Analyzing the Haftara of Rosh Hashanah

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The portions of Torah which are leined on Rosh Hashanah were designated to bring out key themes of the day. One theme which emerges immediately is the child-parent relationship, mostly presented through the eyes of the mother. We read about Sara, the mother of Yitzchak, Chana, the mother of Shmuel, Hagar, the mother of Yishmael and Rachel, often referred to as “Mama Rachel,” the quintessential Jewish mother. Here, we will explore the depth of the parent-child relationship, particularly through the stories of these mothers.

We beg Hashem to tap into His everlasting wellspring of love and mercy for His children, no matter how soiled we have become. We want Hashem to view us as the innocent, loveable babies we once were – and whose essence is still ours. This is what will arouse His Fatherly Compassion.

In the haftara of first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Navi records a rhetorical question of Hashem: “Is Ephraim a precious child to Me, a most beloved child, that whenever I speak of him, I remember him more and more?”¹ Mrs Yocheved Rottenberg² explains that Ephraim is a symbol for the Ten Tribes who were sentenced to exile. Even though, at the time of Yirmiyahu, the Jewish people were full of sin and sent into galut, Hashem reassures us in this prophecy that He still longs for us. Even as He pushed us away, He desired us. And as the pasuk ends, “I will surely have mercy on him.”³ Hashem is the ultimate compassionate parent; even when His children rebel and wander astray, He continues to love them. It is this mercy we rely on in these Days of Awe. We beg Hashem to tap into His everlasting wellspring of love and mercy for His children, no matter how soiled we have become. We want Hashem to view us as the innocent, loveable babies we once were – and whose essence is still ours. This is what will arouse His Fatherly Compassion.

Sara, Rachel and Chana were all barren and it was on Rosh Hashanah when Hashem “remembered” them to bless them with children⁴. Rachel, in fact, gave birth to the least number of shevatim, yet she is eternally known as Mama Rachel, the mother of the entire Jewish nation. The haftara⁵ records that Rachel constantly cries for her children, still languishing in galut – and she is never comforted. Her tears and tefillot do not cease, she never stops thinking about us. Rachel, with her “kol berama nishma”⁶ with her holy voice heard on high, earnt the title of mother. Because a mother never stops thinking of her children.

Sara Imeinu’s deepest desire was to bring a child into the world, and she protected her long-awaited Yitzchak fiercely, as we read in the leining. Sara banished Yishmael from her home to safeguard Yitzchak from his negative influence⁷. As a mother to Yitzchak and all of us, Sara was steadfast in caring for her child, never compromising for a moment. This was all despite the fact that her righteous husband and prophet, Avraham, disagreed with her⁸. Because a mother does not stand by silently. She acts for the sake of her child, no matter what.

Chana’s poignant tefilla to Hashem expressed her essential belief that she was created as a woman for the sake of nurturing. Chana saw her entire body as a vessel with which to serve Hashem and she viewed the physically female parts of her, such as her ability to nurse a child, as a necessary part of her service of Hashem. The pesukim record that Chana did not ascend with her family to Yerushalayim during the time that she was nursing the future Shmuel Hanavi, she stayed at home to tend to his needs⁹. The Navi also includes the seemingly extraneous detail that Chana sewed her young Shmuel a new coat each year¹⁰. The Metzudat Tzion writes that this garment was none other than a mini version of the me’il of the Kohen Gadol. From such a tender age, Chana was sewing the stitches of a mother’s eternal love, viewing her son as a gadol in her eyes.

All these mothers stand in contrast to the other mother mentioned in the leining: Hagar. The pasuk records that as Yishmael suffered, Hagar turned away from him¹¹. She left him in the bushes, assuming he would die of thirst. As Rashi explains, as her son drew closer to death, she moved further away. Hagar could not bear to watch so she left her son to struggle alone. Hagar is the antithesis of what every Jewish mother aspires towards: eternal compassion for one’s children. Hagar did not hold her child close and cry with him, she moved away, the pasuk states, two bowshots away, to reduce her own suffering¹². Lehavdil, for Hashem, there is no greater pain than being far from His children.

Rav Heshy Grossman¹³ writes that we are all compared to Ephraim, a child who Hashem calls delightful and precious. Linguistically, this name can be broken down into “efer” (ashes) and “ayim” which is the Biblical dual form– meaning “two of” something. Ephraim is beloved because he represents two sets of ashes: the ashes of Avraham (who jumped into Nimrods’s furnace for Hashem’s Name) and Yitzchak, who was willing to be slaughtered. While neither Avraham nor Yitzchak physically burnt, their willingness to be sacrificed al kiddush Hashem created a spiritual entity of ashes. Both Avraham and Yitzchak fully submitted to Hashem and this is the secret of becoming Ephraim, of appearing beloved in the eyes of Hashem. When we surrender ourselves to ashes. When we accept Hashem’s plan for the world and embrace the package which is our life. Because a child who knows his parent loves him leans back into his arms.

On Rosh Hashanah, we call Hashem both Avinu, our Father and Malkeinu, our King. He is our loving Father Who will hold us tight even when we fall spiritually. Yet, He is our Awesome King Whose plan we must follow – and submit to. When we understand the depth of a parent’s love for their child, no matter what the child has done, we can begin to contemplate Hashem’s deep love for us. And when we begin to internalize this, we will want nothing more than to lean back into His arms and say “meloch al kol ha’olam kulo.”¹⁴ Hashem, our only dream is to surrender to Your vision, Your kingship because You look after us best.