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 CHUKKAT
(Judges 11:1-33)
Haftarat Chukkat offers a cautionary tale. Engaged in a protracted military struggle against the Ammonites, the elders of Gilead seek out the noble and mighty Yiftach (Jephthah) to be their leader. Originally from Gilead, Yiftach had been driven away by his half brothers who wanted to make sure that the illegitimately born Yiftach would not share in their father's inheritance. Desperate, however, to find a capable leader and well aware of Yiftach's outstanding reputation as a military hero, the elders of the community persuade him to return. After initial attempts to reach a peaceful settlement fail, Yiftach prepares for battle. God, the text tells us, is with him and thus Yiftach has little reason to believe that his efforts will not succeed. Yet in a moment of doubt or unfaithfulness, Yiftach rashly vows that if God indeed delivers the Ammonites to him, he will sacrifice as a burnt offering whatever first greets him upon his return home.
The Haftarah ends with Yiftach's military victory, never indicating what, if anything, the consequences of his vow will be. Yet as the Book of Judges goes on to tell us, it is Yiftach's daughter, his only child, who greets him first and thus becomes the burnt offering. Perhaps the Haftarah stops short of the story's conclusion in order to emphasize Yiftach's heroism rather than the foolishness of his actions. Perhaps, however, it ends here in order to remind us that the consequences of our vows, including those made in haste, order to remind us that the consequences of our vows, including those made in haste, often are not immediately clear. With the image of the jubilant Yiftach frozen before our eyes, blissfully unaware of what will befall him, we who know the story's ending are soberly reminded of how promises made in haste can suddenly transform one's greatest moments of triumph into horrific moments of disaster.
(Ellen Umansky)
To join the conversation about the weekly Haftorah at CLAL Torah Talk, click here.
To access a CLAL commentary on this week's Torah portion, click here.
To access the Haftorah This Week Archive, click here.
To access the Torah This Week Archive, click here.
To receive The Haftorah this Week column by email on a regular basis, complete the box below:
