Haftaras Parashas Pinchas: Goyishe Jews

Jul 22, 2022

The Torah content for these two weeks has been sponsored by Judah and Naomi Dardik in loving memory of Rabbi Moskowitz zt''l, who taught his students to pursue truth by asking questions, who modeled love of Torah and learning, and who exemplified living a life of the mind.

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Haftaras Parashas Pinchas: Goyishe Jews

Preface: I wasn't in the mood to write a dvar Torah article for this Friday. I almost didn't write anything at all, but I told myself, "I'll just start writing and see if I end up with anything good." Well, I ended up with something, but it ain't a dvar Torah! I don't even know if there are any "ideas" per se, other than some insight into prophetic rhetoric. Also, this was definitely influenced by a discussion I had with my students over the course of this week about Jewish racism. Anyway, think of this as more of an editorial or a rant inspired by the haftarah than an actual dvar Torah.

I didn’t encounter Jewish racism against non-Jews until I moved to the East Coast. That was the first time I heard derogatory statements made about “goyim” (to be pronounced not as “goh-YEEM,” but “GUH-yim,” as if one is spitting out a word with a bitter taste). Sometimes this racism is expressed as generic xenophobia. Other times it takes the form of specific racial stereotyping. Sometimes it’s muttered in undertones. Other times it’s expressed unabashedly, or even proudly. I am often tempted to respond to these comments by saying, “Hey, buddy, my grandma is a goy!” or “You do know that I used to be a goy, right?” On one occasion I might or might not have responded with an antisemitic slur against the offender.

As disgusting as I find this anti-gentile bigotry to be, I do think there’s a place for it: when rebuking Jews.

The haftarah for Parashas Pinchas is the opening chapter of Sefer Yirmiyahu, whose prophetic career begins with the following call-to-action from Hashem: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you left the womb, I sanctified you. I have appointed you as a navi la’goyim (prophet for the nations)” (1:5). The problem is that Yirmiyahu did not act as a prophet for the goyim, but only for Israel.

The simplest answer is to read “la’goyim” not as “for the nations” but as “regarding the nations.” Shadal (among others) explains: “navi la'goyim [means] for Israel and the nations – not that he will go and speak to the nations, but rather, in speaking to Israel, he will mention what will befall some of the nations.”

Rashi, however, takes a different approach:

navi la'goyim [means] to the Jews, who act like goyim. This is expounded in Sifrei: "‘A prophet from your midst ... I will raise up for you" (Devarim 18:15) – not for those who deny Torah. How, then, do I understand 'I will designate you as a prophet for the goyim'? This refers to the Jews who act like goyim.”

Yirmiyahu wasn’t the only navi to rebuke his brethren for acting like non-Jews. In one of the first prophecies about Churban Bayis Rishon, Yeshayahu says, “Hear the word of Hashem, O chiefs of Sedom; give ear to the Torah of our God, O people of Amorah” (Yeshayahu 1:10), comparing the Jewish residents of Jerusalem to the non-Jewish citizens of the two most notoriously evil cities on record. He then goes on to relay Hashem’s rejection of their divine service on account of their grievous interpersonal injustices:

[Hashem says:] I hate your Roshei Chodashim and your Moadim with My Being; they have become a bother to Me; I am weary of bearing [them]. When you spread your hands [in prayer], I will hide My eyes from you; even when you increase prayer, I will not listen; your hands are filled with blood. Wash yourselves, purify yourselves, remove the evil of your deeds from before My eyes; cease doing evil. Learn to do good, seek justice, vindicate the victim, render justice to the orphan; take up the grievance of the widow. (1:14-17)

Imagine if someone tried to pull a Yeshayahu move like this in a modern setting: a shul rav gets up in front of his frum congregation to give his Shabbos dvar Torah and says: “You’re all a bunch of GUHyim. Hashem hates your Shabbosos. Your Yomim Tovim disgust Him. Why do you even bother davening? He won’t listen to you. You’re like Hamas. You’re worse than Putin’s henchmen. You’re no better than the Nazis.”

“But wouldn’t this approach to rebuke perpetuate the same anti-gentile prejudices you condemn?” Yes, unfortunately, it would. But it’s a step in the right direction. If every instance of anti-goyim bigotry were met with an equal but opposite rebuke for “goyishe behavior” on the part of the offender, maybe they would think twice before speaking. Of course, I don’t really believe this would work. But it’s a nice fantasy.

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