Download PDF After defeating the Seleucid Greeks and returning to the Temple, the Maccabees faced a dire situation: a completely defiled Temple, devoid of God’s presence. Hundreds of years earlier, the prophet Zechariah faced a similarly hopeless situation.  After Persia’s conquest of Babylon, Cyrus the Great decreed[1] that Jewish exiles there could return to Judah […]

Download PDF [1] The final days of Passover commemorate the conclusion of the Israelites’ redemption with Egypt’s defeat at the Red Sea. Their Haftarot relate to two later episodes of God’s redeeming His people: King David from his many enemies, and Isaiah’s prophecy of Assyria’s defeat, the end of the Northern Kingdom’s exile, and the […]

Download PDF The Haftarot of the first two days of Passover recount celebrations of the holiday at two moments of dramatic transformation in Biblical history. At both moments, these celebrations renew the nation’s commitment to its covenant with God, focusing the people on the practical and spiritual goals facing them. Specifically, the readings describe the […]

Download PDF Malachi 3:4-24[1] Initially, things were looking up for the Judeans who returned from the Babylonian exile and rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem. But after a few generations, the restoration was losing spirit. The grand promises of the previous generation’s prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, were unfulfilled. The Bible’s final prophet, Malachi[2], once again directed […]

Download PDF Joshua 1:1-18 The Haftarah picks up immediately after Moses’s death in today’s Torah reading. Joshua takes the reins of leadership with multiple tasks before him, including crossing the Jordan River and conquering the land of Canaan.  He must also ensure that the two and a half tribes whom Moshe permitted to settle the […]

Download PDF 1 Kings 8:54-66 After the hubbub surrounding the placing the Ark in the Holy of Holies, which was read on the Second Day of Sukkot[1], Solomon and the people embark on the actual consecration of the Temple. Solomon blesses the people, and they engage in a 14-day consecration feast. On Shemini Atzeret itself […]

Download PDF  Sukkot commemorates forty years of God’s care for His people in the wilderness after redeeming them from Egypt; its Haftarot carry that theme forward in history. One of its Haftarot recounts the peaceful, political culmination of that redemption 480 years later with Solomon’s building of the Temple (see below)[1]. Its other two Haftarot […]

Download PDF Hosea 14:2-10, Joel 2:15-27 Always read on Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, this Haftarah calls for repentance and shows its practical effects.  This Shabbat is named “Shabbat Shuva” after its Haftarah’s opening word: Hosea 14:2 הושע י״ד:ב Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled in your […]

Download PDF Hosea 14:2-10, Micah 7:18,20 Always read on Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, this Haftarah calls for repentance and shows its practical effects.   This Shabbat is named “Shabbat Shuva” after its Haftarah’s opening word: Hosea 14:2 הושע י״ד:ב Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled in your […]

Download PDF Jonah 1:1-4:11, Micha 7:18,20 The haftarah of Yom Kippur afternoon recounts the collective repentance in the capital, Nineveh, of Israel’s arch-enemy, Assyria.  Like this morning’s haftarah chastising Jews who fast for God while doing evil, this selection about a Jewish prophet, Jonah, who flees from God’s command while an entire city of Gentiles […]