Haftarah הַפְטָרָה
Shmuel was a prophet and leader of Benei Yisrael.
In our haftarah, he appoints Shaul as Benei Yisrael’s first king. Then Shmuel gives a speech where he expresses some serious hesitations about this. He says that asking for a king is a betrayal of God! (We talked about this last year in Devash for Parashat Shoftim.) To prove that he’s right, Shmuel makes a miracle, causing thunder and rain to happen out of season.
This scares Benei Yisrael, but Shmuel comforts them. As long as they continue to serve God, Shmuel promises, God will never abandon them.
What’s the connection to Parashat Korah?
Our parashah and haftarah both highlight examples of people who were selfless leaders: Moshe and Shmuel.
In fact, these two people (who lived hundreds of years apart) are linked in a bunch of pesukim in Tanakh. One example is in Sefer Yirmiyahu (15:1), where God tells Yirmiyahu that even if both Moshe and Shmuel were to stand together and pray for Benei Yisrael, God still wouldn’t listen!
A midrash notices the way Moshe and Shmuel are brought together in this pasuk, and offers a whole list of things that they have in common:
זֶה לֵוִי וְזֶה לֵוִי.
זֶה בָּנָה מִזְבֵּחַ וְזֶה בָּנָה מִזְבֵּחַ.
זֶה מָלַךְ עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל וִיהוּדָה, וְזֶה מָלַךְ עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל וִיהוּדָה.
זֶה הִקְרִיב וְזֶה הִקְרִיב.
זֶה בִּקְרִיאָה וְזֶה בִּקְרִיאָה.
זֶה בְּהִנֵּנִי וְזֶה בְּהִנֵּנִי.
וְלָמָּה הוּא מַעֲלֶה שְׁנֵי נְבִיאִים הַלָּלוּ מִכָּל הַנְּבִיאִים? עַל יְדֵי שֶׁלֹּא נָטְלוּ שֹׁחַד.
Both were levi’im.
Both built a mizbei’ah (altar).
Both ruled over a unified Jewish nation.
Both offered sacrifices.
Both called out to God.
Both responded to God’s call with hineini (“here I am”).
And why are these two prophets lifted above all the other prophets? Because neither one ever took a bribe.
- Can you find the words in our parashah and in our haftarah that show that both Moshe and Shmuel never took a bribe? Why is that such an important detail about them? (Hint: See the last question of the Parashah Scavenger Hunt)
- The midrash points out a lot of parallels between Moshe and Shmuel. Could some of these other things they have in common also show how Moshe and Shmuel are models of leadership?
- Bonus! In Kabbalat Shabbat, can you find another pasuk that connects Moshe and Shmuel? (Hint: It’s one of the references we included for the midrash above.)
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