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HAFTAROT FOR WEEKDAY OCCASIONS Haftarah for Tisha b'Av Morning J~J ;'YiVn "liV n'1niV ASHKENAZIM JEREMIAH 8:13-9:23 SEPHARDIM JEREMIAH 8:13-9:23 For Jeremiah's life and times and a discussion of his thought and literary style, see "The Book of Jeremiah" in "Overview of Biblical Books Excerpted in the Haftarot Cycle." See also the introductory comments to the several haftarah readings taken from the prophecies ofJeremiah (listed in "Index of Biblical Passages"). The haftarah is saturated with doom and destruction-first a1U10w1Ced and then depicted in a series of powerful images (Jer. 8:13-17; 9:7-9, 20-21). The impending horror evokes tears and laments from the prophet himself and from women specifically invited to bewail the event (see 8:18, 21; and 9:16-21, respectively). In a climactic image, the prophet tells these women that death itself"has climbed through our windows"-leaving corpses strewn everywhere, "with none to pick them up" (9:20-21). A concluding coda counsels divine knowledge and proper conduct (9:22-23). It is not said that such behavior can diminish or prevent the severity ofdoom. Rather, with stark simplicity, this teaching provides a counterpoint to the perversion ofmorality and divine service denounced earlier (9:1-5 and 11-15). Jeremiah 8:13-9:23 is recited during the morning service on Tisha b'Av.1 The prophet's call to the keeners to recite their laments for the people and the Land evoke the central genre and ritual of this day-the public recitation of elegies over Zion and Jerusalem. PART 1. INESCAPABLE DOOM PROCLAIMED (Jeremiah 8:13-17) a. Jeremiah 8:13 The haftarah opens with a statement ofw1Compromising doom: '''I will make an end ofthem'-declares the LORD." b. Jeremiah 8: 14-16 A detailed rendition ofthe doom follows. Food will wither, and there will be no escape from the disaster: even the fortified cities will provide no relief. c. Jeremiah 8:17 The inescapability of doom is reemphasized by the figure of poisonous snakes sent by God-"adders that ca1U10t be charmed." PART 2. LAMENT AND SORROW (Jeremiah 8:18-23) The prophet responds with grief and lamentation. He expresses sorrow for the desolation of the people and desires to weep for their approaching doom. The sequence ofstatements has been interpreted as alternating voices (Jeremiah: v. 18; God: v. 19; Jeremiah: vv. 20-23).2 PART 3. SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS SINS (Jeremiah 9:1-21) a. Jeremiah 9:1-5 The prophet opens with a cry of despair and continues with a condemnation of the people for their mendacity and lies. The nation is charged with perverting trust by training "their tongues to speak falsely" (v. 4). b. Jeremiah 9:6-11 God announces His judgment and retribution for this behavior, and the prophet again reveals his sorrow and suffering at the destruction to come. Jerusalem will "turn ... into rubble" and the towns ofJudah shall become "a desolation without inhabitants" (v. 10). c. Jeremiah 9: 12-13 The doom is now blamed on the people's rejection of the Toral1 and their adherence to the Canaanite Baalim. 327 HAFTARAH FOR TISHA B'AV MORNING d. Jeremiah 9: 14-21 As earlier, divine doom is proclaimed after a statement ofthe people's sins (vv. 14-15). A call to female mourners to begin their lament follows; further references to the impending destruction follow (vv. 16-21). PART 4. A WORD OF COUNSEL (Jeremiah 9:22-23) The haftarah concludes with a divine instruction to the people. They are advised not to trust in human wisdom and might, but rather to know God and imitate His ways of kindness and justice. CONTENT AND MEANING The haftarah is marked by rapidly alternating voices and perspectives.3 Overall, the divine voice is most easily detected through such references as "declares the LORD" and "thus said the LORD." These phrases enclose the prophet's words in the mantel of divine revelation. But the personal pathos ofJeremiah himself breaks forth as well and is most readily identified by a series of selfreferential bursts of sorrow: "When in griefI would seek comfort, my heart is sick within me" (Jer. 8:18); "Because my people is shatteredI am shattered; I am dejected, seized by desolation" (8:21); and "Oh, that my head were water, my eyes a fount of tears! Then would I weep day and night for the slain of my poor people" (8:23). In contrast...

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