January 20, 2012 / 25 Tevet, 5772
Va-era
Ezekiel 27:25-29:21
The haftara Va-ayra repeats the prophesy of the 10 Plagues begun in the Torah reading and further includes a prophesy that the Egyptians themselves would be scattered among the nations. Ezekiel goes further and tells the nation of the future of Egypt, it’s conquests to come and it’s descent into desolation. The haftarah goes, in this instance, far beyond the events of the Torah reading.
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In closing, I’d like to mention something I have been thinking about all week. We’re currently reading Torah from the Book of Shmot or Names. We normally attribute the title to the first part of last week’s chapter as all the names of those who came down to Egypt are listed. But something troubles me about Shmot.
This is the chapter where we are introduced to Moshe, yet we’re told that when he is born, it’s to a “certain man from the tribe of Levi” and “a certain woman.” No names are given. Their baby has a brit - how else would Pharo’s daughter know that he was Jewish? - and yet we’re not told his name until he’s been weened by his own mother and brought back to Pharo’s daughter Batya to be raised. He would have been 2 or 3 years old by that point, yet we only know his name as given by Batya.
Fast forward nearly 80 years, and here’s Moshe tending sheep in the desert when he comes upon the burning bush. God talks to Moshe, tells him that he’s to go back to Egypt and lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. What does Moshe do? He asks God’s for his name as a proof that God is “I am what I am.”
The whole book is called Names, and it seems to me that the names it’s about are not those first 70 names, but these last 4 names. Am I wrong? Let’s talk about it.
This week's Haftarah commentary was written by
Stan Greenspan, FJMC Vice President and Unraveller Publisher
The opinions expressed in this Unraveller are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the FJMC.
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