the High Priest as leader, there is also a
connection between the rest of the haftara and the reality that first
appears in Parashat Beha'alotekha and continues through the entire length
of the book of Bamidbar.
[1] "As Israel said to Yechezkel, as it is stated: 'Certain of the elders of
Israel came out to me, and sat before me' (Yechezkel 20:1). They said to him: 'Yechezkel, a slave
who was sold by his master, does he not leave his possesion?' He said to them:
'Yes.' They said to him: 'Since God has sold us to the nations of the world, we
have left his possession.' He said to them: 'Surely a slave who was sold by his
master on condition that he return - does he leave his possession?'"
(Sifrei, Bamidbar 14:41).
[2] These issues are discussed in the first two chapters of the book, which
precede the haftara. The
most striking verses in this context are: "And they said, We have walked to and
fro in the earth, and, behold, all the earth sits still, and is at rest. Then the angel of the Lord answered and
said, O Lord of hosts, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the
cities of Yehuda, against which you have had indignation these seventy years?"
(1:11-12); "For thus says the Lord of hosts (because of His honor He sent me
to the nations which spoiled you: for he that touches you touches the apple of
His eye) For behold, I will shake My hand over them, and they shall be a spoil
to those who served them. And you
shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me"
(2:12-13).
[3] The word "od" in the promise, "And He shall choose Jerusalem
od," bears the meaning of "again," and also the idea of constant choosing
that will continue forever.
[4] Chazal even assert that the filthy garments are a metaphor for
Yehoshua's children who married non-Jewish women. See Sanhedrin 93a, and Radak on
our verse.
[5] See Sanhedrin 20b.
[6] See Shabbat 116a, and Rashi (s.v. shiv'a sifrei
Torah).
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