The Words of Jeremiah....Helping Us to Find Compassion in Silence (The Hafatarh/Prophetic Portion for Parshat Matot)
This week we conclude reading from the book of Bemidbar /Numbers with the parashah /portion of Matot . However, instead of focusing on the Torah, I would like to focus the Haftarah , or prophetic portion, which is traditionally read in synagogue following the reading of the Torah . Usually the Haftarah is related thematically to the Torah portion. However, this is the first of three weeks when the prophetic portions are linked instead to the calendar. This is the first of the the Prophetic Portions of Admonition. These special portions are read during the three weeks prior to the Fast Day of Tisha B'Av , which commemorates the destruction of the First Holy Temple by the Babylonians and the Second Holy Temple (and Jerusalem) by the Romans. The Haftarah starts at the beginning of the Book of Jeremiah and continues through Chapter 2, verse 3. In the Haftarah (thanks to a synopsis by Saul Beck) God starts off by telling Jeremiah that he was selected as a prophet before he