Haftorah This Week
Welcome to Haftorah This Week, the place where you will find thoughts and reflections by CLAL faculty and associates on this week's Haftorah.
HAFTARAT MIKKETZ
(I Kings 3:15-4:1)
When all Israel heard the decision that the king [Solomon] had rendered, they stood in awe of the king; for they saw that he possessed divine wisdom to execute justice.... (I Kings 3:28)
Despite the fact that humanity's capacity for knowledge originates from sin in the Garden of Eden, wherein Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of Knowledge, the Rabbis clearly felt that human wisdom is a sacred gift from God; it is a divine blessing.
The words of the fourth blessing in the weekday Amidah, "Honein HaDa'at," underscore this: "honein" literally means "to be gracious." The idea is that the imparting of wisdom to humans is an act of grace by God as God shares with us a divine quality. But along with the blessing of wisdom comes the enormous responsibility to use that wisdom wisely, productively, justly.
The Haftarah concludes that the people stood in awe of Solomon because they realized that his ability to render just decisions was rooted in his God-given wisdom. However, we can put a twist on the verse and read it as saying that they realized that the whole reason for processing Divine wisdom was for Solomon to use it to build a just world! Consider the opening lines of the Book of Proverbs, attributed to Solomon himself:
The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: For learning wisdom
and discipline;
For understanding words of discernment;
For acquiring the discipline for success,
Righteousness, justice and equity...."(Proverbs 1:1-3)
As with all other gifts of God with which we are blessed, we must use our wisdom and understanding to create peace and justice, as did Solomon. By doing so, the Midrash teaches, we ennoble God, God in turn will cause divine holiness to permeate the world, and we will bring humanity that much closer to redemption.
(Adina Lewittes)
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