Shemot: Idolatry and Hedonism
Themes and Ideas in the Haftara
Yeshivat Har Etzion
This haftara series is dedicated in memory
of
(Mrs. Claire Reinitz), zichronah livracha,
by her family.
SHEMOT
Idolatry
and Hedonism
Rav Mosheh
Lichtenstein
Two
ideas – Two Haftarot
The haftara of Parashat Shemot is not uniform; according to
the Ashkanzi rite we read "In days to come Ya'akov shall take root"
(Yeshayahu 27:6-28:13, and 29:22-23), whereas according to Sefardi custom
we read "The words of Yirmiyahu" (Yirmiyahu 1). This divide is extreme,
there being nothing like it regarding any other haftara. In this
shiur we shall deal with the Ashkenazi haftara, since the Sefardi
haftara is read according to all opinions and in all communities as the
first haftara in the series of the three haftarot of calamities
(usually for Parashat Pinchas, and occasionally for Parashat
Matot), so that we will see it again later this year. Moreover, Yeshayahu's
prophecy is difficult to understand and its connection to the parasha is
not clear at first glance, which is not the case regarding the story of
Yirmiyahu's consecration which is not particularly difficult and whose
connection to the parasha is clear and evident.
Two
issues in the Parasha
In addition to the
demand that this fact makes upon us to choose between the two haftarot as
the subject of this shiur, it also brings us to wonder about the
phenomenon and to try to understand the meaning of the split. It seems to be
rooted in the fact that the Torah deals with two main issues in Parashat
Shemot, both of which first appear on the Torah's stage in this
parasha. The first is
THE FLORID STYLE
Let us now try to
understand the haftara. The prophecy of "In days to come Ya'akov shall
take root" is taken from chapters 27-28 of the book of Yeshaya, and is
written in Yeshayahu's florid style. The chapters among which the haftara
is found are characterized by difficult language marked by word plays,
repetition of words and sounds, succinct syntax that omits transitional words
and extensive use of metaphors. The very use of such florid language is not just
a matter of personal style through which the prophet expresses the messages that
he had received, but also reflects a certain understanding of the nature and
role of prophecy. In this framework, which is meant to deal with the haftarot
and not with the interpretation of the book of Yeshayahu in general,
we shall refrain from entering into a discussion of this issue, and simply bring
the phenomenon to the reader's attention.
TWO PARTS
The haftara clearly divides into two
sections:
1)
From the beginning (27:6) until the
promise concerning the ingathering of the exiles at the end of the chapter
(27:13).
2)
The oracle of rebuke that comes in its
wake (28:1-13, and 29:22-23).
The first section deals
primarily with consolation, whereas the second section deals with rebuke. Even
the sins alluded to in each of the sections are utterly different from each
other, as we shall see below; thus we are dealing with two different prophecies.
Indeed, the second half opens with the introductory word, hoi, "woe,"
testifying to the fact that we have here a new prophecy.[2]
The haftara's
point of departure is rooted in the fact that extended exile leads to
difficult despair. The people go out into exile because a strong and mighty
nation forces them out of their land, and plants them by force in another
country. At the time, when the people are being forcibly exiled by a nation that
has attacked their country, the difficulty and the tragedy stem from the
suffering, killing and cruelty directed against the exiles in the course of the
fighting and the expulsion. The sword, the hunger, and the captivity all strike
a mortal and tragic blow against the individual and the
community.
