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 Shemini Atzeret
(I Kings 8:54-66)
According to the Midrash, the theme of Shemini Atzeret is the intimacy between God and Israel, while that of Sukkot is the relationship between God and humanity. Accordingly, the seventy sacrifices of Sukkot represent the seventy nations of the human community. The theme of special intimacy between God and Israel of Shemini Atzeret is symbolized by a single sacrifice for them alone.
This complementarity is reflected in the Haftarot. The Haftarah of the second day of Sukkot is the first part of chapter eight of the First Book of Kings, while the Haftarah of Shemini Atzeret is the last part of that chapter. By reciting the beginning and end of chapter eight, the whole story of Solomon's dedication of the Temple is indicated. Solomon's prayer of dedication is a perfect bridge for the two themes, namely, the divine concern for all and the special divine concern for Israel. Thus in the section for today's Haftarah, Solomon praises God for having given respite to Israel and for having directed their hearts to follow in His ways and to keep His commandments. But in the previous part of the prayer, Solomon emphasizes that this house of prayer is a house of prayer for all so that all the peoples of the earth will come to know the name of the Lord and revere Him as Israel does.
Thus God's special relationship with Israel paves the way for God's relationship with all of humanity. It is through the Temple, argues Solomon and Isaiah after him, that all humanity would come to recognize the universality of the God of Israel. In order that God be perceived to be everywhere, according to them, He must first be perceived to be somewhere. Only then can the prophecy of Zachariah come to fruition, that "the Lord will be One and His name One."
(Reuven Kimelman)
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