Genesis 6:9-11:32 | Isaiah 54:1-55:5 | Luke 1:26-38
This week's edition of The Set Table contains:
Questions and Commentary on Shabbat Noach
Chayyei Yeshua - A Devotional Commentary on the Besora Reading Looking Ahead
Questions & Commentary on Parashat Noach
1. What is the connection between this week's Torah and Haftara
portions, and what is its significance?
Rabbi Jonathan Kaplan
As we begin the Torah reading cycle anew, we return to a
pattern where the Haftara portions are assigned based upon thematic connections
to the Torah portion rather than the liturgical demands of the time of year
(i.e. the seven Shabbats of comfort following Tisha be'Av or Rosh HaShana).
This week's Torah portion primarily focuses on Noah, his family and the
experience of the flood. The Haftara for this week (Isaiah 54:1-55:5) recalls
the memory of Noah and God's promise to humanity following the flood to serve
as a model for understanding God's fidelity to Israel after the exile.
For this is to me like the waters of Noah
As I
swore that the waters of Noah
Would never again flood the earth,
Thus I
swear that I will not
be angry with you or rebuke you.
Isaiah 54:9
The Haftara and Torah
portions are not merely connected by broad thematic similarity or the mention
of Noah. There are also a number of prominent verbal links that Michael
Fishbane indentifies (Haftarot, 17).
First, both humanity and Noah receive a covenant following the relent of Divine
wrath (Genesis 9:9, 11, 15; Isaiah 54:4). Second, there is a parallel between God's
promise to "not again" (lo' . . . ‘od) destroy the earth and its
inhabitants (Genesis 9:11, 15) and God's promise to "not again" (lo' . . . ‘od) recollect Israel's shame (Isaiah 54:4).
Third, in both cases God makes an oath in which he swears to
restrain divine anger despite the sin of humanity and Israel and make his
covenant love everlasting (Genesis 8:21; Isaiah 55:1-3). Fourth, both Noah and
Israel are described as following God righteously (Genesis 6:9; Isaiah 54:14).
These verbal
similarities highlight the ways in which the prophet transforms the story of
Noah into language of comfort for the exiles returning from Babylon. First, the prophet uses a covenant made between
God and all of humanity (the Noachic covenant) and makes it the basis for God's
fidelity to the particular people, Israel (see Isaiah 54:5-6). The universal covenant with
Noah is a sign that God cannot be but faithful to little, forsaken Israel.
Second, a covenant that
focuses on the restraint of the chaotic forces of nature guarantees God's
unending loyalty to Zion and
Israel. A similar theme occurred in last week's Haftara
where God's role as creator of all the earth ensured God's capacity to redeem Israel.
But now, thus
says the LORD, who created
you, O Jacob, who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear
for I will redeem you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass
through the waters, I will be with you.
Through
rivers, they shall not overcome you.
For when you
walk through fire, you will not be burned.
Through flame,
it shall not scorch you.
For I am the LORD your God
The Holy One
of Israel, your savior I gave Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
Isaiah
43:1-3
Just as God subdues the
chaotic forces that threaten creation, God will overcome the waters and the
fire that threaten Israel.
Third, in the Torah
portion for this week, Noah is described as ish
tzaddiq tamim haya bedorotav "a righteous man, blameless in his generation"
(Genesis 6:9). Michael Fishbane (Haftarot
17) reminds us that Noah is a model of solitary piety that concentrates on
"inner purity." Similarly Israel is called to pursue righteousness: betzdaqa tikkonani "through
righteousness you shall be established" (Isaiah 54:14). Maimonides understood
this verse as the basis for giving support and sustenance to those who are in
need (see Mishneh Torah, Mattanot Aniyim 10:1). In other words,
Noah's individual righteousness becomes characteristic of a whole community.
This communal righteousness is focused not on inward piety but on outward
concern for those around us.
1. In Parashat Noach, we find two accounts of
humanity's rebelliousness and God's subsequent response. In the first account,
God brings the mabul, the flood,
which destroys all mankind. In the second, God confuses humankind's language
and scatters them across the face of the earth. Why did God destroy the
generation of Noach and not the generation of Babel? What does this teach us about how God
views sin and evil?
