What Is the Haftarah? Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz

okay everybody Shalom uh did this m begin yesterday or today I didn't yesterday okay I yeah okay seemed like it was a quiet day yesterday for some reason okay anyway um obviously you know our Shar is a devoted to and we're doing Yeshua but I wanted to continue a digression and just finish a thought about the now you'll see although s t is long gone although I hope the s t will remain um but it is something that's no generally so I think it's worthwhile to share with you and that is we know that on shabas and we have a t and the is followed with a half Torah which is from the is from thees and is from the Nim uh when I was a young man around six years old or something and I first heard about the idea of haor and I didn't know what ha Torah meant so I figured it out I said well you know n is less Kad than the Torah so ha Torah means it's half Torah it's like half it's only like half of the Torah but um when I got to havdalah I couldn't I couldn't make sense of it so that so it broke down at that particular point but the actual translation of is to announce meaning it was a public announcement of the teachings of the Nan now what is the origin of ha Torah like where does ha Torah come from mean meaning why why were Kaz that a Torah reading should be followed by a prophetic reading so the truth of the matter is the original institution of haor was not an addition to the Torah it was a replacement for the Torah because during the time of the when anos made different gazerro one of his gazerro was that the Jews were not allowed to publicly read the Torah I'm always amazed how stupid guards were they were so literal so as a result we couldn't read the Torah so instead we read you know from the Nim which connected to the paraa and the dumb guards didn't get that they didn't see a problem that it's similar to shma you know uh why why in the Kad of mus and shabas we all of a sudden say sh is because one of anti gazer were you weren't allowed to say the shma in daving so these dumb guards would be in daving at the time when we were supposed to say shma and they made sure we didn't say it so we snuck it in in kadus like somehow the guards didn't didn't catch that right uh so the actually took the place of and that's why has to have at least 21 Pim because the minimum size of an Aliyah are three Pim and chabas has seven alos so although we read a par that's typically bigger but a minimal is 20 chabas is 21 and the is a so the original idea of a was not to add on to the Torah but it was a replacement at a time when we were not allowed to have later when that gazer became B and we able to have the thought it was still good to keep the because it gives you an important mus message that augments the par by the way Rashi inab actually says that the Minh in the time of the mishna was that shabas after the Torah laning of shabas Min they would read something from K so it's interesting so in the morning we have Torah and shabas we had Torah and K there was a tah from the at time that Min became botle although it may perhaps survive if you if you look at look in any sitter look in the art girl sitter you will notice that after shabas Min uh from parous starting you know two two weeks ago till pesak when you read peros some people have a Min of saying Bor and the 15 shal right the Min ashas was that from Braes to pesak uh you said bori andalos and from PES to rash more or less you said now it could be that maybe the M of saying to Hill after shabas Min might be a z to the in the time of K that uh you you did at the time of shabas okay be it is it may that's ha now the gamor does not give you a list of the Haus that you have to read meaning as long as it's connected to the paraa in some way kilos were given their own ability to do whatever they wanted that's why Asim Italians have tus hungarians have tus kabad hasus because kazal were not what your ha has to be it was left to individual communities to be their the exception however is the ha for Y for the Y the M tells us what said the is so now here we come to a very difficult question the gamaran Milla says that the for which in is ISO and this is inim where remember the first bik was dedicated over a 14-day period and the last day of dedication was sheris and shmin blessed upon the conclusion of the and that is the because number one it connects to what did and number two it connects to M's blessing sho's blessing now here is the problem so the gar says is which is about schlomo H's blessing on the 14th day of dedication by the little aside if sh is the last day and you count backwards 14 days you will actually see yum Kipper is one of the days of dedication for the first B mikdash and in fact the gamor says that year they actually ate on Yumer the Sim ofas overd the prohibition of fasting on Yumer through naua this was a prophetic H normally a navi cannot take away a mitzvah but this was a one-time special event that it was even do evener okay now if you remember what we read onim T you will recall that was not the that we read onim the that we read on T is the first chapter of yahushua that we had looked at where yahushua mosu dies and Yeshua becomes the leader andem says be strong and I will be with you like I was with Moshe again that's a very logical Choice it is a logical choice because after all Z talks about the death of mosha first chapter of Yoshua is what happened right after the death of mosha the change of leadership but theha is it's contradicting the ruling of the gamar so where you have two days T you could be m in both of them The Eighth Day we read about and on we read about yua so in the even if you have the Yu for but the problem is the problem is that in erel where all you have is one day how could we have a Min of that is connected What in what we do it directly contradicts what the gar says we're supposed to be doing