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Shabbat HaGadol & Its Haftarah

"Traditionally, on Shabbat and holiday mornings, a selection from one of the biblical books of the Prophets is read after the reading. The portion is known as the (hahf-tah-RAH, or in Ashkenazic Hebrew: hahf-TOH-rah).

While the Torah reading cycle proceeds from Genesis through Deuteronomy, covering the entire Five Books of Moses, only selected passages from the Prophets make it into the haftarah cycle.

Their call for prophecy to be fulfilled and for God to restore the Jewish people to Zion serve as a finale to the full set of the day’s scriptural readings, Torah and Haftarah together.

This public reading reflected three sources of authority: the Torah, which is the ultimate source of law; the haftarah, which presents the words of the Prophets, who provided moral instruction and uplift; and the sermon or homily, which drew on the authority of the Rabbis to interpret and legislate.

It may be that haftarah passages were originally selected arbitrarily, by randomly opening a scroll of one of the prophetic books and reading whatever one happened to find, or at least the choice was not predetermined by tradition. So it would appear from a story in the Gospel of Luke (4:16ff.), in which Jesus, visiting a synagogue in Nazareth on a Shabbat, is handed a scroll of Isaiah and asked to open it and read from it.

Later, traditions developed of reading a particular passage with each weekly Torah portion. The Babylonian Talmud (Megillah 29b) suggests that a haftarah should “resemble” the Torah reading of the day. The haftarah is, in fact, usually linked to a theme or genre from the Torah reading.

Spotting the connection, sometimes very subtle, between the Torah reading and haftarah is part of appreciating the artistry of Jewish liturgy.

Not all Jewish communities share the same selections of haftarah for each Shabbat or holiday. The customs of major Jewish ethnic groups vary from each other, and even within a given group — Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Yemenite, etc. — there are local variations."

<https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/haftarah/>

"The Sabbath immediately preceding Passover is called Shabbat HaGadol, the great Sabbath. According to tradition, the 10th of Nisan in the year of the exodus was a Saturday.

Another possible reason for the name is that the haftarah (Malachi 3:4-24), the prophetic portion, speaks of the “great day” of God on which the Messiah will appear. A novel explanation for the name of Shabbat HaGadol is that the people used to return from the synagogue later than usual on this Sabbath because of the unusually long sermon that was customary on this day."

<https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/shabbat-hagadol/>

"The Shabbat before Passover is referred to as Shabbat HaGadol, or The Great Shabbat, a term that originates in the Middle Ages. Though it’s not clear exactly why Shabbat HaGadol was given this name, some see it as a reference to a verse at the end of the haftarah for this Shabbat, which has to do with a day in the future that will be "gadol" or awesome: "Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of the Eternal." (3:23)

Malakhi, the prophet from whom read on Shabbat HaGadol, was the last of the 12 minor prophets. Malakhi means "messenger of God," so numerous commentators and biblical critics have argued that Malakhi was not in fact the name of the prophet but rather his title.

Malakhi notices that the people have become skeptical of the concept of divine reward and punishment. They have seen that behaving poorly can still lead to achieving wealth and prosperity, and so they longer fear retribution. However, Malakhi adamantly points out that a day will come when God will mete out appropriate punishments and rewards for everyone.

The haftarah closes with a reference to the prophet Elijah who will be coming to herald the redemption in the time to come... Just as the people of Israel were redeemed from Egypt after generations of slavery, so too will the people be redeemed with the coming of the messiah in the time to come."

<https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/haftarah-for-shabbat-hagadol/>

Question for breakout groups: Who is a prophet in your mind? Why?

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