Afterwards, however, despair takes hold. As opposed to wartime, which by
its very definition constitutes an unstable situation and there exist the
possibility and the hope for dramatic change and upheaval, exile to a mighty and
faraway land do not allow for such expectations. A situation of permanent exile
in the wake of war leads to despair owing to the feeling that the current
circumstances will not change. The ruling nation is strong and tyrannical, the
people lack the strength to struggle against it, and to the degree that the
regime is stable, it appears that its days will be long and that it cannot be
changed. Even if changes take place that undermine the stability of the regime,
they are not always evident to the eye, but rather they become known only
retroactively and in hindsight, so that for the people living prior to the
upheaval, their lives in exile appear as unalterable. Anyone who still remembers
the feeling of the iron curtain that surrounded the
"THAT DAY"
Yeshayahu's prophecy comes to confront these feelings that have
accompanied the various exiles that have occurred over the generations. Besides
the promise itself of an ingathering of the exiles, Yeshayahu emphasizes the
concept of "that day." The prophet already made extensive use of this concept in
the previous chapters that lead up to our haftara. The existence of "that
day" and the prophetic promise of its existence come to inform the people about
the possibility of an historic upheaval. Sometimes, history works in a gradual
manner, and a person senses these changes and feels that the historical reality
in which he is living is advancing. At other times, however, the change is not
gradual, but rather sudden – in the sense of "He brings low the arrogant and
helps the poor" – in the blink of an eye historical reality changes. Prior to
that moment, a person feels no change whatsoever, and fails to identify
historical processes, and then suddenly, everything changes. When a person is
aware of the concept of "that day," then his hope for that day and his belief in
the possibility of its arrival dispel his despair and raise his spirit at the
most difficult moments.
In this context, iis worthwhile to examine the nature of redemption. The
model presented by Yeshayahu in these verses is redemption by way of a heavenly
power that interferes in history (it'aruta dele'eila). The sounding of
the great shofar on that day, that calls upon the outcasts from all
corners of the world to return to
Thus the process described by Yeshayahu parallels
THE ESSENCE OF THEIR SIN
As stated above, the essence of this passage is consolation, but it also
contains an allusion to the reason for
By this therefore shall
the iniquity of Ya'akov be atoned; and this is all the fruit to take away his
sin; when he makes all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in
sunder, the asherim and sun images shall not remain standing.
(Yeshayahu 27:9)
The erection of altars to idols and the establishment of asherim
are the sins that Yeshayahu sets before the people as the cause of their
long exile. Idolatry – and only idolatry – is the sin that has decided the
matter.
The reason for this is clear. The other sins are forbidden and negative
acts, but they are performed in the framework of a relationship between
In summary, the first half of the haftara is a prophecy of
consolation that promises the people living in the depths of exile that the
exile will eventually come to its end, and therefore it is appropriate for
Parashat Shemot, when a person is supposed to feel the length of the
exile and the accompanying despair. The mechanism of the redemption and the
ingathering of the exiles will be performed at the hand of God, but is
conditioned on
EGOCENTRIC HEDONISM
The second half of the haftara is Yeshayahu's sharp attack on the
high society of his time because of its hedonism, egocentricity and lack of
social responsibility. The entire purpose of their lives is pleasure: wine,
drunkenness and sweet and perfumed oils are what give spice to life, and it is
around these things that everything turns. The crown – the trademark of human
achievement – by which they are identified is pride and drunkenness, and the
flower that they wear as their glory is a fading flower, that is, momentary and
transient pleasure. Succinctly put, we are dealing with a hedonistic society
which is solely interested in maximizing the pleasures of this world, with all
the accompanying moral and social corruption. Drunkenness, pride, wine, fragrant
oil, and strong drink characterize their existential world and these are what
they aspire to.[4]
The prophets, including Yeshayahu, fought bitterly against these
phenomena, regarding them as spiritual and moral poison. If pleasure rules man
rather than man ruling pleasure, if Coca Cola is the taste of life, then man has
fallen from his elevated spiritual position and corrupted his ways. In our
chapter, as in other places, Yeshayahu emphasizes the temporariness and
insignificance of momentary pleasure ("And the fading flower of the glorious
beauty… shall be as the first ripe fig before the summer; which when one sees,
while it is yet in his hand he swallows it up" [ibid. 28:4]), as well as its
ugliness ("For all tables are full of vomit and filth, so that there is place
clean" [ibid., v. 8]).
