Haftarah of Parshat Masei -  5761

"Beit DePuranita" - Second Haftarah of Punishment

The Sin of Idol-Worship

This week, Ashkenazim and Sefardim both read, for the Second Haftarah of Punishment from the Book of Yirmiyahu, beginning with the Chapter 2, Verse 4, through Chapter 2, Verse 28.  For appendices, the Ashkenazim use Yirmiyahu 3:4 and the Sefardim use Yirmiyahu 4:1-2.  Since this Shabbat is Rosh Chodesh Av, some communities read the regular Haftarah for Rosh Chodesh, Yeshayahu 66:1-24, with pasuk 23 repeated.

The Haftarah

(Yirmiyahu 2:4)

"Hear the word of the L-rd, O House of Jacob,  
And all the families of the House of Israel."

The Prophet Yirmiyahu makes it clear that the security of the People of Israel lies in the family unit; therefore, he stresses "House," "Family," House;" "No man is an island."

(Yirmiyahu 2:5)

"…And they have gone after 'nothingness,' and have become 'nothing.' "

Yirmiyahu uses an idea developed by Shelomo HaMelech in "Megilat Kohelet,"  Ecclesiastes (perhaps the translation is not very helpful), in which he discusses how many of the aspects of life that appeal to human beings are really "havel havalim; hakol havel;" "sheer  nothingness; of absolutely no value." This applies to idols that are constructed by human beings and then worshipped. 

(Yirmiyahu 2:6)

"They did not say,

'Where is G-d, Who brought us up

Out of the Land of Egypt;

That led us through the wilderness,…' "

This is in stark contrast to the loving memory that HaShem has of them at the beginning of their relationship, that was included at the end of last week's Haftarah, "I remember the affection of your youth,…how you followed Me into the wilderness, …" (Yirmiayhu (2:2).

(Yirmiyahu 2:7)

"And I brought them into a well-planted Land,  
To eat of its fruit and of its goodness,  
And you came and contaminated My Land,…"  
You showed nothing but ingratitude, which is a cardinal sin in Judaism.

(Yirmiyahu 2:8)

"The Priests did not ask, 'Where is G-d?' the Torah Scholars didn't know me,  
The 'Shepherds' sinned against Me,  
The Prophets prophesied for Baal(!)  
And went after useless things."  

Jewish leadership was corrupt on all levels: the religious and the secular.

(Yirmiyahu 2:9)

"Therefore, I will continue to dispute with you,  
Says HaShem,  
And I will dispute with your grandchildren."

There may be a positive hint here, though, that all is not lost.  For if, even in the eventuality of a "Churban," that in fact occurred, the Prophet could speak of grandchildren, this is a strong hint of Jewish survival.

Yirmiyahu (2:10-11)

“Pass by the Islands of the Kittites and observe,  
And send to Kedar, and ponder greatly -  
And see if they act in this manner - “  
“Did a nation exchange its god?  
And they are false gods!  
But My nation exchanged its Glory  
For a non-god!”  

There are a number of explanations for the “Kittites and the Dwellers of Kedar:”

One is that the Kittites worship the water, and the Dwellers of Kedar worship fire.  Even though the Dwellers of Kedar know that their god is not all-powerful because water extinguishes fire, they have not exchanged their god for another.

RASHI explains that both those nations were tent-dwellers and shepherds, and when they would move from place to place they would carry all their possessions, including their so-called “gods.”  By contrast, HaShem says that He “carried,” as it were, the Children of Israel through the desert for forty years until he planted them in their homeland.  And yet He was exchanged for false gods!

In Psalms 120, King David complains about his neighbors, the tent-dwellers of Kedar:

"…HaShem, rescue my soul from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue…Woe unto me…I dwelt with those who inhabit the tents of Kedar.  Long have I dwelt with those who hate peace.  I am for peace!  But when I speak, they are for war." 

The only claim to fame of those people was their lying and deceitfulness, and yet even they remained faithful to their gods.

And even today, when the People of Israel attempt to deal with the descendants of these People, the descendants of Yishmael, they cling fiercely to their religion, which calls for hatred of the Jews.

