Overview

Our Parshah tells the story of Jacob’s final moments in this world. He speaks to Joseph, blesses Joseph’s children, and then gathers his sons for them to hear his last words to them. In a similar vein, the haftarah describes the final words of another one of our greatest heroes: King David.

In this last command to his young son Solomon, the king begins with telling him to be strong and fear G‑d. Following the Torah and its mitzvot would bring him wisdom and success, and guarantee that G‑d would keep His promise to David that his descendants would forever be the kings among Israel.

After these general instructions, David leaves his son with some work to do. There were a number of things that David wanted to see happen, but which could be carried out only after his death. In the following paragraphs we will explain some of the background behind these various commands.

Overview

Perhaps the most tragic of all Jewish divides was that of the ten tribes versus the two (Israel and Judah). This split, which was divinely ordained, began with a political motive. The overwhelming majority of the people were disenchanted with Rechavam (Rehoboam), the heir to King Solomon, and ended up forming their own state.

The real trouble began, however, when Yeravam (Jeroboam) ben Nevat, the leader of the revolt and its appointed king, did not think it was a good idea for his people to visit the Temple in Jerusalem. The ruling monarchs there were Rehoboam and later his successors from the Davidic dynasty, and for his subjects to maintain a strong connection to the opposing state was not politically wise. Jeroboam therefore banned all pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and instead erected two large golden calves at the two ends of his kingdom for pilgrims to visit in worship. The spiritual elite, as well as many kohanim and Levites, were obviously appalled by this act. Slowly but surely, many of them made their way out of Israel and settled in Judah.

The net effect of all this in subsequent generations was the spiritual devastation of the entire state. Over the next two centuries, most of the rulers were quite wicked, and the people went in similar ways. Many of the prophets warned time and again that their actions would bring on catastrophe, but their warnings were hardly heeded. In the end the state fell to the Assyrians, and its inhabitants were scattered across the globe. Most of the exiled Jews assimilated in the local population and were lost to their people.

Lost, but not totally. In this prophecy of Ezekiel, he speaks in clear and certain terms of the eventual ingathering and return of all Jews from wherever they may have been exiled. They will return to their homeland and reside under a united kingdom—no longer split in two. It will be Moshiach who will reign over all Israel: Moshiach, who is the ultimate heir to King David.

The spiritual ills of the past will be entirely cured, and the Jews will once again attain the holy state in which they were destined to be. No longer will they need to fear exile, for the redemption, the Temple in Jerusalem and Davidic rule will now all be final and eternal.

To demonstrate this, Ezekiel is instructed to take two sticks of wood; on one he was to write “For Judah” and on the other, “For Joseph and for Ephraim.” He was to bring these pieces together, thus demonstrating that the two kingdoms, that of David (from the tribe of Judah) and that of Jeroboam (from the tribe of Ephraim, son of Joseph) would in time to come be united.

The connection to the Parshah is quite fascinating. The portion of Vayigash begins with the confrontation between Judah and Joseph about the fate of Benjamin. The difficult exchange between them served as a precedent for the future rivalry between the descendants of these two leaders.

Solomon was just a young lad when he assumed the throne. In fact, he was a mere twelve years of age. In those days, prior to the construction of the Temple, the altar that was built by Moses was situated in Gibeon. Soon after he became king, Solomon went to Gibeon to pray and give thanks.

While in Gibeon, G‑d appeared to Solomon in a dream. “What should I give you?” the Almighty asked. Solomon was acutely aware of his young age and lack of experience. He, therefore, asked G‑d for “an understanding heart to judge Your people.”

G‑d expresses His great satisfaction and happiness with this choice. Solomon could have opted to make any other attractive wish for himself: long life, wealth, victory over his enemies, etc. Because he had wished for what he did, G‑d told him that in addition to wisdom, he would also enjoy great wealth and honor. And the wisdom G‑d would grant him would be the likes of which no one before him or after him would possess.

This gift of wisdom was put to the test soon after the young king returned home. Two prostitutes came before the king with a quarrel. The first began to lay out her side of the story:

They had both been sharing a lodging space, and had both given birth—she first, her housemate three days later. Unfortunately, her housemate’s baby had died the night after it was born. Upon realizing this, her housemate had gone and secretly exchanged her dead child with her housemate’s live one. “I awoke in the morning to nurse my son, and behold, he was dead! But I looked closely at him in the morning, and behold, it was not my son whom I had borne.”

The second woman denied this entirely. “Not so! The living child is my son, and the dead one is your son.” And so the argument continued.

Solomon repeated the claims of each party, thus ensuring he understood them. (Our sages use this verse as the source for a judge’s obligation to repeat the claims of the litigants in front of them, to ensure he has understood them properly.)

The case was obviously made more difficult by the fact that there were no witnesses for any of the events. Solomon had to think of some original method of how to detect who was speaking the truth.

