Haftarah For The First Day Of Shavuot

haftarah leyom tov rishon shel Shavu-ot

הפטרה ליום טוב ראשון של שבועות

Israeli: ' marks a reduced vowel that Israeli speech drops (b'rachah); when the vowel is pronounced it is written e (lefanecha). - separates syllables that would otherwise run together.

How to read the transliterations

Hebrew

לְעֻמָּתָם כִּי רוּחַ הַחַיָּה בָּאוֹפַנִּים׃ בְּלֶכְתָּם יֵלֵכוּ וּבְעָמְדָם יַעֲמֹדוּ וּבְהִנָּשְׂאָם
מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ יִנָּשְׂאוּ הָאוֹפַנִּים לְעֻמָּתָם כִּי רוּחַ הַחַיָּה בָּאוֹפַנִּים׃

Israeli

le-umatam ki ruach hachayah ba-ofanim. b'lechtam yelechu uve-amedam ya-amodu uvehinase-am
me-al ha-aretz yinaseu ha-ofanim le-umatam ki ruach hachayah ba-ofanim.

Hebrew

וּדְמוּת עַל־
רָאשֵׁי הַחַיָּה רָקִיעַ כְּעֵין הַקֶּרַח הַנּוֹרָא נָטוּי עַל־רָאשֵׁיהֶם מִלְמָעְלָה׃ וְתַחַת
הָרָקִיעַ כַּנְפֵיהֶם יְשָׁרוֹת אִשָּׁה אֶל־אֲחוֹתָהּ לְאִישׁ שְׁתַּיִם מְכַסּוֹת לָהֵנָּה
וּלְאִישׁ שְׁתַּיִם מְכַסּוֹת לָהֵנָּה אֵת גְּוִיֹּתֵיהֶם׃ וָאֶשְׁמַע אֶת־קוֹל כַּנְפֵיהֶם כְּקוֹל
מַיִם רַבִּים כְּקוֹל־שַׁדַּי בְּלֶכְתָּם קוֹל הֲמֻלָּה כְּקוֹל מַחֲנֶה בְּעָמְדָם תְּרַפֶּינָה
כַנְפֵיהֶן׃ וַיְהִי־קוֹל מֵעַל לָרָקִיעַ אֲשֶׁר עַל־רֹאשָׁם בְּעָמְדָם תְּרַפֶּינָה כַנְפֵיהֶן׃

Israeli

udmut al-
rashei hachayah rakia ke-ein hakerach hanora natui al-rasheihem milmalah. vetachat
harakia kanfeihem yesharot ishah el-achotah le-ish sh'tayim mechasot lahenah
ule-ish sh'tayim mechasot lahenah et g'viyoteihem. va-eshma et-kol kanfeihem k'kol
mayim rabim k'kol-shaddai b'lechtam kol hamulah k'kol machaneh be-amedam t'rapenah
chanfeihen. vayehi-kol me-al larakia asher al-rosham be-amedam t'rapenah chanfeihen.

Hebrew

וּמִמַּעַל לָרָקִיעַ אֲשֶׁר עַל־רֹאשָׁם כְּמַרְאֵה אֶבֶן־סַפִּיר דְּמוּת כִּסֵּא וְעַל דְּמוּת
הַכִּסֵּא דְּמוּת כְּמַרְאֵה אָדָם עָלָיו מִלְמָעְלָה׃ וָאֵרֶא ׀ כְּעֵין חַשְׁמַל כְּמַרְאֵה־
אֵשׁ בֵּית־לָהּ סָבִיב מִמַּרְאֵה מָתְנָיו וּלְמָעְלָה וּמִמַּרְאֵה מָתְנָיו וּלְמַטָּה רָאִיתִי
כְּמַרְאֵה־אֵשׁ וְנֹגַהּ לוֹ סָבִיב׃ כְּמַרְאֵה הַקֶּשֶׁת אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה בֶעָנָן בְּיוֹם הַגֶּשֶׁם
כֵּן מַרְאֵה הַנֹּגַהּ סָבִיב הוּא מַרְאֵה דְּמוּת כְּבוֹד־יְהוָה וָאֶרְאֶה וָאֶפֹּל עַל־פָּנַי
וָאֶשְׁמַע קוֹל מְדַבֵּר׃

Israeli

umima-al larakia asher al-rosham k'mareh even-sapir d'mut kisei ve-al d'mut
hakisei d'mut k'mareh Adam alav milmalah. va-ere ke-ein chashmal k'mareh-
esh beit-lah saviv mimareh motnav ulemalah umimareh motnav ulematah ra-iti
k'mareh-esh venogah lo saviv. k'mareh hakeshet asher yihyeh ve-anan b'yom hageshem
ken mareh hanogah saviv hu mareh d'mut k'vod-adonai va-ereh va-epol al-panai
va-eshma kol medaber.

Ezek. 3:12

Hebrew

וַתִּשָּׂאֵנִי רוּחַ וָאֶשְׁמַע אַחֲרַי קוֹל רַעַשׁ גָּדוֹל בָּרוּךְ כְּבוֹד־יְהוָה מִמְּקוֹמוֹ׃

Israeli

vatisa-eni ruach va-eshma acharai kol ra-ash gadol baruch k'vod-adonai mimekomo.

Continue with the blessings after the Haftara on page 578.

Continue with the blessings after the הפטרה on page 579.

Commentary

… falls on his face and hears a voice speak. The Haftara then moves to the close of the vision, in which Ezekiel, lifted by a wind, hears a great voice saying, "Blessed is the LORD's glory from His place."

Much of this is deeply obscure, and became the basis of an esoteric tradition known as Merkava, or "chariot," mysticism. This vision, mysteriously transmitted as it were from the Temple in Jerusalem to the prophet in exile, carried with it the assurance that God was still with His people, that their defeat and dispersion were not permanent, that the covenant was still in place, and that when the spirit lifts us, as the wind lifted Ezekiel, we can still sense the glory of God, however opaque, for though we may seem far from Him, He is never far from us.

Ezekiel lived through one of the great crises of Jewish history. After the death of Solomon, the kingdom had split in two. The northern kingdom, Israel, defeated by the Assyrians in 722 BCE, mostly disappeared, becoming known to history as the Lost Ten Tribes. The southern kingdom, Judah, was conquered by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BCE. The king, Jehoiakim, was taken captive to Babylon, together with the elite of the population, Ezekiel among them. Some years later, those who remained rose in rebellion and were defeated a second time. Jerusalem fell in 586 BCE, and the Temple was destroyed.

The Haftara opens by locating itself in time. The Temple was still standing in Jerusalem. The revolt that would lead to its destruction had not yet taken place. But Ezekiel, like his older contemporary Jeremiah, believed that disaster was imminent. Both prophets were charged by God to warn the people of the coming catastrophe, to urge them to repent, and to provide a compelling narrative of hope. If the people returned to God, God would return to them and bring them home.

Ezekiel's prophetic mission began with the dazzling vision set out in the Haftara, the most vivid of its kind anywhere in Tanakh. Terrified, the prophet …