Words From Rabbi White

This week’s haftarah, taken from the Book of Shoftim (Judges) is one of the most perplexing chapters in the Bible. Let me explain:

The people of Ammon were a tough, mean bunch.  They resided on the eastern side of the Jordan River, their name reflected in the modern city of Amman, Jordan. In the time of the prophet Samuel, they demanded that, to avoid being conquered, the residents of the city of Yavesh blind themselves in one eye.  The young man Saul proved his leadership abilities by protecting the residents of that city, thus showing Saul’s ability to become King.

But I am jumping ahead in time.  Our haftarah takes place in the period before King Saul, in the time of the Judges. This week we read of the judge Jephthah (Yiftah in Hebrew,) also a tough guy, who defeated the Ammonites with a decisive victory, capturing 20 of their cities. The haftarah ends with the words “the Ammonites were humbled by the Israelites.”

But Jephthah makes a perplexing statement. As he was preparing for battle, he made a vow to HaShem: “if You give me victory over the Ammonites, the first thing that leaves the doors of my house to greet me when I return ”be-shalom,” will be for the Lord, and I will offer it as a sacrifice.”

The end of the chapter was omitted from the haftarah, but guess what the first thing to greet him was? None other than his own daughter!

What was Jephthah thinking? Did he perhaps know the story of Odysseus, who was greeted by his dog Argos after returning victorious from the Trojan War? And if so, did he figure that his dog would be the first to greet him?  Highly doubtful!! Didn’t he know that human sacrifice, from the time of Abraham, was forbidden by the Torah? Now, it's true that the great medieval commentator, Rav David Qimhi, shows linguistically that he didn’t really kill her, but rather made her spend the rest of her life dwelling in solitude. But still, that was tough.

The Talmud learns an important lesson.  Jephthah knew that even though he had taken a vow, and vows are very serious, he still could have annulled the vow in a biblically acceptable procedure, by going to the kohen Pinchas, the leading sage of the generation. But Jephthah was too arrogant to admit that he had made a mistake, and to embarrass himself by going to the sage.   And the Talmud tells us that Pinchas, who has heard about the vow, was too arrogant to go to Jephthah. Pinchas said: “let him come to me!”  So, with these 2 leading personalities, the general and the Priest. too arrogant to see one another, a young girl paid the price. The Rabbis of the Talmud found an important lesson here!!

Shabbat shalom, Rabbi Menahem White