Rabbi Jason Sobel
The sin of the generation
of Babel is primarily rebellion against God and avoda zara, idolatry. "And they said,
‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens;
let us make a name for ourselves, lest we are scattered abroad over the face of
the whole earth'" (Genesis 11:4). Commenting on this verse R. Jeremiah b.
Eleazar said, "They split up into three parties [i.e those who wanted to rebel
against God and build the tower]. One said, ‘Let us ascend and dwell there;'
the second, ‘Let us ascend and serve idols;' and the third said, ‘Let us ascend
and wage war [with God]'" (b. Sanhedrin
109a). All of these sinful attitudes and actions have one thing in common: they
are sins that are directed toward God.
In the Torah, these two
rebellions become archetypes of two major categories of sin - those against
fellow humans and those against God. This distinction corresponds to the two
tablets that Moses received from God at Sinai. On the first tablet were written
the mitzvot ben adam laMakom, the commandments
between people and God. On the second tablet were the mitzvot ben adam lechavero, the commandments between person and his
neighbor. Often people think that God takes the mitzvot on the first tablet much more seriously and imposes a
harsher judgment on those that violate the commandments between God and
man. But is this position justified
based upon this week's Torah portion? The answer is no.
Rashi himself supports this
answer in his commenting on Genesis 11:9:
Now, which (sin)
is more severe, that of the generation of the Flood or that of the generation
of the Disunion (i.e. the Tower of Babel)?
The generation of
the Flood were robbers, and there was hostility between them. That is why they
were obliterated. The generation of the Disunion would behave with love and
friendship among themselves, as it says, "one language and unified of words."
Thus you have learned that conflict is hateful and peace is great.
Rashi, drawing on Midrash
Rabba, underscores the fact that the sin of the generation of the Flood was
greater. The reason God treats sins against humans much more seriously than
sins against God is that they pose a real danger. For a person has the power to
cause considerable harm to someone physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Therefore
God must deal harshly with these individuals and by doing so make an example of
them to future generations. Threats against God are laughable since no one can
actually cause the Holy One harm. Thus God destroyed one generation and only
scatters another by confusing their language. This lesson is consistent with
the teaching of Yeshua Rabbenu who calls us to demonstrate our love for God by
displaying radical love for our neighbor (Matthew 19:16-21 & Luke
10:25-37).
Luke 1:26-38 - The Announcement of Yeshua’s Birth
Rabbi Jonathan Kaplan
Our Besora reading for this week focuses on the
announcement of Yeshua's birth to his young, virgin mother Miriam. Luke's
introduction to the announcement in 1:26-27
tells us several key details that are important to understanding the rest of
this week's reading. First, the being who announces Yeshua's birth is the
divinely sent messenger Gabriel. In Jewish tradition, each of the seventy
nations of the world has a guardian angel. Israel's
guardian angel is Gabriel. Thus this is not the announcement of any old birth,
but the announcement of a birth of particular importance to Israel.
Second, the message is given to a virgin. Luke emphasizes this point repeatedly
in 1:27. Here Luke is drawing on a
particular interpretation of Isaiah 7:14. For Luke, Miriam's status serves to
heighten the miraculous character of Yeshua's birth. Third, this miraculous
birth within Israel
and for Israel
occurs within a household in the lineage of King David. Thus, the birth that
the angel Gabriel announces is the birth of the Messianic King come to redeem Israel.
In fact these are precisely the themes highlighted
in Gabriel's announcement to Miriam.
Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you . .
. Do not be afraid Miriam, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will
conceive in your womb and bear a son and his name will be Yeshua. He will be
great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give
to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob
forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.
Luke 1:28, 30-34
Miriam, however, questions God's capacity to perform
this miracle. "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" (1:34). Gabriel lets her
know that God has opened the womb of her barren cousin Elizabeth like Sarah,
Rachel, Hanna and many great women of Israel after them. "For nothing will be
impossible with God" (1:37; cf.
Isaiah 54:1). Faced with this pending miracle, Miriam's response is the
response of faithful action and service to God. May her example lead us not
only to wonder at the miracle of Yeshua's birth but also to consider again how
we should respond to this wondrous announcement.
