Dr. Esther Shkop
Session #3 10/23/2012
Haftorah Masei - Jeremiah, Chapter 2
– 4
We continued revisiting Jeremiah Chapter 2
from the last shiur:
2:8 The Kohanim did not say, ‘Where
is Hashem?’; those charged with teaching the Torah did not know Me; the shepherds
rebelled against Me; the prophets prophesied by the Baal; and they went after
those that cannot avail.
Hashem admonishes the Kohanim, the
shepherds of people etc… for not seeking G-d, not knowing Me. 2:8 Radak – the priests did not ask where is God,
how do we find Him, how do we bring our souls closer to Him. They learned Torah as an intellectual exercise.
The knowledge of God is to imitate His image, learning His ways to know how to
behave – He mocks the formal study divorced from faith.
How did this happen, what did you do to yourself
– you caused all of that.
The issue of relying on other nations. Adulterous relationship via idolatry.
God gave you this land and you did not rely
on Him, you relied on other nations, the way you do now.
2:9 Therefore I will yet contend
with you – the word of Hashem – and with your children’s children I will
contend. The
phrase – neum Hashem, the word of Hashem – means signed and
sealed, direct quote.
We continue with the next verses from
Jeremiah chapter 2:
2:20 For I have always broken your yoke and torn off your
straps, and you have said “I will not transgress!” Yet upon every lofty hill and under every
leafy tree you wander like a harlot. 2:21 I planted you from a choice vine,
entirely from faithful see; how, then, have you turned yourself into an
inferior, alien vine before Me? 2:22
Even if you were to wash with neter
and use much borit (soap), your
iniquity has become a stain before Me – the word of my Lord,
Hashem/Elohim.
Even should you launder with neter – primitive detergent made of sand
and soil – it neutralizes fats. Borit,
or borax – the version of borax is Oxiclean – is liquidized oxygen, safest form
of bleach, found in Dead Sea , borit is used for tough stains.
Even if you launder with soap and use a lot
of bleach, your sin is a stain before me – does it mean that there is no
possibility of return, does it mean their fate is sealed? At this time there is no turning back – neum Hashem is a sentencing, too late to
appeal – Radak.
Abarbanel – appaulled that there is no
teshuvah
Radak – sins for which there is no
repentance – is there such a thing?
3:3 …yet you had the boldness of a harlot woman, you
refused to be ashamed.
Jeremiah 4:1 im tashuv
Israel – neum Hashem - If you repent, O Israel – the word of Hashem – eilai tashuv - you will return to Me; vim tasir shikutzeha mipanai If
you remove your abominations from before Me, v’lo tanud then you will not have to wander. 4:2 v’nishbata
hai Hashem - If you will swear,
‘As Hashem lives!’ beemet, bemishpat uvitzedakah in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, v’hitbarchu
vo goyim the nations will bless
themselves through Israel, uvo yithalalu and will praise themselves through it.
If you only return, return to me, remove
your obceneties – you will not wander – and I swear as I live, if you just come
back, by truth, by law, by justice – all nations will praise you, will rise you
up.
Same metaphor – kabsi – cleanse, launder, wash the evil out of your heart Jerusalem
How do you reconcile chapters 4 and 2? After the verdict is sealed with the words ‘neum Hashem’ it cannot be revoked – so
chapter 2 must be at the end.
Abarbanel – if the verdict is sealed, why
is God sending the prophets? If there is
no chance to come back, why send prophets to waste, to get laughed at?
If the fate is sealed, teshuvah is not enough, even changing your ways is not enough, you
have to pay back. Yom Kippur – if you
stole money, repentance is not enough, you have to pay back, even more so if
you murdered – you have to pay with your own suffering, even your life. In case of idolatry it is heavy.
Other prophets said you get forgiven as if
you are a new person.
Imagery in chapter 2:
2:22 Even if you were to wash with neter and use much borit
(soap), your iniquity has become a stain before Me – the word of my Lord, Hashem/Elohim.
