The haftarah that we read this week is in Zechariah 2:14 till 4:7. Zechariah was the second to the last of the 12 prophets known as Trei Assor. He lived during the period of the Second Temple, in the second year of the rule of Darius, the son of Esther.
The haftarah relates the following: Hashem shows Zechariah a vision of Yehoshua Kohen Gadol standing in the Heavenly Court, and an angel of Hashem begins to speak negatively about Yehoshua’s children. His children have left the ways of Hashem and married non-Jewish women. Hashem comes to the Kohen Gadol’s defense with his great mercy, saying that soon, his children will divorce those women. Additionally, Yehoshua has many merits as his forefathers were also kohanim gedolim. In the vision, Zechariah sees Yehoshua wearing soiled clothing, suggesting sin. The angel instructs other angels to separate those non-Jewish women from Yehoshua Kohen Gadol’s children, and then they will turn pure and clean. Upon seeing this, Zechariah prays that Yehoshua should continue to be the kohen gadol and that his children should follow in his ways to be kohanim gedolim. Zechariah is told that if they will maintain the proper level of kedusha and follow in Hashem’s ways, they will merit to continue the chain of kohanim gedolim. The children repented and returned to the Torah’s ways, and they, too, became kohanim gedolim.
It is fascinating to see how Hashem judges us. Does our action in the future count for today? We see this when Yishmael, the son of Hagar, was a child, and he was sick and dying. The Heavenly Court requested that he die now because, in the future, he would cause so much sorrow to the Jewish people. Hashem responded, “Basher hu sham,” we only judge a person at the time of his action. Yishmael is innocent now, and therefore, he can live on.
Here, the children of Yehoshua are currently living in sin, but Hashem judges them as innocent because He knows that later, they will repent. Why would this be so? If the premise is “Ba’asher hu sham,” we judge a person by how they are today, why did Hashem judge them innocently by looking in their future?
From this, we gain an incredible insight into Hashem’s ways. The concept of “Ba’asher hu sham” only works in a person’s favor. If a person is currently in sin but in the future will be righteous, Hashem will judge Him favorably. If, however, a person is currently innocent of sin, even though the future might bring them to be evil, Hashem will then judge them favorably as they are now. The haftorah instructs, “Rejoice and sing the daughter of Zion because I have already come.” That statement does not seem accurate, as we are still in exile. Hashem is teaching us to “judge” Him as He “judges” us. Although right now, we are living in the bitter reality of exile, the seeds of redemption have been planted. Hashem wants us to view our current situation with joy, internalizing the certainty of the imminent geulah.
RABBI AARON LANKRY
