Noah (Haftarah)

The haftarah of Noah, from Isaiah 54:1-55:5 (or, in some customs, 54:1-10), is at first blush connected to the story of Noah by a single verse that alludes to the Flood: “Is this not like the waters of Noah to me?” (54:9). But thematically, there is a certain parallel in the “inner drama,” so to speak, of divine anger and reconciliation. In Noah, God is angered at mankind, punishes them by nearly total destruction, but afterwards turns to a kind of acceptance of the human race, learns to accept their failings, understands their wrongdoing as not quite so radical as He had at first thought, and makes a covenant symbolized by the rainbow. Here too, the central idea is the reestablishing of a covenant, analogous to that renewed after the Flood. Thus, we find words of comfort to Israel, of acknowledging that “in a moment of anger I hid my face from you, but with eternal mercy I shall gather you in; In a small moment I abandoned you, but with great mercy shall I gather you in…” (vv. 7-8). The movement is from images of desolation and abandonment —of the barren, disconsolate woman who has not borne children— to her acceptance, shouting out in joy that she may “enlarge her tent, stretch out its curtains“ and strengthen the cords and stakes of her tent.