Parshat Ki Tissa
When we listen to the prophetic words of the Navi Yechezkel that are read this Shabbat, we might wonder why this 36th perek of his sefer was chosen as the special haftarah for this Parshat Parah. We are puzzled—but not because there is a lack of connection to the theme of this Shabbat for, indeed, its focus of retaining a level of purity in our daily lives is certainly germane to the subject found in the special maftir. Rather, our discomfort might be based upon why—in these weeks leading up to chag haPesach—a time of joy and celebration, did our rabbis choose to read a chapter that opens with such harsh and severe expressions. “Israel has defiled their land!” “I’ve poured my wrath upon them,” “I have scattered them among the nations and there, they have profaned My Name,”—these messages of reproach, seem unfitting for this time of year.
Of course, as we continue reading the Navi’s vision, we are comforted by Hashem’s promise to return Israel to her land so as to prevent her chillul Hashem among the nations, but I would submit that—given the fact that we recite this haftarah during the pre-Pesach season—our rabbis could have simply begun Yechezkel’s words with the promise of a shining future, rather than including the difficult six-versed introduction as they did.
In perusing through the meforshim to reveal some different approaches—hoping to garner better understanding of these pesukim—I came across a unique explanation of Rav Shimshon Refael Hirsch. Rav Hirsch refers to this perek as a “glorious chapter” that proclaims the “complete freedom of will in moral matters.” He explains that Yechezkel taught the nation that it is possible to reach the heights of purity from the deepest depths of moral defilement. The importance of these troubling verses of introduction is to let a once-sinful people realize what they can yet achieve, despite where they had once been. Their mission of becoming a “mamlechet Kohanim—a kingdom of kohanim,” who serve God, was still attainable! The Navi uses their “defiled” past, a past that is then followed by the promise of a glorious future, as encouragement to those who felt that they had lost Hashem’s grace and could never repair the sins—the defilement—of the past. Such people—contends Rav Hirsch—must be uplifted by the prophesied future and the knowledge the past need not hold them back. Israel—as a nation and as individuals—has the “complete freedom of will in moral matters” to change their forgettable past to the prophesied future.
Moreover—and, perhaps, more importantly—Rav Hirsch insists that the prophet’s descriptions of Hashem’s retributions for Israel’s sins were not to be understood as punishments, per se, but rather as painful tools meant to bring the Jew back to his Torah, back to his God. Much as a parent with a child, the painful exile and ongoing persecutions are not proof of Hashem’s abandonment of His chosen people, but as proof that He still cares and desires their return.
When our haftarah is seen in this light, we can well understand how fitting that it is read before Pesach. The holiday of past redemption and future Geulah, past enslavement and future freedom, past defilement in the 49 levels of tumah and future taharah of Temple worship, fits well into our haftarah reading this week.
And we might, now, better appreciate why the Ashkenazic minhag adds the two final pesukim that speak of the once-desolate cities that would be filled with people—much as Yerushalayim was once filled with pilgrims on their festivals. Perhaps, the early scholars chose to add a reminder of the soon-to-arrive chag of Pesach—and, thereby, encourage all the generations that the vision shared by Yechezkel in those final verses, would be soon realized.
Rabbi Neil Winkler is the rabbi emeritus of the Young Israel of Fort Lee, and now lives in Israel.
