By Irv Jacobs, M.D.
LA JOLLA, California — The readings for this Shabbat are taken from Amos, one of the earliest of the “classical prophets.” He, a cattle herder, arose from the Southern Kingdom of Judah, delivering his brief nine-only chapters of mainly artistic poetry between 784-733 BCE, to both Kingdoms. He criticized cultic sins and moral insensitivity.
I have chosen the translation of Robert Alter of the University of California Berkeley. [1]
The connection this haftorah to the Torah Reading of Kedoshim is that it actually presents contrasts with this Torah text. Kedoshim boldly proclaims, “You shall be holy for Me, for I the LORD am holy. The haftorah, in opposition, declares ‘You Israelites are like the Cushites!’ i.e. a putdown.
Here are excerpts:
“Are you not like the Cushites (Nubians) to Me,
O Israelites? Said the LORD.
Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt
and the Philistines from Crete
and Aram from Kir? [2]
Look, the eyes of the Master, the LORD,
are on the offending kingdom,
and I will destroy it
from the face of the earth.
But I will surely not destroy the house of Jacob, said the LORD.
For I am about to command,
and I will shake up the house of Israel in all the nations
as one shakes in a sieve
and no pebble shall fall to the ground. [3]
By the sword shall die
all the offenders among My people
who say “The evil shall not
approach and come close to us.”
On that day I will raise up
the fallen shelter of David [4]
and I will stop up its breaches
and its ruins will I raise
and rebuild it as in days of yore…
Here comes the mandatory upbeat haftorah ending:
Look, days are coming, said the LORD,
when the plowman shall overtake the reaper… [5]
And I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel,
and they shall rebuild desolate towns and dwell there
and plant vineyards and drink their wine…
And they shall no more be uprooted from their soil
that I have given them, said the LORD your God.
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These prophecies, made before the fall of the Northern Kingdom to Assyria in 722 BCE, are arguably predictive of that event. However, the rabbis liked to extend such prediction to the eventual fall of the South (and the First Temple) as well 136 years later, to Babylon.
They take such license, particularly since Amos’ words, remembered via word of mouth for years, likely weren’t written down until much later.
Independently, we appreciate his words as fine Hebrew poetry. Amos was a literate cattleman, which is a clue to a more general literacy of the Israelites in his time.
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[1] Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, Prophets Vol. 2, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2019, pp. 1278-1280
[2] Ibid, Alter, p. 1279 Amos is aware, reciting like a historian, of the historical migration movements of these several peoples.
[3] Ibid, Alter, p. 1279 Here, Amos turns his wrath against Israel, which he considers to be an offending kingdom. Yet he promises less than complete punishment- in this poetic simile.
[4] Ibid, Alter, p. 1280 This fantasy predicts/prophecizes a future when the United Kingdom will be restored.
[5] a typical prophetic metaphor, i.e. hyperbole for a coming era of significant agricultural fertility!
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Irv Jacobs is a retired medical doctor who delights in Torah analysis. He often delivers a drosh at Congregation Beth El in La Jolla, and at his chavurah.