This week’s Haftorah is taken from the Sefer Yeshayohu, Chapter 60, verses 1 — 22
1. This Haftorah is the sixth in the series of seven “Consolation Haftorahs,” all of them taken from Sefer Yeshayohu. In this week’s Haftorah, the Novvi tells how in the future, when HaShem takes us back again and demonstrates to everyone that it is only the Jewish People alone that is His Chosen People, we will be accorded great respect by the nations of the world. He also tells how in that great future to come, all the wealth and riches which the nations of the world have taken from us will be returned and that all of Mankind will pay homage to HaShem and His People. This Haftorah thus provides an opportunity to recall some history and explain something of the Jewish attitude to wealth and riches.
2. When HaShem told our father Avrohom to leave his homeland, his birthplace and his father’s house to make his own way in the world, He promised him that He would make him into a great nation and that he would bless him with fabulous wealth and make him famous. (See SIDRA OF THE WEEK: לך לך.) To Avrohom, this promise of great riches was not at all an incentive in itself, nor was it intended as such. The promised wealth was simply a tool, an item of equipment, so to speak, that was necessary in his life’s work to make HaShem known in the world. For firstly, it is in the nature of people to respect a rich man and his ideas, even if they are unusual and eccentric, and secondly, for Avrohom to carry out his mission to the world, quite simply, was going to be a costly undertaking. It is from our father Avrohom that we learn the Jewish attitude to riches, namely, that wealth always shall be nothing more than a tool to be used in the service of HaShem. It is never an end in itself. Neither are we to consider personal wealth as our exclusively private property. Wherever possible, wealth is to be used for the good of others, to make their lives better and generally to make the world a better place, a place fit for the Divine Presence.
3. It this connexion, and completely in accord with how we are to remember that all wealth and riches is ours only on loan, so to speak, to be used as HaShem directs, is the instruction that HaShem gave Mosheh our Teacher just before we left Egypt. At that time, HaShem commanded Mosheh: “Please tell the Jewish People that each of the Jewish men shall ask from his Egyptian fellow, and each Jewish woman shall ask from her Egyptian neighbour, for their silver and gold treasures,” for they were to empty the land of Egypt of all its valuables. (After all, it was only right that the Jewish people should be paid for their labours and be compensated for the suffering and cruelties that they had endured.) This instruction, “they shall ask,” as is known, has been deliberately wrongly translated by our detractors as “they shall borrow” — with the resulting unpleasant connotations that the Jewish People are cheats and tricksters because they knew full well that they were never going to give these things back. Even though there is some justification for this particular mistranslation because in Hebrew, the word for “borrowing” is the same as “asking” — one does, after all, “ask for a loan” — nevertheless, it is a calumny. Never did HaShem intend that the treasures of Egypt were to be merely a loan from them and He Himself bewitched the Egyptians, as it were, that they should accede to the Jewish requests for the treasures so that “they emptied out Egypt.” All well and good, one might say, but why did HaShem frame His instruction to us in such a way that it could be given that meaning of borrowing — why the ambiguity? Why use an expression which can, after all, also mean “borrow”? The answer, the Gerrer Rebbe, the “Chidushei HaRim,” of blessed memory, explains, is instructive of how we are always to view HaShem’s blessings of wealth and riches. The Rebbe points out that this was the very first time that the Jewish People, as a Nation, were coming into great wealth. Whether it was intended as payment for their work or compensation for their sufferings — whatever it was, they came into unbelievable riches as they took with them all the wealth of Egypt. Therefore, just here, at this point in their development as HaShem’s People, the Torah expresses their coming into wealth using the same word as means “borrowing.” Why? Because the Jewish People are always to treat their wealth and riches as something granted to them by HaShem only for His purposes. They might have it now but it still belongs to HaShem. Wealth is never the personal property of the one who has it at any time. It is strictly on loan, it is “borrowed.”
4. Thus we are always to be mindful that our wealth and fortune is a gift from HaShem, bestowed upon us for a higher purpose, to be used with care and responsibility. We are not to use our wealth as a means of exerting power or control over others. Neither are we to use our riches to exploit those less fortunate than ourselves for wealth is not ours and it is not granted to us for this purpose. Nor indeed are we to allow our own wealthy situation make us forget our sensitivity to the plight of others. Thus, we find that when there was a famine in the land, Yaakov told his sons to go down to Egypt to buy food even though he and his sons and their families did not suffer from the famine, for they were rich and could afford to buy food in the land of Kenaan even at the greatly inflated prices there. Nevertheless, said Yaakov, we must show solidarity with the inhabitants and we must be seen to be experiencing hardship like them and with them. From this we can learn that we should not let it be seen that we have plenty when others don’t have much, for if generally people are experiencing financial difficulties, it is insensitive to flaunt one’s riches in their faces. (It also is rather imprudent and is bound to invite trouble.)
