Generally speaking the haftorah is related to the parshah. This week, however, there seems to be no connection between the two. The parshah tells the story of the reunification of Joseph with his brothers and his father Jacob, and Jacob's subsequent journey to Egypt with his entire family; the haftorah (Ezekiel 35:15-28) recounts the prophecy of Ezekiel concerning the redemption of Bnei Yisrael and the building of the Beit Hamikdash. How then are the parsha and the haftorah related?
The gemarah (Megilah 16b) quotes Rabbi Elazar, who expounds Bereishit 45:14 to teach that when he embraced Binyamin, Joseph wept over the future destruction of the two Temples, which were built in Binyamin?s portion of Eretz Yisrael. Binyamin wept when they embraced, too, because of the future destruction of Mishkan Shiloh in Joseph's portion of Eretz Yisrael. At this dramatic encounter of the only two children of Rachel Imaynu, two brothers who had not seen each other since childhood, their first reaction was to weep because they foresaw the future Galut of Bnei Yisrael!
Now we can understand why Chazal chose this haftorah for this parshah. At the same time that we mourn the destruction of our Temple and suffer the pain of Galut, we recall with joy and gladness the assurance that Hashem will grant us final redemption.
What better time than the present, when we are privileged to witness the beginning of that redemption, to dedicate ourselves to the welfare and future of Eretz Yisrael and Medinat Yisrael. Above all, we must realize that there can be no greater support for Eretz Yisrael and no greater assurance of its growth and future than Aliyah L'aretz.
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Rabbi Binyamin Walfish is from Jerusalem.
[Aloh Naaleh is an organization dedicated to building Aliya motivation among North American Jewry. Torah Thoughts contributed by Aloh Naaleh members appear in the Orthodox Union's Torah Insights publication. Contact Aloh Naaleh at aloh-naaleh@aaci.org.il.]
The gemarah (Megilah 16b) quotes Rabbi Elazar, who expounds Bereishit 45:14 to teach that when he embraced Binyamin, Joseph wept over the future destruction of the two Temples, which were built in Binyamin?s portion of Eretz Yisrael. Binyamin wept when they embraced, too, because of the future destruction of Mishkan Shiloh in Joseph's portion of Eretz Yisrael. At this dramatic encounter of the only two children of Rachel Imaynu, two brothers who had not seen each other since childhood, their first reaction was to weep because they foresaw the future Galut of Bnei Yisrael!
Now we can understand why Chazal chose this haftorah for this parshah. At the same time that we mourn the destruction of our Temple and suffer the pain of Galut, we recall with joy and gladness the assurance that Hashem will grant us final redemption.
What better time than the present, when we are privileged to witness the beginning of that redemption, to dedicate ourselves to the welfare and future of Eretz Yisrael and Medinat Yisrael. Above all, we must realize that there can be no greater support for Eretz Yisrael and no greater assurance of its growth and future than Aliyah L'aretz.
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Rabbi Binyamin Walfish is from Jerusalem.
[Aloh Naaleh is an organization dedicated to building Aliya motivation among North American Jewry. Torah Thoughts contributed by Aloh Naaleh members appear in the Orthodox Union's Torah Insights publication. Contact Aloh Naaleh at aloh-naaleh@aaci.org.il.