Yirmiyahu (2:12)

“Be astonished O you Heavens,  
Storm greatly and Cause much destruction,  
Says HaShem”

The word used for “Storm,” “Sa-Aru,” corresponds  (except for the common exchange of the letter “Sin” for the letter “Samach”), to the word used in  Yeshayahu (54:11), “So-Arah,” Storm-Tossed, when the Prophets report to  HaShem that Israel, the storm-tossed one, refuses to be comforted until and  unless HaShem Himself comfort her.

Yirmiyahu (2:13)

“For My People has committed two wrongs -  
First, they abandoned Me, the source of living waters!  
And second, they chose instead to dig cisterns - broken cisterns -  
That will not hold the water!”

They left a Source of “flowing waters,” perhaps because they could not see the Source, in favor of a visible cistern to hold water, because they could at least see the cisterns, even though they were broken and could not retain the water.

Yirmiyahu (2:14)

"Is Israel a servant?  
Is he a home-born slave?  
Why has he become booty?"

If Israel were a slave, there might be reason for him to think that he was cut off from the "Hashgacha Pratit," the Personal Care and Supervision of HaShem, and the events of his life were merely chance occurrences.  But this is surely not the case!  On the contrary, Israel is the "Chosen People," the "First-Born Son," as it were, of HaShem, the nation that has never left His direct and constant supervision!

Yirmiyahu (2:15-17)

"The young lions have roared against him,  
And let their voice resound,  
And they have made his land desolate,  
His cities are laid waste,  
Without inhabitant."  
"The People of Noph and Tachpanches,  
Also feed upon your head."  
"Was this not caused for you  
By your leaving of HaShem  
While He was leading you by the way?"

The reference is to the Kingdom of Israel (Metzudat David), that had already been destroyed, or perhaps not necessarily, because often the Prophet speaks of future events as if they had already occurred, and if so, he may have been speaking of the Kingdom of Yehudah.

Noph and Tachpanches were leading cities of Egypt, the nation upon which the Jewish People had relied for support and defense.

This was hardly a chance occurrence!  It was rather a direct result of Israel's abandonment of HaShem, and their abandonment of their uniqueness.

Yirmiyahu (2:18)

"And now, what are you doing in Egypt,  
Drinking the waters of the Nile,  
Why did you have to be on the road to Ashur,  
Drinking the waters of the River?"

Prince of Israel, why are you drinking the black waters of the Nile, the river in which its  nation tried to drown you, and why have you had to drink from the polluted waters of the Euphrates, about which you would complain and lament that "you sat and wept when you remembered Zion" ("Tehilim"/Psalms 137).

Yirmiyahu (2:19)

"Your own evil will give you 'Mussar,' Reproof,  
And your backslidings will provide you with stern warning,  
And know it, and see it,  
That your abandonment of HaShem your G-d was evil and bitter,  
Rejecting the fear of Me,  
Says HaShem, L-rd of Hosts."

You, who would worship only that which you can see, "Know this and See this bitter lesson," that it was your abandonment of belief in the Invisible G-d that got you into this terrible trouble.

Yirmiyahu (2:20)

"For in ancient times it was I Who broke your yoke,  
And removed your bonds,  
And you said I will not worship another -  
But soon enough on every high hill  
And under every leafy tree  
You played the role of the harlot."

Don't you remember in the Ten Commandments, the very first one was "I am the L-rd your G-d Who took you out of Egypt, the House of Bondage," and you said you believed it.  But from the Golden Calf till your latest exploit, you have worshipped false gods!

Yirmiyahu (2:21)

"But I planted you as a noble vine,  
Entirely a seed of truth;  
How could you have betrayed Me,  
And become a strange and corrupt vine?"

RASHI cites two interpretations of "Sorek," the "noble vine:"  First, that you are the descendants of "Avot," Founding Fathers who were straight and righteous. 

Second, an interpretation based on the "gematria" (sum of numerical equivalents of the letters) of the word "Sorek:" (Letter "Sin" = 300, Letter "Vav" = 6, Letter "Resh" = 200, Letter "Kuf" = 100; Total = 606).  HaShem says, He gave the Jewish People 606 more Commandments, or "Mitzvot," in the 613 Commandments of the Torah, than he gave to the rest of the world, in the 7 Mitzvot that apply to the Sons of Noach.

Yirmiyahu (2:22)

"For though you wash yourself with nitre,  
And use much soap,  
Yet your sin stands out before Me,  
Says HaShem."

