LA JOLLA, California — The readings for this week could be either of two, respectively, the above from Malachi, or 2 Kings 7:3-20. Once again, the rabbis who made the selection did not concur. I prefer to delve into the Malachi source. [1]
However, I will first make mention of the 2 Kings source, which describes actions of heroic infected “lepers,” and thus connects to the Torah reading about such diseased castaways. [2]
In this story, “lepers” discovered that Israel’s Aramean enemy, at a time of famine, had, in fear of the Israelites’ god, abandoned their camp, leaving their food supplies. That food nourished the Israelite king and his forces.
This story has a grisly component in that an aide of the Israelite king had been previously skeptical of such a favorable outcome. For this, he was trampled to death by the enthusiastic Israelite soldiers, who competed for the food windfall. [3]
The Malachi source has no connection to the Metzora Torah passages. It is a typical prophet’s verbal rampage against sinful behavior by Israelites. The rabbis who chose these passages took leave of logical thinking, ignoring an obvious expected reaction to a potential contagion. It is believed to be post Babylon-exile.
Here are excerpts, entirely in poetry:
And the grain offering of Judah and Jerusalem
shall be sweet to the LORD
as in days of yore and in former years…
and I will be a swift witness
against sorcerers and against adulterers
and against those who swear falsely,
and against those who extort the hired man’s wages,
who wrong widow and orphan and sojourner
and do not fear Me,
said the LORD of Armies.
For I am the LORD, I have not changed,
and you, sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.
From your fathers’ days you swerved from my statutes…
Turn back to Me, that I may turn back to you…
And you said, “How did we cheat You?”
—in tithes and in donations. [4]…
Bring the whole tithe to the…house (Temple)…
(Then)
I will surely open for you
the casements of the heavens
and shower upon you
blessings without end…
Your words agains Me have been harsh,
said the LORD…
Then did the LORD-fearers speak…
and the LORD hearkened and He heard,
and a book of remembrance was written before Him…[5]
For, look, the day is coming,
burning like a kiln,
when all the arrogant and all…evildoers shall be straw.
set ablaze.
Now comes the mandatory upbeat ending:
But to you who fear My name shall dawn
a sun of righteousness with healing…
said the Lord of Armies…
Look, I am about to send to you
Elijah the prophet…[6]
And he shall bring fathers’ hearts back to sons
and the sons’ hearts to their fathers—[7]
The first thing to notice is that the above passage has no connection to the Metzora of the Torah. The rabbis who chose these passages to align with it must have taken leave of their senses. Were they on drugs, God forbid? Or did some later mischief-maker insert this Haftorah, which doesn’t fit with Metzora?
We know that Haftorah passages commonly were written down long after the events they allegedly depicted. Also they were subjected to interlopers who inserted their own versions to the original ideas. Magic and superstition are present.
[1] Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, Prophets Vol. 2, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2019, pp. p. 1203, 1390-1394.
[2] Etz Hayim, The Jewish Publication Society, 2001, New York, pp. 676-678. The ancient Hebrews were not unlike their pagan neighbors in isolating “potential” spreaders of communicable disease. Such practices may at times have been ignoble and cruel, but likely justified in view of the scant epidemiological knowledge at those times.
[3] Ibid. Etz Hayim, p. 678 Such grisly treatment for skepticism is identified as punishment by God. I can’t accept this from a “good” God.
[4] Ibid, Alter, p. 1391 i.e. the shortchanging of delivery of donations to the Temple
[5] Sounds like a conception of Yom Kippur.
[6] Ibid, Alter, p. 1394 This statement inaugurates a rich tradition in which Elijah is imagined as the harbinger of the messiah. He is presented as an analogue to Moses, atop Mount Horeb, etc.
[7] This is a classic line to describe the function of the magical folk hero Elijah.
[8] Ibid, Alter, p. 1203.
Irv Jacobs is a retired medical doctor who delights in Torah analysis. He often delivers a drosh at Congregation Beth El in La Jolla, and at his chavurah.