Parshat Vaera
The navi Yechezkel—whose words we read this week as our haftarah, lived in Babylonia during the years preceding and following churban bayit, the destruction of the First Temple, and had the unenviable task of breaking the horrific news of the churban to the Jewish community in the Diaspora. Like his older contemporary, the prophet Yirmiyahu, Yechezkel often speaks harshly to Israel and warns them of the impending doom that awaited them if they did not change their wicked ways. And, like Yirmiyahu as well, he also soothed and reassured the grieving community sharing prophecies of comfort and of consolation to them. Understanding this historical background will help us understand the prophetic message and its connection to parshat Vayeira.
The haftarah’s opening verses are ones of encouragement and hope, promising the newly exiled Jews that Israel would return from the Diaspora and rebuild their land. However, the subsequent seven pesukim—those that open the 29th perek—hearken back to the ancient Egypt of long ago—the great and powerful empire that oppressed and enslaved Israel. In that section, Yechezkel reminds the exiled Jews that during those of months of plagues (as depicted in our parsha), the powerful empire was forced to “bend their knee” before Hashem’s power, so the proud Pharaoh, who had once declared, “I do not recognize Hashem,” soon told Moshe: “Go and worship Hashem … and bless me, as well.”
Drawing a parallel between the “then” and the “now,” Yechezkel tells his nation that, just as the Pharaoh of Moshe’s day denied the divinity of Hashem and saw himself as a god, and—as a result—was humbled by Hashem’s punishments; so too, the Egyptian king in their time denied God as all-powerful—boasting that the mighty Nile River was his—for it was he who created it (29:3), so he too, will be brought to his knees through God’s punishment and retribution. Certainly, when we read of Hashem’s chastisements that include the targeting of the Nile (verse four), the banishing Egypt to a wilderness (verse five), and having Egypt become desolate for 40 years … we clearly recognize the linkage Chazal saw between the haftarah and our parsha.
Yechezkel’s words were addressed to a suffering community who saw little hope for their future. The navi’s message guaranteeing that God’s justice would be meted out to Egypt was an essential one for the exiled community. The Tanach records how Judea had allied herself with Egypt to come to their aid, in the event of any Babylonian attack. Yet, despite Yehudah’s cries for help, the Egyptian empire remained idle. She was—as Yechezkel (and Yirmiyahu) describes her—a “mishenet kaneh—a support staff made up of reeds,” (verse six) a cane that collapses when one leans upon it for support. The prophet’s assurance that Egypt’s callous treachery would not go punished, provided a modicum of comfort to the Jewish nation. It was a message teaching that, although Hashem’s wheels of justice might grind very slowly… they will grind very fine.
Yet, we can better appreciate the importance of this prophetic message and its comforting impact on the people when considering how, from perakim 2-24 (!), Yechezkel’s messages are but condemnations of Israel and her sins, and the descriptions of the approaching punishments that would befall them. These 24 chapters of God’s judgements against Israel made up the very first communications of this prophet to his nation.
Our haftarah, therefore, which indicates that Hashem will be judging all nations—especially Egypt, that was seen as the cause of Israel’s collapse—this message served as a source of bittersweet consolation for the people. And this is why our haftarah is introduced by the final verses of perek 28, verses that are—as I mentioned earlier—ones of encouragement and hope, promising that Israel would return from the Diaspora and rebuild their land. These pesukim tell the struggling generation that, “Yes, there would be punishment and destruction … but there would always be a return.” It was a promise never made to any other nation.
This is the lesson taught to us by the prophets—and one whose truth we have witnessed throughout our long history.
Rabbi Neil Winkler is the rabbi emeritus of the Young Israel of Fort Lee, and now lives in Israel.
