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 SHOFTIM
(Isaiah 51:12-52:12)
The Torah portion of Shoftim begins by describing a variety of leadership roles required by the Jewish people. Magistrates and officials, priests and Levites, prophets and kings--each has a role to play and none can function independently of the others. But most important, each must be cognizant of the ultimate authority of God.
When the prophet Isaiah speaks of the suffering of the Jewish people in the wake of God's punishment, he notes the lack of leadership endured by Jerusalem. "She has none to guide her of all the sons she bore; None takes her by the hand, of all the sons she reared" (Isaiah 51:18).
And when the prophet comes to comfort Zion, he depicts the footsteps of a herald to be heard on the mountain telling Zion, "Your God is King!" (Isaiah 52:7) Not just a message of God's victory, Zion will be reminded of the foundation of God's authority underlying all other strata of Jewish leadership.
(Regina Stein)
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