In this week’s Haftorah (Yehoshua/Joshua 2:1-24)
Yehoshua sends two men to secretly scout the walled city of Jericho. The
Haftorah parallels the weekly Torah portion in which Moshe (Moses) sends out 12
scouts to the Land. “Yehoshua, the son of Nun, sent out of Shittim two men
to spy secretly, saying ‘go view the Land and Jericho.’ They went and came to
the house of a woman innkeeper/harlot named Rachav and they lodged there.”
Most commentators agree that Rachav was a harlot, but the
word zonah the text uses to describe her profession can also mean
innkeeper, from the same root as mazon, food. Rachav’s inn is situated in the wall of the
city and the Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni, Yehoshua 1:9) says that important
officials patronize it and share secrets with Rachav. The Talmud (Megillah 15a)
names Rachav as one of four of the world’s most beautiful women ever and notes
that men who see her lust after her.
Rachav hides the two scouts from the King of Jericho,
provides the information the scouts need to bring back to Yehoshua, gives them
an escape route from a rope from her window, and advises them how long to stay
hidden. Why does Rachav risk her life to save the Jewish scouts? She hears
about the miracles G-d performed for the Jewish people and she is inspired: “As
soon as we heard, our hearts melted, nor did there remain any more spirit in
any man because of you, for the L-rd your G-d, He is G-d in heaven above and on
the earth below (Yehoshua 2:11).”
This statement is considered to be Rachav’s conversion to
Judaism, which merits her salvation and that of her family when the Jewish
people conquer Jericho. Talmud (Megillah 14b) notes that Rachav also
merits to marry Yehoshua and have eight prophets and Kohanim (priests)
descend from her.
Writes Rabbi Dr. Gidon Rothstein on ou.org: “The connection
of Rachav to prophecy and priesthood seems part of tradition’s recognition that
her faith transformed her from a woman sunk in the most physical and faithless
of pursuits, ordinarily also a barrier to being able to recognize G-d or His
Presence in the world. Having changed, she is the one who sees G-d in the
events around her and acts to further that Presence.”
Because Rachav is not afraid of the King of Jericho when he
asks for the scouts, nor the Israelites when they come to destroy Jericho – she
fears only G-d – the Midrash applies to her a verse of Eishet Chayil (Mishlei/Proverbs
31: 21): “She fears not snow for her household, for all her household is
clothed in scarlet.” (In the Haftorah, verse 18, Rachav uses a scarlet cord as
a sign between her and the scouts when they return to Jericho.)
Writes Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum: “While the color
scarlet contrasted with white usually is a negative color symbolizing sin, Eishet
Chayil uses the color of scarlet in the reverse way – to protect her
household against the cold of snow. The color of scarlet – deep red – is the
color of fire. Perhaps we can say that the Eishet Chayil has her own and
her family’s fire in control. She protects her family by channeling the very
same fire which usually causes people to sin into fire and passion for Hashem’s
mitzvot (commandments).”
Rebbetzin Siegelbaum notes that the name Rachav means
“broad”. She writes: “As Rav Tzadok of Lublin explains, the advantage of the ba’al
teshuva (literally, “master of return”, one who repents and embraces Torah)
over the tzaddik (righteous person) is that when a crooked line is made
into a straight line, the line becomes broader.”
http://www.ou.org/index.php/torah/article/shelach_haf/parsha-tab#.UZ9X9srDlQI
Rachav takes her place with a "minyan" of transgressive, "outsider" women who in various ways saved Israel down through the ages: Pharaoh's daughter, Shifra and Puah, Tzipporah, Tamar, Yael, Ruth (all born non-Jewish), and other daring women of the tribe such as Devorah, Miriam, and Esther...all women who took matters (and their own lives) into their own hands in one way or another...remarkable how many of them were NOT born Jewish....and if Rachav became the mother of Kohanim, that's remarkable, too, since Kohanim are not allowed to marry converts!
ReplyDeleteSo true and so remarkable! I believe Tamar's mother was the convert. She chose Judaism when she married King David (as a gentile captive bride). Also, I go with the majority on Shifrah and Puah, that they were actually Tziporah and Miriam. Of course. Tziporah was a convert, as was her father, Yitro. Interestingly, although Judaism teaches to love the convert, there are always those who question lineages. Why can't we simply admire these courageous women for recognizing the wisdom of Torah and raising exceptional, G-d-fearing children?
ReplyDeleteI was just reading the last comment. I believe Shifrah and Puah represent Yocheved and Miriam... NOT Tzipporah. Anyway, wouldn't she have been a baby as she was Moshe Rabeinu's wife?
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ReplyDeleteOops -- you are absolutely correct.Yocheved is Moshe's mother and is said to have been one of the courageous midwives who defied Pharaoh.The other is said to be Moshe's sister, Miriam. Tziporah bat Yitro is Moshe's wife.Thanks for the correction.
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