If you should launder … - your stain
remains before me
How can you stand here and say ‘I have not
been defiled, I never went after false gods’ – look what happened at the guy - narrow place by the Western wall – in the
days of Jeremiah – there was a giant statue of Moloch, looked like a giant human,
made like a furnace, with the flame in the belly, the iron arms like a slide,
children were put to slide into the furnace, burned alive to sacrifice to this
god – in the days of Yirmiyahu – they played loud drums, tof is a drum, to drown down the screams, they went into ecstatic
frenzy, because of the screams that were going on. On the outside they washed their clothes, on
the inside they remained rotten.
Part of the recovery process for addicts
requires them to acknowledge the pain they caused to people they hurt.
And yet it says in chapter 4 - if you
launder your heart! Then you can be
saved, then you can be forgiven, if you do teshuvah b’emet, b’mishpat,
b’tzedakah – going above and beyond to change your ways.
Kevoshet
ganav keimatzeh – shame of the thief that was
caught – not ashamed for what they did, but for being caught. They are only upset with the consequences,
not with their actions.
2:27 They say to the wood, ‘You are my father,’ and to the
stone, ‘You have borne us.’ To Me they turned their backs and not their faces;
but in their time of distress they will say, ‘Arise and save us!’
They say to a piece of wood you are my
father, and to the stone they say you birthed me. The word God on the $ bill – what do we rely
on, what do we really trust?
They don’t really believe in idolatry –
what I can touch, possess, control – they only believed in material,
physical world. You have to work to
provide for yourself, but you cannot attribute success to your own hand. It is a partnership, we are dependent on Him
in the entire process. Torah says that
God gave the power to the human beings, if they rely on Him, recognize Him, Who
carries you.
They relied on wood and stone, things you build
with, your factories, your stores.
Meaning of Sukkah that in the final
analysis you only rely on God.
You are not doing this alone.
2:28 Now where are your gods that you made for yourself? Let
them arise if they can save you in the time of your distress; for as the number
of your cities were your gods, O Judah.
So I ask you “where are you gods, that you
made yourself, let’s see if they stand up and save you from trouble” Jews thought that socialism will save them,
that assimilation will save them, where are your gods now?
Franz Rozenzweig says god is a power you
rely on – we thought it was socialism, emancipation, then science, technology,
these were our gods – he wrote this before WWII.
Good things, but if you don’t recognize the
higher power they become idols.
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Haftorah Devarim - Shabbat Hazon – Isaiah Chapter 1
This is the Shabbat before Tisha B’Av, and
the main emotion of the reading for this time period is expressed by the word eichah –
how could this happen – we encounter this word three times: in Torah portion,
in Haftarah, and in Lamentation.
In the Torah portion Devarim Moshe says ‘how
can I carry this nation on my back, all by myself?’ The cry of Lamentation ‘how could it be
that this beautiful city now sits like an abandoned widow.’
Isaiah lived 150 years before the
destruction, before Jeremiah, he predicted things that were to happen in
future. Rabbi Weissmandel, Hungarian Jew who knew that Jews are taken to
Aushwitz to be killed – managed to get to Switzerland
Isaiah 1:1 The vision of Isaiah, son of Amoz, which he saw
concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and
Hezekiah, kings of Judah
Isaiah was born into the royal family, his
father Amoz was brother of the king.
Isaiah was an advisor to the kings.
Grew to the position of tremendous influence. His language is high-style, structured, he
wrote his prophesies down. A lot of his
writings are high poetry, used puns. He
was prophet in the days of multiple kings, senior wise man who lived in the
palace, all these kings were his relatives.
1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for Hashem has
spoken: “Children have I raised and exalted, but they have rebelled against Me.