so T actually recognized this tus points out when the G says says our is not that way we read saua and TOA says it's a how could we on the and he says in the time of the was the last of the G and many say the greatest of the G was M such as sh he was mishana between the gamor and this am once again toas is answer is also very s very difficult ra as great as Ra was he cannot be on the gor the cannot say we don't follow the gamorra so the question becomes number one why did ra do it and number two how could ra do it if it's connected Gar so there's a gal teret a wonderful wonderful teret that is given by who of course is the name that you're familiar with the and this is from the the and he makes a very interesting point when you ask a person why is there a holiday of sim T so everyone's always going to say because that's when we finish the Torah but you know we didn't always finish the Torah onim in fact the gamar says in a number of places that the original minog of Isel was that the Tor was not completed on an annual cycle the Tor was completed in a three-year cycle in other words it's not a done deal it's not an obvious point that you have to finish the Tyra every year the Min of erel was they finish the Tyra every three years now if they finish the Terra every three years then what was Sim Torah in year one and year two right it wasn't a c it was simply the yov of sheris in other words sheris is a yov independently of the fact that you finish the Torah it's a y because it's a y right not only that but even every third yearis was not the conclusion in fact that there's a little bit of a question how do you reconstruct the three-year calendar it's not so simple uh but those who have tried to reconstruct the calendar conclude that either the teror was uh finished before rashishana or the Torah was finished before shos or the Torah was finished before pesak in other words s wasn't even the Terminus of the now the gar does say the me of was to read the Tyra on a three-year cycle the Min of B was to finish the Tyra in a one-year cycle and eventually what happened was that Eric Israel adopted the Minag of B and that's why we only have a one-year cycle as far as I know there is no Orthodox minog that does a three-year cycle interestingly enough some reform congregations uh do the Torah in a three-year cycle but not they don't do it the right way as you might expect uh what they do is this they'll do like onethird of braus week one then onethird of Noah week two onethird of Le week three and then the next year they'll do the second part now that's not the way it worked the way the minog worked was you did bous for like 3 weeks you know bous 1/3 braus second third in other words you didn't go to Noah till you finished bous so the reformed minog is does not correspond to the actual threeyear cycle but it's interesting already that by the time the Babylonian inment was completed the minel of a one-year cycle was virtually extinct the gamorra refers to it but it was no longer practiced but interestingly enough as late as the time of the rambam the rambam lived in the in the 1200 the 1100s and early 1200s there was a group of renegate Israelis who lived in mitzraim and they still kept up the old threeyear cycle and the rambam was very upset the rambam took efforts uh to kind of destroy that minion as it were put them in Kum excommunicate them because they were violating the cavas of the tmid bav that you go to a onee a one-year cycle yeah I know like one ccle every sign name they the you know it's hard to know Ian we we we don't have a record actually we don't have a record of the names what did they call the second third of braus the third third of braus you know uh we we we don't know a lot we don't even as I say we don't even have a a real calendar of how it worked some want to say if you look at a remes maybe is if you look at the medish Raba for kishes you will see it's divided into 93 chapters so some want to suggest that the chapters corresponded to the number of parot of theor because gra Raba the med Raba is a product of of an early so there's a lot of reconstructing the three-year cycle is not so P so here is the interesting point therefore it's important to understand that when you were operating on a three-year cycle the day that we call Simas Torah had nothing to do with finishing the Torah you didn't finish the Torah ah but here's the if you were operating on a three-year cycle what was the Katra of so this is it was still but it wasn't because you were finishing the Tyra it's because it was the appropriate Torah reading but just like every y reading right when you have a YP Torah so no matter where you are in the par cycle you read the unique so C on a threeyear cycle you still read but not because you were finishing the Torah you'd finish the Torah some other week some other year but because Z had a why is that so because is a celebration of the special love God has for B Israel so we bring in the special blessings that that Moshe gave so you see what's going on here meaning the was always but it morphed into a different reason when you were operating on a three-year cycle the was not because of it was simply because of the theme of Braha God's love as manifested in blessings only when we went to the one-year cycle does Z SAA acquire a secondary reason that we're going to finish the Torah on this day in fact the rugged shover which is so interesting because the rugon r y frosen was the coov of D Vince together with the or again I can tell I can tell you a whole bunch of stories here dein is a town in lvia and uh it's still around and not too many Jews there but there are some Jews there actually I know a a woman who lives in lot in dinin and uh they had two Rim the raav of the of the non was mayor known as the or and the rav of the actually was aabad Rabbi was the Super Genius Rio Frozen who was called the ragone rag because he came from