"Roni V'Simchi Bat Zion"
"Sing out and Rejoice, O Daughter of Zion"  

Introduction

The Haftarah read on this Shabbat, Shabbat Parshat Beha'alotecha in the Diaspora (see next paragraph and following) according to the customs of both the Ashkenazic and Sefardic communities, is the same as was read this year on the first Shabbat of Chanukah.  That is the selection from the Book of Zecharyah, from Chapter 2, verses 14-17, all of Chapter 3, through verse 7 of Chapter 4.  The beautiful and optimistic Haftarah begins "Roni v'simchi bat Zion," "Sing out and Rejoice, O Daughter of Zion."

The Holy Land

"Eretz Yisrael," the Holy Land, is ahead of the Diaspora in many holy ways.  In particular, the Jewish People there are already up to Parshat Shelach, and its corresponding Haftarah.

This situation has come about because of the observance in the Diaspora of the Major Holidays (Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot) as two-day, rather than one-day Holidays, at both ends (except for Shavuot, which is observed simply for two days).

This two-day observance, known as "Yom Tov Sheni shel Galuyot," was instituted in Talmudic times because of the difficulty in communicating the decisions of the Sanhedrin in Yerushalayim as to the beginnings of the various Hebrew Months to the Jewish communities in the Exile.

The Sages had devised a method of torchlight communication by night from mountain-top to mountain-top to quickly alert the entire Diaspora of those decisions.  But the Shomronim, the not-so-good Samaritans, frustrated their scheme by lighting torches on the wrong nights, thus forcing the adoption of the two-day system of Holiday observance in the Diaspora.

Thus, on the Second Day of Shavuot in the Diaspora, it was no longer Shavuot in Eretz Yisrael.  It was an "ordinary" Shabbat.  Thus they read Parshat Naso in Israel, which we in the Exile didn't get to until the following week.

Not to worry.  By Simchat Torah, we'll be back in sync with our brothers in Zion, because of the doubling up of Parshiyot which we will do here, but not there.

Who was Zechariah?

Zechariah, the originator of the message which is read this Shabbat as the Haftarah, "belonged" to a group of "Minor Prophets," called that only by virtue of the quantity, not the quality of their prophetic legacy. This group was called the "Trei Asar," which means in Aramaic the number twelve. And, strangely enough, there were a dozen prophets included in this group. As a group, they rebuked the Jewish People about their continuous idol-worship and, possibly worse, for their worship of Hashem with the proper outward trappings, but with none of the required inwardness, reducing their great religion to a mockery and a meaningless shell of ritual.

They also harshly criticized the People for their lack of social justice, whereby they trampled upon the rights of the underprivileged. And yet another great theme was their reliance on foreign nations for their salvation, rather than upon Hashem, Who had stood by them always and saved them from Egypt, the Seven Nations, Amalek and on and on.

Chaggai, Zechariah and Malachi (approx. 526 BCE - 490 BCE)
(where BCE means "Before the Common, or Christian, Era")

The Talmud groups these three prophets together as the "last of the prophets," even though Chaggai and Zechariah lived and prophesied somewhat earlier than Malachi. One of the major themes of the Prophecy of Chaggai and Zechariah was the encouragement of the People of Yehudah to rebuild the Temple that had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE.

Zechariah addresses his Prophecy in this week's Haftarah to Yehoshua ben Yehotzadak, the High Priest of the Jewish People and to Zerubavel, the Jewish Governor, appointed by the Persians (Persia was the "World Empire".at that time). There was a lot of opposition to the rebuilding of the Temple, mainly external, and that mainly from the Shomronim, who were not interested in seeing the Jewish People rise again to prominence.

Malachi prophesied after the Temple had already been constructed. By that time, the attitude of the Jews towards the Temple, and spiritual matters in general, had become apathetic. Furthermore, they had adopted many practices alien to the Spirit of the Torah. Malachi challenges the People to return to G-d "before the coming of the great and terrible day of the L-rd!" (Malachi 3:23)

After Malachi, the Talmud records that the gift of Prophecy was given to (holy) fools and madmen!

Today's Haftarah consists of the following three parts:

Part 1

"Sing out and rejoice, O Daughter of Zion, for I am coming - And I will dwell within you, says Hashem." (Zechariah 2:14) The Prophet  announces a coming occasion of great joy, for Hashem is returning  openly to the Jewish People after a period of withdrawal. Though  there is definitely a reference here to the historical period in which  Zechariah lived, towards the end of "Galut Bavel," the Babylonian  Exile, which had lasted seventy years, according to the Prophecy of Yirmiyahu, there is also an undertone that the Prophet is also  addressing a Diaspora two and a half Millenia later, and that the Temple referred to is also the Third Temple, to be built by the Mashiach.

"And many nations will attach themselves to the L-rd…" (Zechariah 2:15). This verse also has strong Messianic connotations, and is reminiscent of the future time which we pray for on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, "for My House will be called a House of Prayer for all nations!"

Part 2

"And He showed me Yehoshua the High Priest standing before the Angel of the L-rd, and the Satan (the Accusing Angel) was standing on his right side, to accuse him. And G-d said to the Satan, 'May the L-rd rebuke you. O Satan, and may the L-rd Who chooses Jerusalem rebuke you; is this not a firebrand plucked from the fire?" (Zechariah 3:1-2)

Yehoshua ben Yehotzadak, the "Kohen Gadol," High Priest, seems to be on trial in a Heavenly courtroom though, as we shall see, it is possible that there is no trial here at all!