Isaiah mimics a style of Moshe’s poem at
the end of Devarim – parsha Haazinu – hear heaven and earth. Difference between haazinu (hearken) and
shimu (listen): Haazinu means to speak
to the ear, intimately – listen to me – I raised children and they have sinned
against you – I gave you inheritance, I allowed you to reach high position.
1:3 An ox knows his owner, and a donkey his master’s trough;
but Israel
Metaphor from the animal word. An ox knows his owner because he feeds him,
and the donkey knows where to find his food.
Israel
One sentence is an opposite mirror of the
other. Shor, ox, vs Israel Israel Israel
Jeremiah 8:7 Even the stork in heaven knows its migration
seasons, and the turtledove, the swift, and the crane keep the time of their
arrival; but My people do not know the law of Hashem.
Even the stork in heaven knows its
migration seasons, this time it is about birds.
They sense things before they happen – tsunami, earthquake – turtledove,
swift, crane. They watch for their time
to come home, but My people don’t know the law.
They know how to come home, they go back to
their nests, places where they were born.
Birds have no reward or punishment, it’s
inbred in them, it’s an instinct, genetic, programmed. Knowledge of God becomes part of you when you
learn. The birds have the born knowledge. We are born with the intuitive knowledge
of God, with God’s judgements,
mishpat Hashem, to know between good and evil. The bird knows its way home, but human beings
don’t know. Only humans harm themselves.
Intuitive sense about fairness,
equity. Little kids are taught to avoid
sexual abuse, if it does not feel right inside themselves. Babies recognize smiley or angry face – as
young as few days – recognition of anger or benign – smile in a few weeks –
human response.
When extra knowledge
denies your own intuition – our cognitive learning
interferes with intuition – he says that God gave us a certain compass, like
birds, intuition, clues inside us that are inbred – they
refuse to know that the judgement of God is inbred in us.
Rabbi Bahia ibn Pekudah – great philosopher
– said that it seems as if the entire Torah directs us to study God’s creatures
to teach us his ways, and in the process to know God.
Isaiah 1:4 Woe! They are a sinning nation, a people weighed
down by iniquity, evil offspring, destructive children! They have forsaken Hashem; they have angered
the Holy One of Israel
Wow to you sinning nation laden heavy with
iniquity – you are the seed of people who did bad, you abandoned God, you
spited whatever is holy.
1:5 For what have you been smitten, since you continue to
act perversely? Each head is smitten with sickness; each head with infirmity. 1:6
From the sole of the foot to the head, nothing in him is whole; only injury,
bruise, and festering wound: They have not been treated and they have not been
bandaged, and the wound has not been softened with oil.
They have not progressed, they regressed,
went backwards – don’t you understand that what you’ve done is hurting you –
every head is ill, every heart is diseased, from sole of his feet to head there
is no whole place.
1:7 Your country is desolate; your cities are burned with
fire, as for your land – strangers consume its yield in your presence; it is
desolate as if overturned by foreigners.
As in the book of Oscar Wilde “The Portrait of
Dorian Gray” – nation beaten on all sides and still does not learn how to
avoid that pain – your cities are burned by fire – in front of your own land
the strangers take it away – like overturning of strange cities.
1:8 The daughter of Zion
Now we are calling her the daughter of Zion Zion – daughter of Zion ,
part of Jerusalem
Like a watchtower in the vineyard, like a
city besieged. When vineyard is growing
they put a watchtower, when grape ripen someone watches to chase away animals,
they place roses around for the thorns, old form of barbed wire, they grew
thick bush roses.
When the season is over, it is the sukkah, they harvest the grapes, then
winter comes and the vineyard looks stripped, the watchtower looks lonely and
destroyed, everything has been plucked. Like zucchini patch, collected into a
big trough, someone slept there to watch, image of something stripped bare, now
ghost town. Like city that was besieged,
cut off, the enemy army is waiting for people to surrender or die – vision of
ghost town, plucked dry and left empty.