• The king said, “Fetch me a sword,” and they brought a sword before the king. The king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.”
• The woman whose son was the live one said to the king—for her compassion was aroused for her son—and she said: “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.” But the other said, “Let it be neither mine nor yours; divide it.”
• The king answered and said, “Give her the living child, and by no means kill him: she is his mother.”

Word of Solomon’s great display of wisdom spread throughout the entire kingdom. The people now revered the young king, for they saw that the wisdom of G‑d was with him.

Simply speaking, what impressed the people was that despite his young age, the king had managed to think of such a clever scheme to solve this difficulty.

Now of course such a scheme would not always be effective. Any decent human being would at least be hesitant to agree to the proposition of “dividing” any child, even if it was not theirs; indeed, they would most probably express profound shock at the mere proposition. The wisdom of Solomon was the ability to discern the precise character of the litigants who stood in front of him. The accurate assessment that his charade would be effective was the product of his great wisdom and a clear display of it.

Overview

The prophet Obadiah was a contemporary of Elijah the prophet. He lived in the days of King Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel. In fact, he was the manager of their entire estate. We encounter him in the story of Elijah and his confrontations with King Ahab. When Jezebel began hunting down and killing all prophets of G‑d, Obadiah took it upon himself to hide one hundred prophets in two caves and to provide all their needs from his own pocket. The verse there calls him “a very G‑d-fearing man.” Albeit nameless, we also encounter him posthumously in the haftarah of Vayeira, with the miracle of Elisha and the oil (see there).

The book of Obadiah contains only one chapter, and it is entirely preoccupied with the fate of Edom—the descendants of Esau. Obadiah was specifically chosen to be the carrier of this message because he was in fact an Edomite who had converted to Judaism. Furthermore, “Obadiah, who dwelt amidst two wicked people (Ahab and Jezebel) and did not learn from their ways—let him come and prophesy the downfall of Esau, who dwelt amidst two righteous people (Isaac and Rebecca) and did not learn from their ways.”

As we read in our Parshah extensively, Esau and his descendants lived in and ruled the region of Mount Seir known as Edom. The people of Edom were a continuous adversary of the Jews in the Land of Israel. What is interesting, though, is that Obadiah speaks of the doom that will befall Edom in the days of Moshiach. This is not unique to Obadiah—a number of other biblical prophets speak of this as well.

The Mishnah states it as fact that the descendants of the biblical nations no longer inhabit their original places of origin. As far this prophecy is concerned, however, a fascinating observation is made by a number of commentaries. Rome was founded by the people and culture of Edom, the descendants of Esau. Thus the Romans, who destroyed the Second Temple, and those European nations who continued in their path with centuries of Jewish persecution and torture, are all included in the term “Edom.” It is for this reason that throughout rabbinic literature, the exile we are in now is referred to “the exile of Edom.” The book of Obadiah, then, refers to “Edom” in this broader sense. Although the details of how this prophecy might be fulfilled are mostly obscure, the obvious idea is that in time to come G‑d will take retribution upon Edom, who oppressed the Jewish people.

The “Vision of Obadiah” begins with what might be a mocking statement directed at Edom’s arrogance. Notwithstanding their self-determination, G‑d will bring them down from the high place they considered themselves to be. Edom will be entirely overrun by its enemies and backstabbed by its allies. At that time it will lose both its wise and its mighty, rendering it a ridiculed and poor nation.

Seeing far into the future, Obadiah tells of the future wrongs of Edom which would earn them this retribution. In the time of the destruction and exile of the Jews by the Babylonians, the Edomites stood by and happily watched the downfall of Israel and the exile of its people. There was not even a trace of the kinship that might have been expected from a nation who were in effect cousins to the Jews. Worse still was the destruction perpetrated by the Romans themselves some five hundred years later. The hate the Romans showed was so great that they were bent on destroying every last remnant of what once was the Jewish people.

The prophet says that “the day is near” when all the evil done by Edom will be returned to it. (Radak explains that although this would happen in a long time from when these words were said, it could be considered “near” in the sense of “certain,” as this is a promise by G‑d.) At that time, not only will the Jews return to their rightful land and holy place, but they will also expand their territory into the lands of their former enemies. This will be the time when G‑d will be recognized as sovereign in the world.

Overview

Hosea was one of the prophets who lived at the time of the looming destruction of the northern state of Israel, which comprised ten of the twelve tribes. (He refers to the state as “Ephraim,” for its first ruler, Jeroboam ben Nebat, was from that tribe.) Hosea was the first of four prophets who warned of the eventual exile in similar terms, the others being Isaiah, Amos and Micah.

The beginning of the haftarah seems to be directed to the people as a whole. Although the people were very hesitant about mending their ways, G‑d still would not, nay could not, totally destroy them. After their long exile, G‑d would gather them in and return them to their land.

The people of Israel had been spending their lives in vanity, pursuing emptiness, and not in the most scrupulous of ways. If catastrophe would befall them, it could have been caused only by their own actions. “Keep lovingkindness and justice,” begs Hosea, “and hope to your G‑d always.”

