Dear Friends,
Normally, I address themes of the weekly Torah portion in my Thursday D’var Torah. This week, I’d like to diverge to the Haftarah. The Haftarah, I should mention, is a later, rabbinic addition to the morning Service, in which a textual selection, commonly from the Prophets, is appended to the Torah reading to add meaning and completion to the Torah experience. The Haftarah, therefore, commonly follows the theme of the Torah, and develops it.
This spring, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, our national organization comprising a couple thousand Reform Rabbis, embarked on a project to write a new, modern Haftarah commentary, to add life to what has been an oft-overlooked part of our Service. I was pleased to be invited to be one of the contributors to the volume, and was asked to write four introductions or essays. Two of my essays were for this week’s Torah portion, Shoftim. Below is one of the brief essays I wrote. For the rest… we’ll have to wait for the book to come out!
“Anochi, Anochi,” by Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Parashat Shoftim opens with its unforgettable pronouncement, “Justice, justice, shall you pursue,” as powerful for its very message as it is for its poetic repetition: tzedek, tzedek. This doubling is not only a reinforcement, but a poetic charge, and the words stick in the emotional memory of the reader.
The Haftarah text from the Book of Isaiah doubles down on the textual doubling. In our Haftarah passage, the prophet commences, Anochi, Anochi, “I, I am the One” (Isaiah 51:12). Then, later: hit’o’r’ri, hit’o’r’ri, Rouse yourself, rouse yourself!” (Isaiah 51:17), still later: u’ri, u’ri, “awake, awake!” (Isaiah 52:1), and, finally, suru, suru, “turn away, turn away!” (Isaiah 52:11).
Though the themes of the Torah and prophetic passages elide in their search for a just society living under God’s justice, the genius of these parallel passages lies in their linguistic echoes. Just as one can never forget the sound of tzedek, tzedek! Justice, justice!, the reader is captivated by the repetition of repetitions. Shlomo Alkabetz, our mystic of Safed who penned the L’cha Dodi, incorporated Isaiah’s anaphoras in his signature Shabbat love poem, offering a mnemonic device as well as spiritual inspiration.
Today, as much as seeking a society of God’s justice is compelling, finding a salve in the poetic craftsmanship and cadence of our sacred texts, mirroring each other – from Torah to Haftarah to siddur – offers spiritual comfort and continuity which buoy and lift up the reader: Anochi, Anochi!
Let’s double-down on justice!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Normally, I address themes of the weekly Torah portion in my Thursday D’var Torah. This week, I’d like to diverge to the Haftarah. The Haftarah, I should mention, is a later, rabbinic addition to the morning Service, in which a textual selection, commonly from the Prophets, is appended to the Torah reading to add meaning and completion to the Torah experience. The Haftarah, therefore, commonly follows the theme of the Torah, and develops it.
This spring, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, our national organization comprising a couple thousand Reform Rabbis, embarked on a project to write a new, modern Haftarah commentary, to add life to what has been an oft-overlooked part of our Service. I was pleased to be invited to be one of the contributors to the volume, and was asked to write four introductions or essays. Two of my essays were for this week’s Torah portion, Shoftim. Below is one of the brief essays I wrote. For the rest… we’ll have to wait for the book to come out!
“Anochi, Anochi,” by Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Parashat Shoftim opens with its unforgettable pronouncement, “Justice, justice, shall you pursue,” as powerful for its very message as it is for its poetic repetition: tzedek, tzedek. This doubling is not only a reinforcement, but a poetic charge, and the words stick in the emotional memory of the reader.
The Haftarah text from the Book of Isaiah doubles down on the textual doubling. In our Haftarah passage, the prophet commences, Anochi, Anochi, “I, I am the One” (Isaiah 51:12). Then, later: hit’o’r’ri, hit’o’r’ri, Rouse yourself, rouse yourself!” (Isaiah 51:17), still later: u’ri, u’ri, “awake, awake!” (Isaiah 52:1), and, finally, suru, suru, “turn away, turn away!” (Isaiah 52:11).
Though the themes of the Torah and prophetic passages elide in their search for a just society living under God’s justice, the genius of these parallel passages lies in their linguistic echoes. Just as one can never forget the sound of tzedek, tzedek! Justice, justice!, the reader is captivated by the repetition of repetitions. Shlomo Alkabetz, our mystic of Safed who penned the L’cha Dodi, incorporated Isaiah’s anaphoras in his signature Shabbat love poem, offering a mnemonic device as well as spiritual inspiration.
Today, as much as seeking a society of God’s justice is compelling, finding a salve in the poetic craftsmanship and cadence of our sacred texts, mirroring each other – from Torah to Haftarah to siddur – offers spiritual comfort and continuity which buoy and lift up the reader: Anochi, Anochi!
Let’s double-down on justice!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