rag they were very good friends they were both GA Mish but they had very very different personalities mayor Simka was very quiet very gentle uh the rugged shover was stormy and fiery and tempestuous uh and they had very different personalities like you know you'd be scared to talk to the rugged chubber because the ruget TR would rip you apart uh it in fact the rugged TR would often uh only give you a string of marus you would ask him M he would just say he had a absolutely photographic memory says youi this T this Z this this ra this uh and to this day there are Kim whose full-time job is to try to decipher the mara makos meaning the rag never explains what the connection of the mara MOS were and sometimes the maram makam seemingly has nothing to do with the subject at all know you're going from A to Z without explaining anything in the middle and there are colum that try to unpack the ruget Cher's thinking The Story Goes that raran Cutler Who as a young man was already a rosesa and a big big genius a big Eloy wanted to speak in learning with the older rugged chover but he was afraid to go as a rashba because the rugg would just cut him up so he posed as a businessman who says I learn a few hours a day I'm a bu businessman and the rug Trevor was very kind to business if you were a simple Jew you weren't a the rug Trevor treated you very kindly he didn't expect a lot from you so raran told him a very complicated Torah and raran said he got the Supreme compliment of his life the Ruger said for a working man you you're not too badon Cutler considered that to be the greatest of compliments uh there was another time where a RV of a city came to the r and started telling Himes and the rug listened and nodded and the rav says I don't know what people say people say you go to the rav uh and he's so harsh on he gives him such a tough time and the rug just said you're right I am very tough whatever so they had different personalities very different personalities of course mayor sim said on the rug Trover people think the ruget Trevor has such a great memory says doesn't have such a great memory he finishes Shas every month probably in your sh me okay so anything in in ol of Shas he learned within the past few weeks that's not a memory a good memory is you know you learned at you know 20 20 years ago and you remember it everything is within 30 days okay be as made but the reason I'm bringing it in is that it's fascinating that independently the rug Trev adds a very interesting nuda to again what's saying again here and you'll see how it answers the in a moment that even when we didn't finish the Torah on Sim Torah we was a three-year cycle we still read Z because of the concept of braa the love that God has for B Israel in other words was the Crea even when you didn't finish the Torah right that's the that's R so the r adds an interesting nuda he actually says that the amount of the para that you read changed when you were going with a three-year cycle and Z was not read because you're finishing the Torah it was read because of the Bros you only read the Bros there was no you in other words the Y OFA was the Bros your five alos the adding of only came later when it became the day that you finished the Terra so what he's adding to is that not only was Z Thea even when you weren't finishing the Tyra but you didn't even finish Zab you only read the five and that's why if you look you know it's a little confusing because since the as everybody gets an alyah so you lose count but the truth of the matter is is a on a you're supposed to have five alos and a ma and according to many the five alos end before because originally those were the original now it is some do include as the fif uh but the the original menas only the five alas are before and that reflects the fact that that was the original Crea of uh of of of yam okay so now based on the combination of sim and the r we have a a beautiful explanation for the change in writes in the M that which the gamar in Milla says that the appropriate of is the blessing of schl that was the appropriate when you were not finishing the T on that day meaning when Z was only there because of the theme of blessing then the most appropriate ha is the theme of blessing moshe's blessing sho's blessing but when you switch to a one-year cycle and Simas Torah becomes the day that you finish the Torah then the focus is no longer only on blessing it is on transition finishing the Old moving to New based on that the story of yua is very important because that is the transition from the leadership of Moshe to the leadership of yosua so if we ask the question how could R argue with the gamorra the answer is he's not arguing because the gara's ruling was the appropriate haa and a three-year cycle and ra said once we have a one-year cycle and we're ending the Tyra and when we end we have to transition to a new beginning the story of Yoshua is very good for that because that represents the idea that even when you finish the old you move on to something new and will give you the yeah why would why would that be the say again they were doing a one-ear cycle when this is the m yeah yeah well well yeah but but it's a Bry in other words it's a ruling that is from a br and R simp wants to say that the braa originated from ER Israel uh now it could be that in B it took them a while to realize that a change would be appropriate but decided that a change would be appropriate at that point and that's not called being the because there was a change in circumstance over what the Bry was uh was referring to okay so this is the idea that the emphasis switched from the notion of blessing to the notion of transition and is and renewal you know in many many ways uh you know we we had of course rash last month but in many many ways one could look at as really Ros because you know it's the beginning of ordinary life you know Tish nothing is ordinary everything