Haftorah Parashat Noach
Shabbat, Parshat Noah, 3 MarHeshvan, November 4-5
Yeshayahu, Chapter 54;1-55;5
Apparent Reason for Reading this Haftarah: A verse in the middle of the haftarah (54;9) refers to the promises Hashem makes in Yeshayahu as similar in some way to the waters of Noah. (The exact similarity is a matter of debate. It either means that the promise of redemption is as ironclad as the promise not to have a Flood or that the number of the days of Redemption will be similar to the amount of time from Noah to Yeshayahu).
Problems with That View: Part of why that bothers me is that it sees the promise to avoid future Floods as central to Parshat Noah, worthy of making it the focus of the haftarah, but I never understood the parsha that way. In addition, if that verse is the point, we could have stopped reading after verse 10, like we do for Parshat Ki Tetse.
The Haftarah’s Central Themes: Looking at the text itself, we find that it speaks of the ways in which Yerushalayim will grow and expand in the future. The first half focuses on the expansion of Yerushalayim, its becoming the clear seat of God’s Presence in the world. Note that the expansion is not celebrated for its own sake, but for its role in bringing about the clarity of Hashem’s Presence, such that God will more fully be the world’s Ruler.
The second half of the haftarah divides into two parts. The first continues physical expressions of Yerushalayim’s future glory, speaking in seemingly hyperbolic terms, saying that the city will be paved with precious stones. At least one Rabbinic tradition took that even further, asserting that the stones would be incredibly large. A student who expressed doubt about the literal truth of those claims was rebuked as lacking in full belief, indicating that tradition attached an unexplained significance to accepting the miraculous here. For some reason, bringing a wild physical reality about is important to this future.
In spiritual terms, we are told that all of the city’s inhabitants will be learned of God, creating such a strong connection that God will arrange for weapons to fail to work when wielded against Yerushalayim. The last piece of the haftarah offers some ways to achieve this state, reminding us of how easy it is to form the kind of relationship with God that would allow for the preceding predictions. Like water, Torah is so available that we should not need to pay for it, we could just absorb it (free) and see its fruitful results.
Seen together, the haftarah (ignoring for a moment whether it connects to the parsha) focuses on how we can help bring about a future we long for in our own terms, but that also has ramifications for the world and its success at accomplishing one of its central goals, establishing the well-accepted rule of God.
A Fuller Explanation of The Connection to the Parsha: Since the parts of this haftarah are read at other times of the year, seeing it at Parshat Noah raises the question of why it would be worth reading again, what about its message makes it worth attaching here as well. The answer, I believe, is that reading the parsha alone, we might stop too soon, noting only the loss of life, human and animal. The saddest part of the Flood, though, was that so close to Creation (in the Torah’s presentation), and at least so soon after Adam and Hava were sent out into the world, their progeny had strayed so far from God that they could not retain the most minimal standards of behavior, nor recognize that God would punish them for their crimes.
The root of all evil is not money, it is forgetting or ignoring God’s involvement with the world, and His holding us to account for violating His morality, whether or not we choose to recognize its necessity. When God swears never again to bring a Flood, the oath is not a foregoing of those standards, just a promise to find other ways of insuring that the world can be reminded of its need to engage with God., to adhere to His standards of how to act.
Selective punishments (recall Paroh’s error in thinking God could not drown all the Egyptians), horrible ones, are always available, but so are positive means, such as making Yerushalayim into the center of the world’s focus. The haftarah continues the parsha by showing us how God can ensure that there will be no need for another Flood, how the Lord can assert His Presence without violating His oath.Of course, as always, the preference would be for Jews and all humanit to learn these lessons on our own, which would lead to an even better future than imagined in this haftarah. Barring that, , we have a bedrock promise that God will eventually clearly reveal Himself, and that Yerushalayim will be the venue for that blessed event.
Famous Verses and Their Ramifications
The opening verses of the two parts of the haftarah, rani akarah and aniyah so`arah, are famous, but just because they start two of the seven haftarot of comfort. More stimulating are 54;5 (the whole verse) which makes God’s becoming our partner and redeemer the basis of His becoming the God of the whole world.
54;13, ve-kol banayich limudei Hashem, ve-rav shelom banayich, and all your sons will be learned of God and will have much peace, is well known because it is recited at the end of our Shabbat morning prayers, as part of the statement of R. Elazar b. R. Hanina that scholars increase peace in the world, reading banayich as bonayich, your builders. The inference interestingly connects scholarship with peace and building the world, all of which fit with the themes we’ve been mentioning here.
Finally, Rambam twice cites 55;1, hoi kol tsamei lechu lamayim, All who are thirsty, go to the water. In Hilchot Talmud Torah, 3;9, he records Taanit 7a’s using this verse to say that Torah flow downwards from high places; for water, that’s a physical reality, for Torah, it’s an attitudinal one—those who are arrogant (high on themselves) will not readily find Torah, while those who are lowly, who place themselves at the feet of the Sages, will become repositories of Torah.
In Guide I;30, Rambam notes that the metaphor of food and drink is used for wisdom, especially Torah, since those are also nutrifying, like food. For us, the call to go to Torah, then, becomes as simple as the call to eat right and exercise. Food for thought.
Shabbat Shalom.
Isa.54
[1] Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.
[2] Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
[3] For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
[4] Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
[5] For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
[6] For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
[7] For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
[8] In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.
[9] For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
[10] For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
[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.
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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.