The Three Haftarahs of the Three Weeks – Part I

In the morning, during my husband’s daily walk–exercise, he met a “street cleaner” and the two seemed destined to meet, and began a conversation. He asked my husband’s name, Moshe.  Then my husband asked for his name, Eliyahu. He said he was from Morrocco. They spoke very briefly but the topic of Mashiach was mentioned. When he told me about this, I became energized (excited) and asked him that the next time he meets “Eliyahu", he is to ask him, “when will the arrival of ‘Mashiach’ be announced.”

The Haftarahs for these Three Weeks (and Nine Days) are from Yirmiyahu 1:1-2:3; Yirmiyahu 2:4-28 3:4, 4:1-2 and Hazon Yeshaya 1:1-27. But we begin with Eliyahu because as most Sages say, he will IY”H usher in Mashiach.

Eliyahu HaNavi – Haftarah: I Kings 18:46 19:21

THE TIMES WERE EPIC. IT’S HARD FOR US, WHO LIVE WITH SO MUCH SPIRIRUAL PASSIVITY, TO RELATE TO THE PASSIONATE LONGING FOR CONNECTION THAT DROVE SO MANY OF OUR FOREBEARS TO IDOL WORSHIP IN ELIYAHU HANAVI’S TIME.

Although this same longing produced innumerable tzaddikim who evolved into prophets, it led far more to the pseudo-ecstasy the people felt as they worshipped the creation rather than the creator. Queen Izevel and King Achav (in that order, since she was far more dominant than he) did everything humanly (and arguably inhumanly) possible to destroy the “competition” with the baal (“master”) worship that had spread like a plague. They murdered the true prophets one by one until only Eliyahu remained alive.

His agony in watching his people destroy their inner bond with Hashem drove him to curse them with a drought. When they reached a point of desperation that could at least potentially lead them back to Hashem, he challenged the priests of baal to a spiritual contest. He went up to Mount Carmel, offered sacrifices to Hashem that were miraculously consumed by a fire from Heaven, leaving his “fellow contestants” with their inherent emptiness for all to see. No one questioned his decision that the priests must die when the people joined Eliyahu in affirming their latent belief in HaShem, King Achav seemed to have finally come to grips with the truth. It looked like the ultimate happy ending.

It wasn’t.

[The] Haftara begins after everything returned to the “status quo” of Life Before the Miracle. Idol worship was back with a passion. Izevel threatened Eliyahu with death, and the people could not be relied upon to defend him. Eliyahu’s disillusionment and despair overwhelmed him.

Rambam writes that when your faith depends on miracles, there will always be a shadow of doubt (Yesodei Ha Torah 8:1). No matter what you see, you may wonder if it is really supernatural. If you genuinely want to learn to love and fear HaShem, Rambam says, you have to look at the intricacy of nature as it is, it's wonder and it's constancy. In fact, he says, the entire concept of something being “supernatural” implies that it wasn’t originally part of HaShem’s plan when He designed reality. Everything that we call “supernatural” is [in fact] “natural” (Moreh Nevuchim29).

The opposite is paradoxically and simultaneously true. When you see what you intuitively think are “natural events”, realize they are just as much part of HaShem’s plan as miracles are. Knowing this opens your heart to the countless hidden miracles that take place continually.

Eliyahu tried to escape from his unwilling flock. He fled and ended up on *Mount Sinai in the cave that Moshe had stood in when he received the Torah. HaShem asked him why he was there, of course knowing full well what drove Eliyahu into the barren desert. Eliyahu recounted the depth of the betrayal of HaShem’s kavod that had taken place. At that point Hashem brought about a great, overwhelming storm, with winds that could break boulders, followed by an earthquake and by fire. Hashem was not to be found “in” any of these awe–inspiring happenings. Eliyahu then heard a still, small voice, the voice of angelic praise of HaShem, and found Him there. HaShem once more asked Eliyahu what had brought him to the desert and received an identical answer.

What does this tell you?

The Arizal tells us that when you “hear” the Ophanim and Chaos Hakedoshim, the profound angelic forces that were elevated above the Seraphim with great noise, it is the realization of HaShem’s overwhelming force, and it readies you to begin to feel HaShem’s unity and to say the Shema.

In this vein, Malbim explains that fire, earthquake and wind are klipos, forces that HaShem created to act as barriers between HaShem’s unknowable kedushah and His creation. This is where what we call evil comes forth. The small voice is what he calls “noga,” the radiance that is both silent and verbal; HaShem’s hidden presence. If you want to see nature as HaShem’s handicraft, you can; it’s there. Its purity, the “voice of the angels,” is within your reach.

HaShem then asked Eliyahu once more, “Why are you here?” Now that Eliyahu had seen the severity of din, HaShem’s justice, and the inner hidden beauty that is just as real, his role was to ask for mercy for the people. He didn’t. His zaam (which Malbim translates elsewhere as rage leading to punishment) was real. The desire to reveal HaShem’s kavod (which Malbim describes as the inner splendour of an object) was the only voice he heard. This was not HaShem’s will. Hashem told Eliyahu that it was time for different leadership, and that he had to choose Elisha to succeed him. Malbim concludes that this teaches us that the way to draw people back to HaShem is with reins of love.

HaShem showed Eliyahu that His “end plan” isn’t the destruction that Eliyahu saw in the winds, nor is it the chaos he saw in the earthquake, nor the horror of the fire. HaShem wants us to live, to do teshuva, and although punishments are sometimes necessary, they are never a goal in and of themselves. These forces are Hashem’s angels, His messengers. They are not the message itself.

Eliyahu HaNavi is still with us. He sees our depth of commitment when he comes to every bris milah, when we recall HaShem’s undying love for us, when we sit at the Pesach Seder. He will come to announce the last act of the play, the Geulah Shleimah, and He will restore the hearts of the errant children to their Father, and display their Father’s love for His children.

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The above was written by Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller on the Haftarah: 1 Kings 18:46-19:21
Tziporahheller.com as it appeared in Hamodia’s INYAN Magazine.

Part II in the works.