is a y and very sacred time and special moments and you're not really in ordinary life the beginning of the regular year is actually and um I think I mentioned before uh the important idea of the Kish or the mush of the Kish where the K says if you have a pot of water that's on a fire and the pot of water is bubbling spilling over you don't really know if it's the pot is full to the top or half half empty because even a half empty pot is going to boil over when it's on the fire so you can't really determine how full it is only when it's off the fire and it's no longer connected to a heat Source can I then evaluate how much water is in the pot the says the same thing is true with Y if you are inspired when you're connected to a y Yer suim t that doesn't really say that you've been changed because even if you're half empty you know you'll be inspired when you're connected to the exciting inspirational times the real litmus test of whether you have truly been transfer transformed is when you're off the fire is something within you now it's recorded I me has little little M where um the fre the ri asked asked his father the rash he says you know after T now it's it's kind of a downer he says what do we do now what's now we finished all those things what's our a and the rabi rashab said oh now is the time to do Chua what's theat it's actually very very profound and a very true statement you know a lot of of us have the idea because El and Tish are so intense we kind of almost have a sense of relief okay I I can put this Chua stuff away in a drawer for a while and I'll pull it out you know next El or what whatever whatever it would be and I don't have to think about it for a while it's exactly the opposite now is the time to do chuva because now is the time to take all of those thoughts and translate them into action because otherwise they became like empty promises empty words okay so people say oh is called B because there's no y in the month of right that's a famous V although emically actually if you want to know why it's called Mar is because Mar in in of tanak is raindrops so kesin is the rainy season but but the famous drush in is it's the bitter month of because there are no now let's test that for a moment just to uh is it true that is the only month without any let's see kiss life of course has Kana okay T has the end of khaka okayish so you're stretching y a little bit but okay tuat is a y Adar of course is POR Nissan is of course P okay what holiday do you have in so if you're a Zionist okay uh if you're you're not going to count them uh you have LBA om again stretching a little bit and peni which actually is a y although we don't necessarily celebrate it as much as we can has sh okay what about Tas what does Tas have Tas has 17th of Tas that's fast day that's not a yam but remember the na zakar says that when mhia comes all of those fast days are going to become days of Joy so the 17th of Thomas is considered to be a y in the sense that it'll be a day of Joy by the way that would also explain a as well although there you have the second half of Kaneka uh a is the same thing a is the ninth of a but that's the day mashia is born and that'll be day of you also have the 15th of which was together with yum Kipper the happiest day in Isel then we have El what holiday what y also doesn't have but once again it's for so we consider to be the culmination of so that's a but is is empty is Marin is bitter no y nothing special but uhin is the litmus test is the test have I grown for my y have I been influenced have I been elevated have all of my resolutions been sincere so I'm really willing and able to carry them out in real life so kesin is an extremely important month uh and uh it's WR down in that the third B mikdash the third B mikdash is going to be dedicated in the month of that this will actually be the month we hope it'll be this month but if if not whatever whenever it'll be it's going to be in the month of kesan right the mishan was dedicated in Nissan the first basa mikdash was dedicated in Tish during suus the second bikash was originally dedicated in Adar and then rededicated Kana that's the rededication of it which is Adar and kiss life and the third mikash is going to be in because once again if we can show that we're sincere in our resolve we can be to the to the ban b b so want to wish everyone a a good a man of of growth as man ofing as man of alyah uh we are still of course in a situation of War a situation of Sakana and uh if you're not in the Army and you know again there are reasons for not being in the Army but as you learn as you DAV as you do your Mitzvah you should think that you're doing it to be m in thear of Cl Isel and that you're learning and your Ding and your Mitzvah should be a to bring Shalom and Yeshua to am is and to and to ER is and that way you are part of the M uh like somebody told me that their daughter asked them it's a difficult question she said ABA why aren't you in the Army or why aren't you a soldier it's a hard question you know it is a hard question a little bit it's not it's not an easy question and it deserves a lot more discussion than I can give right now but the father gave a very a very good answer he says he says I am part of the army I just work in a non-combat division or in mil now you could say that flippantly you can say that as a little bit of a joke and then it becomes just a joke which is not such a good joke when when people are dying but if you take it seriously if you take it seriously then you really do have to feel that I'm trying to push myself to bring so I think it's very important that B that that are learning during this time take their learning BFA very very seriously and have a conscious kavana that this will be part of what will bring to may may it be so thank you for listening to this awesome production to find out more and to partner in our mission please visit o.edu