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 PESACH
(Joshua 5:2-6:1, 27)
The Haftarah for the first day of Pesach describes the preparation for the conquest of
the Land of Israel under Joshua's leadership. In a most powerful way, this Haftarah makes
clear that the Exodus from Egypt is truly complete only when the Jews inherit the land
promised to Abraham. As the Jews complete their crossing of the Jordan into the Holy Land,
God says to Joshua, "This day I have rolled the reproach of Egypt from you."
Only when the conquest of the land is imminent can the liberation be complete. This time,
the Passover is held after the splitting and crossing of the waters, as if to bracket the
Exodus process and to emphasize the continuity between leaving Egypt and entering the Land
of Israel.
"And he(Joshua) raised up the children in their stead; them did he circumcise, for
they were uncircumcised, for they had not been circumcised by the way." As part of
their preparation for the conquest, the new generation of Jews, those born in the desert,
were circumcised before participating in the Passover ritual. Why did they wait until now
to be circumcised? Why were they not circumcised during the forty years in the desert?
Just before the exodus from Egypt and the first Passover Seder, the Jewish men were
circumcised. The circumcision served as an expression of their loyalty to the Jewish
people and of their commitment to Jewish destiny. It also served as a link between the
Exodus and the promise God made to Abraham centuries before that his people would be
redeemed from oppression. In the Book of Joshua, the Jews experience the fulfillment of
the other half of God's promise to Abraham, that the Jewish people would return to inherit
the land of Canaan. To mark the connection between the Jews' conquest of the Land and the
fulfillment of the promise, circumcision is postponed until the Jews are ready to cross
over into the Land. So, too, the Passover Seder is held on the eve of their invasion in
order to underscore the fact that the Exodus was not just freedom from, but also freedom
to.
(Dini Lewittes)
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