RABBI NACHMAN (NEIL) WINKLER PROBING BY Faculty, OU Israel Center THE PROPHETS l
H
e was a cattle herder, a shepherd, a seemingly common man. And yet, he was quite “uncommon” because he was chosen by Hashem to deliver the divine message to G-d’s nation. He was a prophet, and therefore, Amos HaNavi was indeed unique. He was an older contemporary of the navi Hoshea and, according to many parshanim, he began to prophesy before Hoshea. As a result, Amos was also unique, being the earliest of the “Trei Asar prophets” to offer Hashem’s message to the people. Similarly, he was unique because he was a Judean from the town of Tekoa (south of Yerushalayim [see Divrei HaYamim B 11: 5-6]) yet he was sent to condemn and warn the kingdom of Shomron, the northern kingdom of Israel. Furthermore, in contrast to Yishayahu and Yirmiyahu, prophets who were formally consecrated by Hashem to be His agents, Amos was taken me’acharei hatzon”, from sheep tending, to deliver G-d’s message. He was, in essence, a simple man who was sent on an “unsimple” mission. Amos is the prophetic author of this week’s haftarah which is the shortest one of the year. For this reason, it is essential for us to understand his background and the milieu during which he lived in order to better understand the short-yet crucial- message that he left for future 24
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generations. As is true with many of the haftarot, we will better comprehend the navi’s message when we study the prophecies that precede the haftarah.
In the same way, Hashem will punish Israel for her sins The specific message delivered by Amos in this final perek of his book (ch. 9) has very little to connect us to the theme of the double parasha, the theme of Kedusha. Indeed, the opening words that equate Hashem’s relationship with Israel to His relationship with every other nation seems to undermine what the Torah reading teaches in its final verses: “And you must be holy for I, Hashem, am holy AND I SEPARATED YOU FROM THE NATIONS to be Mine.” We are separated from the nations to be holy like G-d-but we are no different in Hashem’s eyes than any other nation?? How can we understand this? Perhaps even more troubling is the fact that the bulk of Sefer Amos is replete with prophecies of punishment, of devastation and of exile. Even this selection includes the horrible prediction of G-d’s destruction of the “sinful monarchy” of Israel. What connection to our parshiyot could have Chazal seen that led them to institute this reading for this Torah reading?
