תורה מציון

When the Greeks issued the decree against the Jews forbidding them from learning Torah, the rabbis instituted that we read each Shabbat a section from the prophets containing some content relating to that week's parasha. For example, on the Shabbat of Parashat Beshalach, which contains the shirat ha'yam (song sung after the splitting of the sea), we read the section in Sefer Shoftim containing shirat Devora (the song sung by the prophetess Devora after her victory). For Parashat Mishpatim, which includes the law requiring the emancipation of a Hebrew servant, we read for the haftara Yirmiyahu's prophecy concerning the emancipation of servants.

When we look at our parasha, which describes the creation of the world, we would expect to read a haftara that discusses that topic. It turns out, however, at first glance, that the haftara for Parashat Bereishit has nothing at all to do with the parasha! The haftara for this parasha comes from a prophecy in Yeshayahu, a prophecy that deals with the redemption of Yisrael which ultimately results in the redemption of the entire world. The prophet declares, 'Do not fear, for I will redeem you… for I am Hashem your God… your savior… From the east I will bring your offspring, and from the west I will gather you… I will say to the north, 'Give forth!' and to the south, 'Do not withhold! Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the end of the earth… All the nations have gathered together; peoples have assembled… they will hear and say: True!"

In order to understand the connection between the content of our parasha and that of the haftara, we will enlist the help of comments by Rashi and Rav Kook. Commenting on the pasuk in our parasha, "It will cling to you, but you will have power over it," Rashi explains that the yetzer hara (evil inclination) constantly strives to lead a person to sin. A person can, however, exert control over the yetzer hara if he really wants to. Rav Kook, developing Rashi's comments further, claims that when a person overcomes his inclination, when he increases Torah and mitzvot, "he becomes more strongly attached to Kenesset Yisrael and senses inside him the soul of the entire people… And he senses with his entire essence the distress of Kenesset Yisrael over its lowliness, and takes pride in the deep, internal recognition of the glory of its divine superiority." Meaning, the more one overcomes his evil inclination, the deeper he "dives" into the "sea" of Torah and mitzvot, the more aware he becomes of Kelal Yisrael, the more he senses the nation's pain. And by ensuring to follow the ways of Hashem, he accelerates the arrival of Israel's redemption, from which the redemption of the entire world will evolve.

We can now identify the connection between the content of our parasha and the content of the haftara.

In our parasha, we are introduced to the yetzer hara and our struggle with it – which constitutes the key to avodat Hashem. And in the haftara we are shown the future result of this engagement – the redemption of Yisrael, and, thereafter, the redemption of the entire world.

On the Shabbat on which we read this parasha, my colleagues and I invite each and every one of you to join us in increasing the glory of the Torah, the Torah about the study of which Chazal comment, "One eats their fruits in this world, and the principal remains for him in the world to come."