RASHI explains this frightening verse as relating to the Sin of the Golden Calf, about  which it is said that every punishment that is meted out to the Jewish People over the   course of its history, contained and contains an element of "Righteous Indignation," as it were, tracing back to the Golden Calf.

Why?

Perhaps because that act of disloyalty took place so close to the event of "Matan Torah," the "Giving of the Torah," the event pictured as the "Wedding of the Holy One Blessed be He to the People of Israel."  In which the Torah was the Ring, the "Kessef Kiddushin," the Object of Value given by the "Chatan," HaShem the Groom, to the "Kallah, " the People of Israel, the Bride, on the basis of which she dedicated herself to Him, exclusively. 

Yirmiyahu (2:23-24)

"Don't try to deny your sin,  
Saying 'I haven't worshipped the Baalim,'  
Just look at your behavior in the Valley (of Peor),  
Consider your behavior;  
You are like a young camel  
Traversing her ways."  

"Like a wild donkey,  
Used to the Desert,  
With the lust of her soul does she breathe,  
Who can satisfy her lust?  
One who desires her  
Need not seek her;  
In her month,  
He will find her."

So it is with the People of Israel, who cannot control their desire for idol-worship.

Yirmiyahu (2:25)

"Save yourself from walking barefoot  
On the Road of Exile,  
And ward off thirst from your throat!  
But you say, 'It is too late!  
I am addicted to the love of strangers,  
And I must follow them.' "

There is still a possibility for you to ward off the punishment of Exile from your Land.

Yirmiyahu (2:26)

"But it is with the shame of the thief,  
Caught in the Act,  
So is the shame of the House of Israel,  
They, their Kings, their Officers, their Priests,  
And their Prophets!"

Again, Yirmiyahu declares the bankruptcy of the Leadership of Israel - no one has the strength to turn the People around, not even, he admits with despair at his own failure, the Prophets!

Yirmiyahu (2:27)

(HaShem says) "For they call the wood, 'My Father,'  
And they say to the stone,  
'You gave birth to me,'  
For they have turned their backs,  
And not their faces to Me;  
Yet in their time of trouble they say,  
'Arise, and save us.' "

Yirmiyahu (2:28)

"Where are your gods that you made?  
Let them rise, if they can save you  
In your time of trouble;  
For as many as your cities  
Is the number of your gods,  
O Kingdom of Yehudah!"

Appendix of the Ashkenazim

Yirmiyahu (3:4)

"It is never too late!  
If the People of Israel would only Return  
To their old loyalty,  
And call out to HaShem,  
'Father, I remember when You were  
The Friend of my youth,'  
Things could still go better with you."

Appendix of the Sefardim

Yirmiyahu (4:1-2)

" 'It is never too late, People of Israel,' says HaShem;  
'Return to me;  
And if you remove the detestable things  
From My Presence, And will not waver,  
And you swear,  
"By the Life of HaShem,  
In Truth, In Justice, In Righteousness;"  
Then shall the nations bless themselves by Him,  
And through Him become worthy of praise.' "

Conclusion

But the People of Israel could not summon the spiritual resources at that time, facing the Babylonians, nor at the next, facing the Romans.  Let us try to do better, with the help of G-d, this time, as we face our enemies.

Post-Script

It says in the Talmud that HaShem had to "abolish the desire for idol-worship from humanity," for it was too great a stumbling block for people to overcome on their own.  Not being subject any longer to that temptation, it is difficult for us to put ourselves in the place of our ancestors, who struggled unsuccessfully with that great sin.

Perhaps it was simply too difficult to believe, as I hinted at a couple of times in the above essay, in an invisible G-d, no matter how many miracles He performed.  It was perhaps easier to believe in a visible god, even one of our own construction, no matter how lifeless and incapable it seemed.

Tragically for us, it may be that at the same time that the temptation for idol worship was removed, so was the ability of human beings to experience the same intensity about Religion.  In our new sophistication, Religion may have become only a matter of the intellect.  May HaShem restore to us the intensity of that "Old-Time" Religion, so that we may continue to serve Him with a "pure heart," but also "with all our hearts, all our souls and all our might" (based on "Kriat Shema," Devarim 6:5).

Rabbi Pinchas Frankel