Alternative Haftarot for Those who Do Not Recite the Haftarot of Rebuke and Consolation

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Isaac Gantwerk Mayer and Moshe ben Maimon

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29 June 2020 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

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הפטרות haftarot

In all modern communities, the standard practice is that on the three Shabbatot before the Ninth of Av and the seven after it the standard haftarah is replaced. Before the Ninth of Av they are replaced with haftarot of rebuke, from Jeremiah and the opening of Isaiah, and after they are replaced with haftarot of consolation from the later parts of Isaiah. Rambam’s Mishneh Torah, though, preserves a very different custom, one where each one of those Torah portions has an associated haftarah, related not to the calendar but to the parashah itself. Here the editor has compiled a list of these haftarah readings, along with brief notes to explain their connection with the parashah.

Parashah	Haftarah	Connection
Mattot (Numbers 30:2-32:42)	Joshua 13:15—14:5	discusses the apportioning of land to the trans-Jordanian tribes
Mas’ei (Numbers 33:1-36:13)	Joshua 19:51—21:8	cities of refuge and the Levite towns
D’varim (Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22)	Jeremiah 30:4—30:22	linguistic similarities, making an end to the earlier nations
Va-etḥanan (Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11)	Jeremiah 32:16—32:44	begins with pleading to God that goes unanswered, danger of idolatry
‘Eqev (Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25)	Jeremiah 2:2—4:2	Idolatry as adultery, withholding rain for sin, but hope in repentance
Re’eh (Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17)	Jeremiah 23:5—23:24	false prophets, abominable things
Shoftim (Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9)	I Samuel 8:1—8:22	appointing of judges and kings
Ki Tetsei (Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19)	I Samuel 17:1—18:14	going out to battle with faith
Ki Tavo (Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8)	Joshua 8:30—10:14	blessings and curses ceremony, exhortations against fear
Nitsavim (Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20)	Joshua 24:1—24:13	assembling the people for a final retelling of history
Ha’azinu (Deuteronomy 32:1-52)	Ezekiel 17:22—18:34	eagle imagery, reward and punishment, live and not die

Maimonides’ list of Haftarot for each Parashah can be found in his Mishneh Torah, Seder Ahavah, Laws of the Order of Prayer. Different pages and variations exist for the various editions published. In his authoritative, hand-signed copy, held in the collection of the Bodleian Library, this information can be found on folio 184v of MS Huntington 80. –Aharon Varady

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Bodleian Library MS Huntington 80, 184v

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“Alternative Haftarot for Those who Do Not Recite the Haftarot of Rebuke and Consolation” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication 1.0 Universal license.

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. (He also translates and transcribes Hebrew and Aramaic texts, adding niqqud and t'amim as needed.) Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.

Moshe ben Maimon

Mosheh ben Maimon (משה בן מימון), called Moses Maimonides (/maɪˈmɒnɪdiːz/ my-mon-i-deez) and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn (Arabic: موسى بن ميمون‎), or RaMBaM (רמב"ם – Hebrew acronym for "Rabbeinu Mosheh Ben Maimon" – English translation: "Our Rabbi/Teacher Moses Son [of] Maimon"), was a preeminent medieval Spanish, Sephardic Jewish philosopher, astronomer and one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages. He was born in Córdoba (present-day Spain), Almoravid Empire on Passover Eve, 1138, and died in Egypt on December 12, 1204.Although his writings on Jewish law and ethics were met with acclaim and gratitude from most Jews, even as far off as Iraq and Yemen, and he rose to be the revered head of the Jewish community in Egypt, there were also vociferous critics of some of his writings, particularly in Spain. Nevertheless, he was posthumously acknowledged to be one of the foremost rabbinical arbiters and philosophers in Jewish history, his copious work comprising a cornerstone of Jewish scholarship. His fourteen-volume Mishneh Torah still carries significant canonical authority as a codification of Talmudic law. In the Yeshiva world he is called sometimes "haNesher haGadol" (the great eagle) in recognition of his outstanding status as a bona fide exponent of the Oral Torah.(from "Maimonides" on wikipedia)

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Works of related interest:

Entrance of the Tomb of the Prophets on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. (credit: Ilari Aalto, license: CC BY-SA)

💬 הפטרה חלופית לשבת שחל ביום לפני חנוכה או ביום הראשון של חנוכה (ביום כד׳ וכה׳ לכסלו)‏ | Alternative Haftarah for when Shabbat falls either on the day before Ḥanukkah

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17