Irv Jacobs, MD

By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — The readings for this Shabbat are taken from Amos, one of the earliest of the “classical prophets.” He, a cattle herder, arose from the Southern Kingdom of Judah, delivering his brief nine-only chapters of mainly artistic poetry between 784-733 BCE, to both Kingdoms. He criticized cultic sins […]

Haftorah reading for Aharei Mot is I Samuel 20:18-42. By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — The readings for this Shabbat are taken from I Samuel, of the “Early Prophets,” [1] though one can find another reading, from Amos, when in another year Aharei Mot’s haftorah is combined with that of Kedoshim. [2] The

Haftorah reading for the first day of Pesach is Joshua 3:5-7, 5:2-6:1, 6:27. By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — The readings for this Shabbat, the first day of Passover, are from the Book of Joshua. The text is entirely in prose. I use the translation of Robert Alter of the University of California

Haftorah Reading for Metzora is Malachi 3:4-24 By Irv Jacobs, M.D. 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,

Haftorah reading for Tazria is 2 Kings 4:42-5:19 By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — The readings for this week are two different ones: Ezekiel 45:16-46:18 and 2 Kings 4:42-5:19. For unclear reasons the rabbis have offered these both. I will ignore the Ezekiel passages, having read my fill of this unduly greatly disturbed

The two offered Haftorah Readings for Shemini are 2 Samuel 6:1-7:17 and Ezekiel 36:16-38 By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — The readings for this week are two widely different ones. The rabbis apparently couldn’t agree to get their act together, so left us with two to choose from. Accordingly from one source, we

Haftorah Reading for Tzav is Jeremiah 7:21-8:3, 9:22-23 By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — These selected passages were chosen by the rabbis out of a continuous rant by Jeremiah against the Judean kingdom c. 600 BCE. He was fully aware of the lost Northern Kingdom about 120 years before by Assyria. He now

Haftorah Reading for Vayikra is I Samuel 15:2-34. By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — This short, mainly prose, passage competes with one from Isaiah 43:21-44:23, which in Etz Hayim is the common accompanying passage to the Torah portion Vayikra. It was placed in the Conservative calendar of 2022 by contemporary rabbis to accompany

Haftorah Reading for PeKudei is I Kings 7:51-8:21 By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — This short passage, essentially all in prose, describes the end of the Temple construction, followed by a procession to bring forth the Ark for placement in the Holy of Holies. This was followed by a dedication statement by Solomon,

Haftorah Reading for Vayakhel is 2 Kings 12:1-17 By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — An inspection for the assigned Haftorah for this Torah portion shows that in some years, rabbis chose a different text. In the year 2022, it is the text above. This short passage is all prose, and to this reader

Haftorah Reading for Ki Tissa is I Kings 18:1-39 By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — In these all prose “prophetic” passages by unknown writers, we are introduced to a ‘miracle’ induced by ‘atypical prophet’ Elijah during the reign of King Ahab of the Northern Kingdom (871-852). This was in the era of unknown

Haftorah Reading for TeTzaveh is Ezekiel 43:10-27 By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — In these all prose passages, we are bamboozled by a flood of word salad and redundancy. We have previously established that all the prophets were psychotic, i.e. the definition of psychosis specifies that it includes one who claims to converse

Haftorah Reading for Terumah is I Kings 5:26-6:13 By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — These brief all-prose passages from “The Former Unnamed Prophets” purport to summarize a description of the construction of the First Temple, i.e. King Solomon’s “house.” Solomon is depicted simply as wise, via a gift from the LORD. [1] The

Haftorah reading for Mishpatim is Jeremiah 34:8-22 and 33:25-26 By Irv Jacobs, M.D. LA JOLLA, California — These short passages, entirely in prose, were written in the setting of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, begun in 588 BCE. Jeremiah’s words were selected from, out of the order of his writings, by later rabbis, apparently to