A Rare Haftarah, A Rare Lesson

Tazria, 5784

I love rare Haftarahs, and this is the year of rare Haftarahs. What are rare Haftarahs, you may ask? They are Haftarot that don’t occur every year, usually because they are the Haftarah for a one part of a double portion, or are the Haftarah for a portion that normally coincides with a special reading. For instance, the Haftarah of Parashat Vayikra is not read every year, since often Parasha Vayikra coincides with one of the four special Shabbatot in the weeks preceding Purim and Passover. But how our calendar works this year, there are three especially rare Haftarot. Marvin had the honor of reading the Haftarah for Miketz, which is only read around once every 10 years. Normally it gets replaced by the Haftarah you read when Shabbat falls on Hanukkah, but this year Miketz fell outside of Hanukkah. On May 11th, we will read the actual rarest Haftarah, the Haftarah that Ashkenazi Jews read for Parashat Kedoshim. Bear with me for the rules for that Haftarah: when Acharei Mot and Kedoshim are combined, the Haftarah for Acharei Mot is read. When Acharei Mot and Kedoshim are separated, and Kedoshim falls on a special Shabbat, the special Shabbat’s Haftarah is read. When Acharei Mot and Kedoshim are separated, and Acharei Mot falls on a special Shabbat, the Haftarah for Acharei Mot is read for Kedoshim. Only when the two are split, and neither falls on a special Shabbat, is the “regular” Haftarah for Kedoshim read by Ashkenazi Jews. This last occurred in 1997, and will next occur in 2041. It’s not the most interesting Haftarah in the world, buts background certainly is.

But today’s Haftarah is the second-rarest, and one I jumped at getting to read. It was last read in 2003, and is the story of Naaman, the commander of the armies of Aram, and a leper, and how he was healed by the prophet Elisha. It’s a beautiful story. Naaman receives a tip from his Israelite slave girl that there is a prophet in Israel who can heal his leprosy. He seeks out Elisha, who instructs him to bathe in the Jordan seven times. Naaman becomes angry at this request, but his servants encourage him to do it anyway, and he is healed. Naaman acknowledges that God is the only God, and begs forgiveness that his master, the King of Aram, may force him to bow during services at the Temple of Rimmon, which Elisha grants him.

There are many small lessons contained in this story. The rabbis of the Talmud are most interested in Naaman as a paradigm of Gentile acknowledgement of God: is Naaman a convert, or is he a ger toshav, a resident stranger, a gentile living in Israel who observes the Noahide laws. The rabbis settle on the former, since Elisha allows him to bow before an idol to save face, which Jews are not allowed to do. This then leads into a discussion of whether or not righteous Gentiles should also refrain from bowing to idols for the sanctity of God’s name. It’s an interesting question, but not one I’ll delve into today.

There is also the reaction that Naaman has to receiving Elisha’s advice. He says that he expected Elisha to “come out to me, and stand and invoke the Lord his God by name, and wave his hand toward the spot, and cure the affected part!” In other words, he wanted Elisha to work some magic. But his servants comfort him by saying “If the prophet told you to do something more difficult, would you not do it?” Meaning that Naaman was looking for one of two things: for Elisha to make his leprosy magically go away, or to be given a hard trial to prove he is worthy of being healed. He was not expecting a simple solution. But the simple solution turned out to be what he needed. Many times we may think that we have to go through a great process to change a behavior or something about ourselves. We tell ourselves that it will either take magic or a great deal of effort to change. When it turns out that what we are resistant to is making small changes in our everyday lives. I think this is also good lesson. But it’s not the one I’m primarily interested in today.

No, I’m interested in the woman who started the story: Naaman’s Israelite slave-girl. We are told at the beginning of the story “וַאֲרָם יָצְאוּ גְדוּדִים וַיִּשְׁבּוּ מֵאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל נַעֲרָה קְטַנָּה וַתְּהִי לִפְנֵי אֵשֶׁת נַעֲמָן” “And Aram went out in raiding-parties, and carried off from the Land of Israel a small girl, and she attended [literally was before] the wife of Naaman.” A little girl, we are told. It is this little girl who tells her mistress “Would that Master would go before the prophet in Samaria,” who begins his process of healing. This little slave girl is never mentioned again. Naaman makes no promises to free her. Elisha does not ask who sent Naaman to him. No one speaks about her again.

Who is this girl, who changes the course of a man’s life, who incites the whole plot, who is herself a slave? No one knows. The Talmud is not particularly interested in her, and only wants to know why she is described as a נַעֲרָה קְטַנָּה, literally a “small/young young girl” (One Talmudic explanation is that she was a young girl from the town of Naaron.) But no one is interested in her story, her message, her dreams. But it is her advice that sets the whole story of Naaman in motion.

One thing I’ve learned, having worked with children for many years now, is that children are smarter than we give them credit for. They have rich internal lives. They see many things and are able to give voice to thoughts that are often described as “beyond their years.” And just like the young girl who starts this story, they are often easily ignored or taken for granted. But I think it is important to listen to what our children have to say. We could find that, like Naaman, it changes our life. And neither is this “hidden” trait unique to children–I have found that many adults who are neurodivergent–that is to say, have autism, ADHD, or some other mental condition–or those with physical disabilities, or the elderly, are often are infantilized, are seen as children, and do not receive the credit for ideas they’ve had or plans they’ve made. But their work has made profound changes in this world all the same.

So what is my challenge for you today? To not ignore, as so many do in this story, the contributions of those we might think of as being on the outside of society: children, the neurodivergent, those with disabilities, the elderly and more. To give credit, unlike Naaman, to those who normally do not receive the credit for the work they do. We never hear of the Israelite slave girl again. I hope she found her own happy ending. But we can be different from the characters of the Torah, and acknowledge the work that so many underrecognized people do today.