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 HA'AZINU
(II Samuel 22:1-51)
The Tanakh is filled with many voices and counter voices. Haftarat Ha'azinu, David's prayer of thanksgiving and praise, offers a counter voice to Deuteronomy 32, the Parsha that it accompanies. While the Parsha records Moses' song preceding his death, the Haftarah focuses on David's triumph over death as God delivers him from his enemies. Hunted by Saul, without apparent means of escape, David cries out to God in anguish. With dramatic, awe-inspiring flair, God reaches down from heaven and saves David, leading him to praise God as refuge, shield, source of confidence, and courage.
Why is David's life spared here, when Moses' life is not? David sees his rescue as just reward for a life lived according to God's goodness and the eventual fulfillment of God's promises. In this light, both can be seen as messages of hope and consolation. Yet while the Parsha talks of the importance of accepting our mortality, the Haftarah reminds us the there are times when death can be overcome, thus offering a counter voice to Moses' voice of resignation.
David's own understanding is that God has delivered him form death as reward for his righteousness. Yet David's prayer suggests that his strength, speed, and general physical prowess may have contributed to his military victory. Nowhere does Haftarat Ha'azinu suggest that either David or we can or should strive to be immortal. Indeed finitude, as the Parsha maintains, is part of what it means to be human. Yet as the Haftarah reminds us, there are times when sickness, fear, and even death can be overcome. In those moments we should remember, as does David, that such human resources as courage, strength, and determination are best revitalized, and nourished, through prayer.
(Ellen Umansky)
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