Haftarat Parshat Re'eh
Stones and Water: An Haftarah Richer in Metaphor Than In Content
The two parts of this week’s haftarah, verses 11-17 of chapter 54 and 1-5 of Chapter 55, seem distinct from each other. In addition, their literal content is less rich than the meaning Hazal find in it, so I will focus more than usual on the themes of Hazal.
The first section finally gives us a comforting prediction of how Yerushalayim will look. The streets of the city will be paved with jewels, her gates will be made of precious stones, and the city will be so bright that nations will follow that light.
Moving from the city itself to its inhabitants, they will all be “learned of God,” a phrase that means something different than being learned. Learned implies knowledge, learned of God means having built a certain kind of relationship with the Holy One. Further, the city will be full of peace (remember that those learned of God create peace, perhaps the most famous verse in the haftarah).
Part of that peace will be the city’s firm foundation of charity and good deeds, acts that help produce peace. I find it interesting that the navi ascribes people’s ability to act so well to their lack of fear, which assumes that crime and wrongdoing stem from fear; if so, working to eradicate our fears becomes a religious endeavor, a contribution to hastening a Yerushalayim of peace.
Another claim we might need to educate ourselves to believe is Yeshayahu’s statement that others will not be able to attack the Jews because Hashem can make their weapons fail. This is a different and more metaphysical claim than that Hashem can protect us, one I think it would take some work to come to believe in our times.
Rejecting Converts in Times to Come
One of the verses in this section says that those who have already joined the Jewish poeple will stay with you. The emphasis on those who already joined leads the Talmud to deduce that we will not accept converts in the times of the Mashiah. We have a similar tradition about the times of David and Shlomo, raising many interesting questions. They are too complicated to discuss here, but worth raising:
Did David and Shlomo—and in the future, will we—reject converts because of suspicions about their sincerity? Is it fair to bar sincere people from getting closer to God to protect ourselves against the insincere? Why do motives matter at all, if the person will stay Jewish and keep mitsvot? Was conversion perhaps unnecessary in David and Shlomo’s time? Would that mean that it is as good to be a faithful non-Jew (ger toshav or ben Noah) as to be a faithful Jew? How could that be true?
The Stones of Jerusalem: A Heavenly or Earthly Matter?
Two comments in Baba Batra 75a attach a significance to the stones of Yerushalayim’s future that we might not have realized. In recording a debate about which stones the navi intends, the gemara mentions that it was not sure whether the debate was between two Talmudic rabbis or between the angels Micha-el and Gavri-el.
That the Talmud thought angels might have debated the nature of those stones is striking, suggesting that the details of the rebuilding are of cosmic importance. If so, understanding that rebuilding is part of understanding Hashem, an endeavor the angels, too, engage in. Similar importance to the rebuilding of Yerushalayim is given by one Midrash, which declares this one of the ten ways Hashem will change the world in the future. As we have the privilege of watching what would seem to be the early stages of that rebuilding, remembering the importance the Talmud attaches to it can help us reap the maximum religious benefit.
Belief in the Words of the Sages: Another Lesson of the Stones
That same gemara tells of a person who mocked R. Yohanan’s claim that the stones would be incomprehensibly large; the “apikoros” (I use the word in its original sense, one who doubts or ridicules Hazal) noted that in his time, there were not even small stones of that type, let alone big ones. In the gemara’s telling, he then went on an ocean voyage and was shown angels hewing exactly such stones, to rebuild Yerushalayim. When he got back to land, he excitedly told R. Yohanan of what he had seen, happy to have confirmed the rabbi’s teaching.
Rabbi Yohanan’s reply—the reason I find the story worth retelling—is that the man is wrong for basing his acceptance on having seen it. We need to accept authoritative traditions, R. Yohanan says, because they were said by figures of authority, not because we already understand it ourselves.
Torah As Water or Fire: A Most Flowing or Explosive Metaphor
The last five verses call for all the thirsty to go to the water, which we can get for nothing, adding the rhetorical question of why we would pay for meaningless banalities when we can get Torah free. Aside from its being free, Torah brings with it the return of a Davidic rule, and of a time when nations we do not even know will see the truth of our position and join us.
Sukkah 52b notes that other verses compare Torah to fire, which it explains by differentiating between two types of evil inclination, each of which Torah can remove. For the stone-like one, Torah acts like water, with a melting action; with a metal-like evil inclination, Torah acts like fire, explosively.
The Talmud implies that there are two central ways we can struggle with ourselves: we can notice a psychological/spiritual lump that blocks us from acting as we should, or we can struggle with desires that burn inside, pushing us to act wrongly. Torah can help us avoid or resist each.
Moving back to the water metaphor, the gemara understands our verse to be only one half of the story, since another calls on us to pour water for the thirsty. In the gemara’s explanation, we are supposed to pour the water for a proper student, but can wait for other students to come to us. A teacher’s obligation, in this reading, depends on the student’s interest and readiness to work. Without that commitment, the teacher bears no responsibility to spark such interest, although the Talmud clearly would not have objected to his doing so.
This is a haftarah easily read superficially, as a prediction of Jewish power, invulnerability, and renewed relationship with God. Hazal alert us to its deeper ramifications, some of which I hope we have seen here. May we soon see all of the prophecy, and all of its implications, realized before our eyes; Shabbat Shalom.
ISAIAH 54;11
11] O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
[12] And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
[13] And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
[14] In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.
[15] Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
[16] Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
[17] No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
Isa.55
[1] Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
[2] Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
[3] Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
[4] Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.
[5] Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.