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 NITZAVIM
(Isaiah 61:10-63:9)
And you shall be called by a new name which God shall designate." (Isaiah 62:2)
In this Haftarah, Isaiah proclaims that in the end of days, when Israel and the
world rejoice in redemption, our people will be called by a new name, one that God will
choose: "You shall be called `Cheftzi-Bab'(`I delight in her'), and your land
`Beulah' (`Espoused'). For the Lord takes
delight in you, and your land shall be espoused" (Isaiah 62:4).
The Midrash teaches that there are three names by which a person is called: firstly, the name they are called by their parents; secondly, the name they are called by friends and acquaintances, and thirdly, the name they acquire for themselves. The best of all of these, it concludes, is that name which a person acquires for him/herself (Tanhuma, Vayakhel).
This lesson can readily be applied to the vision of the prophet. While God may select the particular name by which we will be called, "I delight in you," we must work to earn and acquire that name for ourselves. We must become worthy of God's delight in us, worthy of that name.
This Haftarah also provides us with a clue as to how exactly we can do that. Later on in the scene of salvation painted by Isaiah, a watchman sees God returning from Edom, where God finally dealt that nation their punishment for oppressing and hurting Israel. The watchman calls out and asks who it is that approaches, and God replies not by revealing any divine name, but by describing God's actions: "It is I, who speaks in righteousness, mighty to save" (Isaiah 63:1).
The most powerful way to identify ourselves, as we learn from God's example, is not to simply declare our given names, but to, through words and deeds, proclaim our qualities which serve to perfect and redeem the world. These are the most important of identities and will ultimately make us worthy of being known as the one in whom God delights.
(Adina Lewittes)
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