Haftarah הַפְטָרָה
This week we read the second of the שֶׁבַע דְּנֶחָמְתָּא (sheva de-nehemta), the seven haftarot of comfort that help us feel better after the sadness of Tisha B’Av. All these haftarot come from the נָבִיא (navi, prophet) Yeshayahu, who spoke to the Jewish people during גָּלוּת בָּבֶל (galut Bavel, the exile in Bavel), right after the destruction of the first Beit HaMikdash.
On Tisha B’Av, we read about how the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash made the Jewish people feel abandoned. It seemed that God had left them and forgotten them (Eikhah 5:20). But in our haftarah, Yeshayahu says that this is impossible: A mother could never forget her baby, and God could never forget the Jewish people (Yeshayahu 49:15).
הַבִּ֙יטוּ֙ אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֣ם אֲבִיכֶ֔ם וְאֶל־שָׂרָ֖ה תְּחוֹלֶלְכֶ֑ם
כִּֽי־אֶחָ֣ד קְרָאתִ֔יו וַאֲבָרְכֵ֖הוּ וְאַרְבֵּֽהוּ׃
Look back to Avraham your father and to Sarah who gave birth to you.
He was all alone when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many.
God told Avraham and Sarah to leave their home and follow God. And they were all alone—they didn’t have a Jewish community to support them or Jewish parents or teachers to look up to. They had to start our whole people and history all by themselves. That must have taken faith and courage. In the end, it worked out really well for them!
- How could Avraham and Sarah’s faith have inspired and helped the Jewish people at the time of galut Bavel?
- Do you ever feel like you don’t know how hope is possible? What can we learn from Avraham and Sarah’s faith today?
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