Parashat Vayeitzei: Lions And Tigers And Bears, Oh My
(Haftarah study led by Student Rabbi Maayan Lev on December 3, 2022)
In this week’s Torah portion, Jacob accidentally marries Leah instead of Rachel. He was in the dark about the swap made by his uncle Laban, quite literally. He could not see his partner when they had intercourse at night.[1] It’s not unreasonable to assume that Rachel and Leah may have looked rather similar, and probably sounded similar, too! If there was light outside, he would have easily been able to notice the nuances that distinguished these two sisters from each other.
In analyzing this week’s haftarah selection, we too need to be able to detect the nuances. This week we had a choice between the Ashkenazi selection and the Sephardic selection.[2] Though I read from the Sephardic selection earlier, both choices are from the book of Hosea, and they are within a chapter of each other. At first glance they appear to be very similar. They both seem to reprimand the people of the northern kingdom, Israel, represented here by the tribe of Ephraim.
But in order to truly appreciate the differences between these two selections, we’ll need to take a trip to the zoo. In the Ashkenazi haftarah selection, G!d says of the people of Israel:[3]
I looked after you in the desert, in a thirsty land.
When they grazed, they were sated;
When they were sated, they grew haughty;
And so they forgot Me.
So I am become like a lion to them,
Like a leopard I lurk on the way;
Like a bear robbed of her young I attack them
And rip open the casing of their hearts;
I will devour them there like a lion,
The beasts of the field shall mangle them.
You are undone, O Israel! You had no help but Me.
Where now is your king? Let him save you!
Where are the chieftains in all your towns from whom you demanded:
“Give me a king and officers”?
I give you kings in my ire, And take them away in My wrath.
Questions to Consider:
- What are the different animals listed here, and how are they being used?
- What do we think of the vengeful and sarcastic G!d represented here?
As we can see, G!d is compared to a lion, a tiger, and a leopard. These are all carnivores. G!d is represented here as a deadly predator ready to strike us down. As a side note, the Hebrew word for “leopard”, נָמֵר, is the same word used for “tiger.” While this latter meaning was almost assuredly not the intent of the author, one cannot help but think of the Wizard of Oz when looking at this list of animals.
I confess that this is not an image of G!d that comforts me. Moreover, to picture HaShem as wry and snarky, as indicated by the second half of the above passage, seems to contradict everything we think we know about polite behavior. Though eventually the Haftarah makes it clear that the people of Israel will be forgiven, the message is clear: G!d is not someone we want to cross.
In this week’s Sephardic haftarah, G!d is once again angry with the people of Israel (Ephraim), and animal imagery is used once again. But the tone is very different than before:[4]
I will not act on My wrath,
Will not turn to destroy Ephraim.
For I am G!d, not human,
The Holy One in your midst:
I will not come in fury.
HaShem will roar like a lion,
And they shall march behind [G!d];
When [G!d] roars, [G!d’s] children shall come
Fluttering out of the west.
They shall flutter from Egypt like sparrows,
From the land of Assyria like doves;
And I will settle them in their homes
—declares HaShem.
Questions to Consider:
- What is G!d’s tone here?
- How are the animals used here in contrast to the Ashkenazi haftarah selection?
This passage is far more forgiving than the last one. The animal similes here are not just used to describe G!d, but also to describe us! G!d is a lion, and we are sparrows and doves. In theory, a lion could eat sparrows and doves. If caught by a lion, sparrows and doves wouldn’t be able to fight back. But rather than attacking, the lion acts here as a benefactor to the birds, leading them home.
Question to Consider:
- In the passage above, what do the words in blue indicate about the difference between G!d and humans?
Animals are actually a colorful stand-in here, for how we choose to behave. God is able to approach an identical problem in multiple ways, being both rage-full on one hand, and showing restraint on the other. In this haftarah, G!d represents the ideal. We should not be ruled by either our head or our heart so much that it blinds us to other possibilities. We should never be so predictable as to be set in our ways. If G!d is like a lion, then I much prefer a lion Who aids than a lion Who attacks. If we never know what mood the lion is in, though, all the more reason for us birds to straighten up and fly right.
As humans, there are times that call for us to be lions, and there are times that call for us to be lambs. In Genesis 1, G!d told Adam and Eve to master all of the animals! In each of our brains, there is a zoo that houses all of our different attributes, each represented by a different animal. We are the zookeepers. We hold the keys. We might want all of the animals to go free, but if we free them all at the same time, they may very well kill each other. If even G!d needed two separate haftarah selections to be able to express two different sides of the Divine, then certainly, we as humans must also make a choice.
Question to Consider:
- It would be easy to ask “What animals do we feel should be used to represent desirable human behavior?” The better question is: “Which attributes (or which animals) do we want to release, and when?
To ponder these questions is to master the animals, or rather, to master ourselves.
Shabbat shalom!
[1] Genesis 29:23-25.
[2] Hosea 12:13-14:10 and 11:7-12:12 respectively.
[3] Hosea 13:5-11.
[4] Hosea 11:9-11.