בס"ד
This week’s haftorah is about the judge Yiftach. The story basically starts in Judges 10:6 and goes to 12:7 It says that the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of Hashem by rejecting Him and worshipping foreign gods. Consequently G-d has them persecuted by the neighboring nations particularly Ammon. Ammon was basically a tribe that was descended from Lot the nephew of Abraham. The general view of the Chumash towards them was that they were promiscuous and lacked the characteristic of gratitude. Israel is commanded in the Torah not to seek their good or peace.
There are literary difficulties in understanding this story. It contains what amounts to a continuing conversation between Israel and G-d. Specifically G-d is insisting on the exclusive worship of Israel and brings trouble upon them if they don’t. Israel prays to G-d when they are being persecuted and will even confess their sins and get rid of the foreign foreign gods, however only for several decades. This is presented as non-fiction. The idea of G-d speaking to anybody and prophets is very alien to modern thought. Secular Jews in dealing with this will babble about the theory of evolution. Orthodox Jews will say what commentary did you use and sometimes G-d spoke to Moshe and nobody else. Very few will understand the text based on what it is actually saying.
Here too Israel confesses, prays for deliverance from their enemies, and disposes of their foreign idols; and G-d is moved by their suffering. The story takes place in Gil’ad which is east of the Jordan River in the territory conquered by Moshe rabenu from Og and Sichon. The people there prepare for war and the only one capable of leading it is Yiftach. The problem is that he has been excommunicated and banished due to his illegitimate birth. Even so the people ask him to be their general and even agree to make him the leader.
The treatment of Yiftach is reckoned as a community sin because men ought not be blamed for their parentage, so long as their personal merits roll away any reproach. Although it is not explicitly stated, this seems to be a rectification of community shortcomings.
Yiftach begins the war by sending Ammon a letter asking why they are behaving in such a hostile and violent manner. They reply that Israel is on land stolen from them, when they left Egypt. Yiftach contests this. He makes an argument based on law and historical fact. The bottom line though is theological, namely that Israel is on the land Hashem gave them, they are on the land their god gave them, and that Hashem will make His judgement known through the results of the war he is about to launch against them. This makes no impression on Ammon and it seems like it was not expected to. Rather its target is Israel and its aim is to exhort them to study the Torah and live according to its precepts.
Yiftach is victorious in war, but the story is not over. Before going out to combat he makes a vow foolishly pledging that upon his return the first thing that comes out of the door of his house he will make into a burnt offering. This turns out to be his daughter who cheerfully welcomes him back. As I recall others made similar vows but what greeted them was an animal. True to his word Yiftach declares his intention to slaughter his daughter as a religious act. The whole thing is totally absurd as vows requiring forbidden conduct are invalid. To put it glibly the Chumash is explicit and meticulous about sacrifices. They only include cattle, sheep, goats, pigeons, flour, oil, wine, and frankincense. Other things can be donated to the temple and the kohanim will deal with them as they see fit. Shmuel the prophet, in fact, was donated by his mother as a servant to the high priest. Human sacrifice is considered an atrocity.
Some commentaries claim that Yiftach doesn’t actually kill his daughter, rather he puts her in seclusion in what amounts to a nunnery. There is scant scriptural support for this and the reasoning amounts to sophistry. It looks like one of the many attempts to whitewash Jewish history because of small headed vanity. There is a discussion in the commentaries saying that Yiftach should have performed the prescribed rituals for the annulment of vows. In the absence of this, the high priest should have advised him to do so.
Things do not go well for Yitach. Next a troop of men from the tribe of Ephraim approach him with the declared intention of burning down his house with him in it, based on some frivolous reason. A pointless bloody civil war then ensues. Yiftach only judges Israel for seven years, then dies. The judgement of the Talmud is that he was not a good leader.
It’s a sad story. These seem to be its lessons. Abandonment and corruption of the Torah result in wars. Victims of social persecution will receive just compensation from heaven including the punishment of those that wronged them.
לע"נ האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח
העלון ניתן לקבל בדואר אלקטרוני וגם באתר http://dyschreiber.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment