Haftarah For The First Day Of Shavuot

Haftarah leYom Tov rishon shel Shavuot

הפטרה ליום טוב ראשון של שבועות

Visible layers

Hebrew

לְעֻמָּתָם כִּי רוּחַ הַחַיָּה בָּאוֹפַנִּים׃ בְּלֶכְתָּם יֵלֵכוּ וּבְעָמְדָם יַעֲמֹדוּ וּבְהִנָּשְׂאָם
מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ יִנָּשְׂאוּ הָאוֹפַנִּים לְעֻמָּתָם כִּי רוּחַ הַחַיָּה בָּאוֹפַנִּים׃

Sephardi

Le'umatam ki ruach hachayah ba'ofanim: belechtam yelechu uve'amdam ya'amodu uvehinas'am
Me'al ha'aretz yinas'u ha'ofanim le'umatam ki ruach hachayah ba'ofanim:

English

moved, the wheels rose up with them, for the spirit of the living being was also in the wheels: when they moved, they too moved, and when they stood, they too stood, and when they rose up from the ground, the wheels too rose up with them, because the spirit of the living being was in the wheels.

Hebrew

וּדְמוּת עַל־
רָאשֵׁי הַחַיָּה רָקִיעַ כְּעֵין הַקֶּרַח הַנּוֹרָא נָטוּי עַל־רָאשֵׁיהֶם מִלְמָעְלָה׃ וְתַחַת
הָרָקִיעַ כַּנְפֵיהֶם יְשָׁרוֹת אִשָּׁה אֶל־אֲחוֹתָהּ לְאִישׁ שְׁתַּיִם מְכַסּוֹת לָהֵנָּה
וּלְאִישׁ שְׁתַּיִם מְכַסּוֹת לָהֵנָּה אֵת גְּוִיֹּתֵיהֶם׃ וָאֶשְׁמַע אֶת־קוֹל כַּנְפֵיהֶם כְּקוֹל
מַיִם רַבִּים כְּקוֹל־שַׁדַּי בְּלֶכְתָּם קוֹל הֲמֻלָּה כְּקוֹל מַחֲנֶה בְּעָמְדָם תְּרַפֶּינָה
כַנְפֵיהֶן׃ וַיְהִי־קוֹל מֵעַל לָרָקִיעַ אֲשֶׁר עַל־רֹאשָׁם בְּעָמְדָם תְּרַפֶּינָה כַנְפֵיהֶן׃

Sephardi

Udemut al-
Rashei hachayah rakia ke'ein hakerach hanora natuy al-rasheihem milema'lah: vetachat
Harakia kanfeihem yesharot ishah el-achotah le'ish shetayim mechasot lahenah
Ule'ish shetayim mechasot lahenah eit geviyoteihem: va'eshma et-kol kanfeihem kekol
Mayim rabim kekol-Shaddai belechtam kol hamulah kekol machaneh be'amdam terapenah
Kanfeihen: vayehi-kol me'al larakia asher al-rosham be'amdam terapenah kanfeihen:

English

And above the heads of the living beings there was the form of a dome, with a semblance of the terrible ice, suspended over their heads from above; and beneath the dome, their wings were straightened out towards each other, a pair covering them here, and another pair covering them there, over their bodies. And I heard the sound of their wings and it was like the sound of a mass of waters, like the voice of the Almighty, when they moved; the sound of roaring, like the sound of an encampment. Standing still, they lowered their wings; a voice came from upon the dome which was over their heads – standing still, they lowered their wings.

Hebrew

וּמִמַּעַל לָרָקִיעַ אֲשֶׁר עַל־רֹאשָׁם כְּמַרְאֵה אֶבֶן־סַפִּיר דְּמוּת כִּסֵּא וְעַל דְּמוּת
הַכִּסֵּא דְּמוּת כְּמַרְאֵה אָדָם עָלָיו מִלְמָעְלָה׃ וָאֵרֶא ׀ כְּעֵין חַשְׁמַל כְּמַרְאֵה־
אֵשׁ בֵּית־לָהּ סָבִיב מִמַּרְאֵה מָתְנָיו וּלְמָעְלָה וּמִמַּרְאֵה מָתְנָיו וּלְמַטָּה רָאִיתִי
כְּמַרְאֵה־אֵשׁ וְנֹגַהּ לוֹ סָבִיב׃ כְּמַרְאֵה הַקֶּשֶׁת אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה בֶעָנָן בְּיוֹם הַגֶּשֶׁם
כֵּן מַרְאֵה הַנֹּגַהּ סָבִיב הוּא מַרְאֵה דְּמוּת כְּבוֹד־יְהוָה וָאֶרְאֶה וָאֶפֹּל עַל־פָּנַי
וָאֶשְׁמַע קוֹל מְדַבֵּר׃

Sephardi

Umima'al larakia asher al-rosham kemar'eh even-sapir demut kise ve'al demut
Hakise demut kemar'eh adam alav milema'lah: va'ere ke'ein chashmal kemar'eh-
Eish beit-lah saviv mimar'eh matnav ulema'lah umimar'eh matnav ulematah ra'iti
Kemar'eh-esh venogah lo saviv: kemar'eh hakeshet asher yihyeh be'anan beyom hageshem
Ken mar'eh hanogah saviv hu mar'eh demut kevod-Adonai va'er'eh va'epol al-panai
Va'eshma kol medaber:

English

And above the dome which was over their heads, with the appearance of a sapphire, was the form of a throne; and on the form of the throne there was a form with the appearance of a man, upon it, from above. And I saw: a semblance of amber, the appearance of fire encasing it, from what appeared to be his waist and above; and from what appeared to be his waist and below, I saw an appearance like fire with a brightness around it – it was like the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, the brightness around it had that appearance. This was the appearance of the form of the glory of God – and I saw it, and I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice speak.

Ezek. 3:12

Hebrew

וַתִּשָּׂאֵנִי רוּחַ וָאֶשְׁמַע אַחֲרַי קוֹל רַעַשׁ גָּדוֹל בָּרוּךְ כְּבוֹד־יְהוָה מִמְּקוֹמוֹ׃

Sephardi

Vatis'eini ruach va'eshma acharai kol ra'ash gadol baruch kevod-Adonai mimkomo:

English

Then a wind lifted me up and I heard behind me the sound of a great noise, saying, "Blessed is the LORD's glory from His place."

Continue with the blessings after the Haftara on page 578.

Continue with the blessings after the הפטרה on page 579.

Commentary

… falls on his face and hears a voice speak. The Haftara then moves to the close of the vision, in which Ezekiel, lifted by a wind, hears a great voice saying, "Blessed is the LORD's glory from His place."

Much of this is deeply obscure, and became the basis of an esoteric tradition known as Merkava, or "chariot," mysticism. This vision, mysteriously transmitted as it were from the Temple in Jerusalem to the prophet in exile, carried with it the assurance that God was still with His people, that their defeat and dispersion were not permanent, that the covenant was still in place, and that when the spirit lifts us, as the wind lifted Ezekiel, we can still sense the glory of God, however opaque, for though we may seem far from Him, He is never far from us.

Ezekiel lived through one of the great crises of Jewish history. After the death of Solomon, the kingdom had split in two. The northern kingdom, Israel, defeated by the Assyrians in 722 BCE, mostly disappeared, becoming known to history as the Lost Ten Tribes. The southern kingdom, Judah, was conquered by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BCE. The king, Jehoiakim, was taken captive to Babylon, together with the elite of the population, Ezekiel among them. Some years later, those who remained rose in rebellion and were defeated a second time. Jerusalem fell in 586 BCE, and the Temple was destroyed.

The Haftara opens by locating itself in time. The Temple was still standing in Jerusalem. The revolt that would lead to its destruction had not yet taken place. But Ezekiel, like his older contemporary Jeremiah, believed that disaster was imminent. Both prophets were charged by God to warn the people of the coming catastrophe, to urge them to repent, and to provide a compelling narrative of hope. If the people returned to God, God would return to them and bring them home.

Ezekiel's prophetic mission began with the dazzling vision set out in the Haftara, the most vivid of its kind anywhere in Tanakh. Terrified, the prophet …