The prophet also places the blame for this corrupt state of affairs,
first and foremost, upon the leadership ("The priest and the prophet reel
through strong drink, they are confused by wine, they stagger through strong
drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment" [ibid. v. 7]). This is not
the first time that Yeshayahu lays the blame at the door of the leadership and
sees them as responsible for the people's situation, and it is possible to see
this accusation all through the prophets' reprimands of
In addition to their responsibility for the situation of the reveling
drunkards, they allowed for the creation of a spiritual hole, for the leadership
forsook its role and failed to provide the necessary spiritual guidance. There
is nobody to teach, guide, and direct the people, and even the schoolchildren
fail to receive the education that they rightly deserve:
Who shall teach
knowledge, and who shall make to understand doctrine, to those that are weaned
from the milk, and drawn from the breasts? (ibid. v. 9)[5]
HEDONISM AS THE BASIS FOR ISRAEL'S DISTANCING THEMSELVES FROM GOD
What is the function of
this prophecy as a haftara? The answer to this question is that the
prophecy comes to point to the basic decay that brings the people to punishment
and exile. We are not talking about an isolated act of sin, but rather the
general spiritual foundation. The prophet identifies hedonism as the basis for
The two, however, are very different in nature. The sin of idol worship
is not necessarily committed out of the pursuit of pleasure and the setting of
man in the center. On the contrary, it often appears in periods of spiritual
tension and religious seeking. The sinner does not loath spiritual life and the
desire to conjoin with a being that is beyond his world, but rather he errs in
his choice. His sin is a sin of treachery.
The hedonist, in
contrast, does not leave God and opt for a connection with a different deity,
but rather he develops spiritual dullness that interferes with his ability to
break out of his material-corporeal world and blinds him into seeing mere
pleasure as the essence of life. The absence of a connection with God stems not
from his with an alien factor, but rather from his inability to breach the
framework of his narrow world and the lack of desire for spiritual challenge.
His sin is a sin of materiality.
Both of these sins lead
to exile, and Yeshayahu fights against both of them. There is no doubt, however,
that in our haftara, the war waged against hedonism is more sharp and
bitter. Unlike the first half, which is formulated as a consolation which
conditions redemption on the abandonment of idolatry, the second half engages in
frontal battle and in the manner of harsh reprimand with hedonism. So too the
redemption alluded to therein ("In that day, shall the Lord of hosts be for a
crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, to the residue of His people"
[ibib., v. 5]) is limited in its scope, for it is promised only to the residue
of His people.
THe
connection to our Parasha
And now to our
parasha. Nowhere does the Torah explain why
Reading the haftara of Yeshaya – which focuses the sin of the
people during his period and emphasizes the spiritual danger of hedonistic pride
for future generations – for a parasha that deals with exile comes to
warn us of these dangers in the reality of our lives in the here and now, and
not as an interpretation of what happened in Egypt. It is possible, however,
that there is here a hint that in
[1] The chapter in
Yirmiyahu also has two focuses: 1) the consecration of Yirmiyahu
and 2) the approaching destruction. Therefore, according to Sefardi rite, it
is read twice over the course of the year; on Parashat Shemot, because of
Yirmiyahu's prophecy and parallel to Moshe's mission as prophet, and as the
first haftara in the series of three haftarot of calamity, because
of its connection to the destruction of the Temple and the Bein ha-Metzarim
period during which it is read.
[2] According to the
Da'at Mikra commentary, the verse, "And it shall come to pass on that
day, that a great shofar shall be blown" (27:12), is not only the end of
the first half of the haftara, but the end of the book of
Yeshayahu! Whether or not we agree – and this is not the place to discuss
the issue – we can certainly learn from this that, at the very least, we are
talking about the midpoint of the haftara.
[3] For illustrative
purposes, allow me to note that at the end of the nineteen eighties, a year or
two before the fall of the Berlin War, I read an article in Newsweek, written by
a senior commentator, which spoke of underground processes that would eventually
lead to a reunification of
It goes without saying
that at the beginning of the eighties, five years before the reunification of
the two
[4] A future historian
trying to understand our society by listening to the radio advertisements of the
period will quickly reach similarly harsh conclusions about what is regarded as
the taste of life, what is considered important for happiness, and toward what
goals money and energy should be invested.
[5] I included the verse
here on the assumption that the latter half of the verse refers to the party who
is supposed to be taught. Even if we accept the alternative exegetical
possibility that the end of the verse describes the teacher, it still points to
the same abandonement of responsibility toward the people on the part of the
leadership.
[6] Let us not forget that
[7] On this point, see at
length the introductory shiur to this
series.