In the courtroom scenario, Yehoshua is charged with not preventing his sons from marrying gentile women and for allowing them to remain married to them despite their conversions which were less than adequate. That sin warrants, according to the Prosecuting attorney, who is none other than the "Satan," the proverbial Accusing Angel, Yehoshua's removal from office. It is that sin which is responsible for the "filthy garments" that Yehoshua is described as wearing.

The High Priest is defended by HaShem Who says, "Yehoshua is certainly a righteous person, for 'is he not a firebrand plucked from the fire?' He is certainly righteous because he survived being thrown into a fiery furnace by Nevuchadnetzar. Thus he deserves to remain in place as Kohen Gadol, and to have his beautiful Priestly Garments returned."

There is an Alternate Scenario, in which no trial is taking place. The "Satan" refers to the enemies of the Jewish people, Sanbalat and his allies, who have thrown formidable obstacles into the path of the Jewish rebuilding effort. G-d, in the Prophecy, addresses these enemies of the Jewish People , "How could you hope to prevent them from constructing their Temple? What could you do to them worse than the "fiery Exile" from which they have just escaped?"

According to the Ibn Ezra, one of the classical commentators on the Bible, the "filthy garments" refer to the impoverished spiritual state of the People, who have no Temple, no Curtain separating the Holy from the Holy of Holies, no golden covering of the Ark, and no golden Altar. The clothes are merely a metaphor for their absence of honor and beauty.

According to both Scenarios mentioned above, Hashem says, "Hear now, Yehoshua, High Priest, behold I am bringing my servant, Zemach." (Zechaiah 4:8)

There are two possible references of the name "Zemach." One is Zerubavel, whom Hashem will help "grow" ("Zemach" is related to growth) into his new responsibilities as political leader of the Jewish people. And Hashem is telling Yehoshua that he will be sharing leadership of the Jewish people with Zerubavel.

Another possibility for the meaning of "Tzemach" is the Mashiach. Here the aspect of "Zemach" that is emphasized is that it often remains underground, out of sight, for long periods of time, before rising to the surface, as has Mashiach remained hidden until he will come to the fore. RADAK and Ibn Ezra note that the "gematria," the Hebrew letter sum of numerical equivalents (as in "Scrabble") of the word "Tzemach" is the same as that of "Menachem," a name of the Mashiach. The Targum says outright that the meaning of the term is the "Mashiach."

Hashem now displays a corner-stone and says, "Behold this corner-stone which I have placed before Yehoshua; on this stone there are seven eyes…" (Zechariah 3:9)

What do the "seven eyes" refer to?

Most commentators say that they refer to the intensive observation and monitoring that Hashem will provide for the Jews in their  rebuilding effort, and this would match the meaning of the same  expression later, after the Haftarah, in Zechariah (4:10), where the  stone, now a finishing stone, is also pictured with seven eyes but  there, there is a specific reference to the "eyes of Hashem, taking in the whole earth."

Nevertheless, the RADAK, Rav David Kimchi, also one of the great  commentators, quotes an interpretation in the name of his father that the seven eyes refer to the eyes of the seven leaders who will be  charged with responsibility for building the Second Temple; namely, Yehoshua, Ezra, Zerubavel, Nechemya and the three Prophets  Chagai, Zechariah and Malachi.

Part 3

This part contains the clearest link to Parshat Beha'alotecha in the Haftarah.  The Parshah opens with a command by HaShem to Aharon, delivered by Moshe, to light the Menorah in the Mishkan. Moshe , however, is unable to picture or comprehend the design of the Menorah described by G-d, because of the unique nature of its construction, until HaShem shows him a vision of it. 

In the Haftarah, Zechariah is likewise shown a vision of a "Golden Menorah with unique features.  It has a receptacle on top, and seven lamps, each of which has seven pipes attached to the bowl on top. Two olive trees stand next to the Menorah, one on the right, and one on the left." (Zechariah 4:2-3)

There are many important aspects to this vision. One is that there are two olive trees, one representing the priesthood and the other representing the kingship (both were anointed with olive oil). This again told Yehoshua that he would be sharing leadership with Zerubavel.

Another possible interpretation of the symbolism of the trees is that they represent a warning to the Chashmonaim who would make the tragic error of combining in themselves both positions, spiritual and political leadership, Priest and King. For this sin the Chashmonaim, even though they had literally saved the Jewish People and the Torah, disappeared from the face of history.

Another aspect of the Menorah is that it is fully operational by itself. This may be to indicate that unlike Chanukah, the Holiday in the Hebrew Calendar most closely associated with a Menorah, in the future, when the Jews would have to fight the Greeks and the assimilated Jews in order to rededicate the Temple, now this would not be necessary. For permission had already been granted by Daryavesh, the Persian King, a descendant of Esther, and not only permission, but all the material requirements necessary for the construction had been donated by him.

The Prophet then delivers an important message, an idea fundamental to Judaism, to Zerubavel, which also follows from the effortless operation of the Menorah: "This is the word of G-d to Zerubavel, 'not by physical might or power, but by my spirit, says the L-d of Hosts.' " (Zechariah 4:6)

The Haftarah concludes with a promise to Zerubavel, " that Hashem will flatten all obstacles, though they appear as mountains, in the attempt to rebuild the Temple, "Who are you, O great mountain; before Zerubavel, you will become a valley." (Zechariah 4:7)  And the People will cheer "Chen, Chen lah," "Beauty, beauty belongs to it." (Zechariah 4:7)

What is spoken of is the Jewish concept of beauty, which emphasizes spiritual beauty. It is the Jewish response to the philosophy expressed in "Beauty is Truth, Truth beauty; That is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know," (John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn"), which sees in physical beauty the equivalent of Truth, and the highest value.

Rabbi Pinchas Frankel