1:9 Had not Hashem, Master of Legions, left us a trace of a
remnant, we would have been like Sodom ; we would
have resembled Gomorrah
Had God not left us a refugee, we would
have been like Sodom Sodom
– talking to the leaders, calling them Sodom
1:10 Hear the words of Hashem, O chiefs of Sodom ;
give ear to the teachings of our God, O people of Gomorrah
1:11 Why do I need your numerous sacrifices? Says Hashem. I am sated with elevation-offerings of rams
and the fat of fatlings; the blood of bulls, sheep and goats I do not desire.
1:12 When you come to appear before Me, who sought this from you hand, to
trample My courtyards?
He is talking to the people: not “God said,
God will say” – what do I need your offerings for, I had enough of them. When you show up before me, who asked this of
you to come here and trample my courtyards.
1:13 Bring no more vain oblations; it is
an offering of abomination unto Me; new moon and sabbath, the holding of
convocations--I cannot endure iniquity along with the solemn assembly. 1:14 Your
new moons and your appointed seasons My soul hateth; they are a burden unto Me;
I am weary to bear them.
Stop bringing me you vain gifts, incense
that are abomination. I can’t tolerate your gatherings with immorality, come
here and expect me to listen to you, when you are unjust. I hate your holidays, they become an
aggravation, I can no longer tolerate them.
1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from
you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of
blood.
And when you stretch out your hands (asking
for something), it’s a beggar’s hand, I will turn my eyes away from you. Even when you daven a lot, I won’t listen, your hands are filled with blood. In Mishnah
blood also means money.
1:16 Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from
before Mine eyes, cease to do evil; 1:17 Learn to do well; seek justice,
relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Wash, purify yourselves, remove evil of
your actions from my eyes, stop doing bad things, learn how to do good, seek
out justice, give back the stolen goods, pay back, do justice for the orphan,
battle for the widow, then go and prove it.
1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD; though your
sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool. 1:19 If
ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land; 1:20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be
devoured with the sword; for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken.
If
your sins were as red as scarlet, they’ll be white as a driven snow, if they
were red like blood, they’ll be like white wool. You will eat the good of the earth. But if you refuse… because the mouth of God
spoke – inspired word of God that came to him as prophetic
1:21 How is the faithful city become a harlot! She that was full of
justice, righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.
21 – 27 where Haftorah ends is a separate
unit – new stanza – how did a loyal devout city turn into a whore, a
prostitute. You were once full of
justice, righteousness, tzedek could sleep there, and now… In Gemorrah
idolatry is treated as whore, as opposed to loyalty.
There is a halachic issue with notion of tzedek, justice, lodging or sleeping
over, staying overnight – law of damages – contracts and torts, that’s mishpat, law of money. Proper legal system disposes of contracts
quickly, best when the decision is made the same day. Three judges, simple cases were decided
quickly. In capital cases, possibility
of punishing someone for murder – Torah asks for tzedek – don’t make judgement the same day, sleep on it. Tempered with the understanding of the
motivation and psychology, what was the circumstances. Judgement on capital cases is not made in on
the same day. They judged people so
harshly that they became a city of murderers, executed too fast.
1:22 Thy silver is become dross, thy
wine mixed with water. 1:23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of
thieves; every one loves bribes, and follows after rewards; they judge not the
fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come unto them.
Dross – mixture of multiple metals. Liquor
mixed with water. We’ve all cheated one
another and there is nothing left. Your
princes are perverse, and they are a band of thieves, a whole bunch of them love
bribery, kickbacks, they don’t take judgement for orphan and the struggle of
widow does not even approach – the women are so powerless that they don’t even
bother trying.
1:24 Therefore says the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of
Israel: Ah, I will ease Me of Mine adversaries, and avenge Me of Mine enemies; 1:25 And I will turn My hand upon you, and
purge away your dross as with lye, and will take away all your alloy; 1:26 And
I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counsellors as at the
beginning; afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the
faithful city. 1:27 Zion
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