5. Our Rabbis point out for us the marked contrast between Yaakov and his brother Aysov in how they regarded material possessions. When Yaakov offers his tribute to Aysov, Aysov declines to accept it, saying, “My brother! I have much already!” Whereas Yaakov says to Aysov, “Please take my gift, for HaShem has been gracious to me and I have everything!” (After a little persuasion, Aysov does take the gift.) On the surface, it seems as if Aysov is the more reserved and modest, unlike Yaakov who appears to be showing off that he “has everything.” But in fact it is just the other way round. Aysov says that he “has much,” implying that even though he has plenty, nevertheless there is room for more. Yaakov, on the other hand, first of all attributes whatever he has to HaShem’s grace and then he declares that he has everything he needs. He is fully satisfied and he has no need for any more! That, too, is important: to be satisfied with what we have, whether it be much or little, and not to hanker after what we have not got.
6. On the other hand, being the People of HaShem whom He has blessed with prosperity, it is wrong for us to make out as if we are poor because this can be seen as if HaShem cannot provide for His People. On the contrary, without showing off and with all due modesty and quiet confidence we are to let it be seen that we — and indeed all who live their lives in accordance with HaShem’s wishes — are indeed favoured with success in our endeavours and are blessed by HaShem. So long as we always remember that our prosperity is from HaShem and not the result of our own efforts and so long as we use it in serving Him by living by His Torah and Mitzvos, there is no need to apologize for being wealthy. The main thing is to use that wealth to serve HaShem. If we do so, instead of this being our reward for our good deeds, it becomes rather material resources which are, so to speak, “ploughed back into the business” — with the main reward yet to come.
7. Sadly, because of the hatred that others have for us, we have often had to hide our wealth. For instance, one of the canards put about by Christians is that when the Jewish People rejected the founder of their religion (because we worship only HaShem and worshiping anybody else is forbidden as idolatry) he cursed them that they shall always be poor. (Rather out of character, one would have thought, for someone who said he had come to preach love to all, even the worst sinners). For this reason, throughout the centuries, Christians, understandably self-conscious of their status as the followers of a copycat Johnny-come-lately religion, have tried to usurp our primary position in the world as HaShem’s Chosen People. (This lie is pretentiously called the Theology of Transposition.) The Nazarene’s curse became the justification in advance for the constant robbing and pillaging of our worldly goods by the Christians, through which they have done their utmost to make the Nazarene’s curse a reality. But because their founder’s hateful curse has, despite everything they try to do to us, quite clearly not been fulfilled, the noble Church Fathers of the Christian Religion of Love had to resort to more lies and propaganda and they vigorously asserted that if the Jews do have any money, it obviously cannot be honestly earned (because if so, their founder’s “prophecy” is patently false) and therefore, they assert, it must be that “the Jews’ riches” can only be ill-gotten, stolen, or as a result of unfair exploitation, etc.. (Sadly, much the same can be said about the Moslems’ attitude towards us, too, for pretty much the same reason.)
8. Seeing that this is so, there is perhaps a valid reason for Jews not to be too modest about the wealth that HaShem has bestowed upon us for this wealth exposes our enemies as malevolent liars and, more importantly, shows how the People of HaShem is indeed blessed by Him. Having said that, it is of course prudent for us to keep a low profile and not be ostentatious in our lifestyle for the unwelcome attention of our detractors and enemies can never be a good thing. But just because there are some who hate us, this should never be a reason to be ashamed of being blessed with the material blessings of HaShem that He bestows upon us. In any case, we have always been aware of the purpose for which HaShem has bestowed wealth upon us and Jewish people are acknowledged by all that know them as simply the greatest philanthropists in the world.
9. As the People of HaShem, we are to show by our example how we use the material resources with which HaShem blesses us, to serve Him and to benefit others. But this applies to us not only as a Nation but as individuals, too. Thus each and every one of us is to emulate our forefathers Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov who all utilized their wealth in the service of HaShem and for the benefit of others. And we know too that when HaShem sees that a person uses his possessions in a way that pleases Him, this then shows that this person can be trusted with wealth — and invariably He bestows more upon him.
10. As said, a prominent theme in this week’s Haftorah is how in the great future to come the wealth of the Jewish People which was taken by our enemies will be returned to us. Indeed, non-Jewish kings and princes will bring to the Jewish People rich tribute for us to utilize to the best effect for the most people. For in the new age of goodness and compassion for all humanity, all people of goodwill will want their material wealth to be used to do good, to help to make the world a better place for all mankind.