The prophet reminds the people of their history—the events in this week’s Parshah. Jacob contended with his wicked brother Esau and overcame him. Moreover, he fought with an angel, and was victorious, the angel in turn pleading with Jacob to let him be. Prior to these events, Jacob arrived penniless at the home of his uncle Laban, and had to work to marry his wives. He then, however, amassed great wealth when G‑d caused the turn of events to be in his favor. If this was the history of their ancestor, the Jews could take heed and cast their lot with G‑d, and not with the emptiness of affluence or the nations they allied with.

Overview

The book of Malachi gives us a unique glimpse into the time when he delivered his prophecies. As the last of the biblical prophets, Malachi is there as the Second Temple is being built and the handful of Jews return to their land. Although they had taken a leading role in this historic time, the spiritual level that these Jews were at was rather low.

As we read in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah at length, the Jewish men thought much more of the non-Jewish women than of their Jewish wives. After all, why be married to a Jewish woman, on whose face can be seen all the difficulties of exile, when you can marry a good-looking local girl and become part of society? The newly arrived immigrants were also so bent on material prosperity in their new surroundings that expenses for their Jewish duties were seen as burdensome. We read here that the sacrifices offered in the Temple were taken from the poorest of the crops and animals. The people also had a general disrespect, even contempt, for the Temple service.

It is here that Malachi admonishes them to wake up to their real selves. He begins with describing the unconditional love that exists between G‑d and His people. This had been demonstrated with the Jewish return to their homeland, something that no other exiled nation had been able to do. Where is the reciprocation? the prophet demands. So insensitive had they grown that they did not even think there was anything wrong with their attitude. The service in the Temple was to be the source of blessing for the people in the land, and ridiculing it would in turn become a source of shame and contempt for themselves.

The final words of the haftarah are directed to the kohanim. G‑d had made a covenant with the priests because of their commitment and righteous ways. The kohanim were expected to continue in the way of their ancestors, teach the people, and live lives that would serve as role models for the rest of the nation.

Overview

The portion of Chayei Sarah is all about continuity. Abraham has grown old, and the burning question that occupies his mind is the continuation of his family and legacy. Abraham and Sarah’s only son, Isaac, is not married yet. Our Parshah gives us the detailed account of the search and eventual finding of Isaac’s wife, Rebecca.

The haftarah carries a similar theme. King David had been handpicked by G‑d to establish the Jewish kingdom. G‑d had promised him that Jewish kings for all time would be of his descent. As David had many sons, there was going to be a need to clarify who would be the heir to David’s throne. Earlier in his life, David had made it clear that it was Solomon, the son of his wife Bathsheba, who would take over the kingdom after him.

But David had grown old and weak, and was no longer involved in matters of state as he once had been. Taking advantage of this situation, David’s oldest living son, Adonijah (Adoniyahu), thought it was a good time to self proclaim himself as the next king. He was handsome and evidently popular, while Solomon was a mere twelve years of age. He went about parading himself with great pomp around the kingdom. He threw a large party and invited a number of powerful and influential people whom he knew would support his cause.

Getting news of this, the prophet Nathan came to Bathsheba and encouraged her to go to the king and implore him to do something. Nathan went in after her, and they both reminded David of his promise and asked him to intervene. The old king reaffirmed his oath that Solomon would be his heir. In the verses following the conclusion of the haftarah, David orders that Solomon be crowned and officially proclaimed as king during his lifetime.

Overview

Parshat Vayeira tells the story of the miraculous birth of Isaac. Although Abraham and Sarah could never naturally have children, G‑d gave them a child in their deep old age. Reflecting this, the haftarah recounts a similar miracle which was performed through the prophet Elisha.

Elisha had been the student of Elijah the prophet. Before the ascent of Elijah to heaven, Elisha requested of his teacher that he be granted “a double portion of your spirit.” This was indeed fulfilled, and Scripture enumerates twice as many miracles performed by Elisha as by his teacher Elijah. Our haftarah recounts three of these miracles.

The first miracle involved a widow who was heavily in debt, and her creditors were threatening to take her two sons as slaves to satisfy the debt. When Elisha asked her what she had in her home, the widow responded that she had nothing but a vial of oil. Elisha told her to gather as many empty containers as possible. She should then pour oil from her vial into the empty containers. She did as commanded, and miraculously the oil continued to flow until the last empty jug was filled. The woman would sell the oil for a handsome profit, and have enough money to repay her debts and live comfortably.

The second miracle: Elisha would often pass by the city of Shunem, where he would dine and rest at the home of a certain hospitable couple. This couple even built a special addition to their home, a guest room designated for Elisha's use. When the prophet learned that the couple was childless, he blessed the woman that she should give birth to a child in exactly one year’s time. Indeed, one year later a son was born to the aged couple.

The third miracle: A few years later, this miraculously born son complained of a headache and died shortly thereafter. The Shunammite woman laid the lifeless body on the bed in Elisha’s designated room, and quickly made her way to the prophet. Elisha came to the woman’s home and miraculously brought the boy back to life.