Illustration credit: Rivka Tsinman
Haftarah הַפְטָרָה
In our haftarah, we hear that King David has become old and weak. Then his son Adoniyah tries to take over. He announces: “I’ll be king!”
Adoniyah gets a chariot, and invites his followers to a splashy event. David doesn’t even know this is happening.
The prophet Natan, one of David’s main advisors, is not pleased. Natan knows that David is still king, and that after he dies his son Shlomo is supposed to take over. Batsheva, Shlomo’s mother, also knows this. Together, Batsheva and Natan make a plan.
Batsheva goes to King David, updates him on Adoniyah’s rebellion, and tries to get him to remember his promise about Shlomo being the next king. Then Natan happens to “show up,” and lends his support to Batsheva’s arguments.
It works, and King David swears that Shlomo will be the next king. Let there be no doubt!
How is this story connected to Hayyei Sarah?
The same exact three words are used to describe King David in the haftarah (Melakhim Alef 1:1) and Avraham in the parashah (Bereishit 24:1):
זָקֵ֔ן בָּ֖א בַּיָּמִ֑ים
old, advanced in years
Our parashah and haftarah are both about preparing for the future of a family line. Avraham wants Yitzhak to carry on his traditions, and that’s why Avraham is so concerned about who Yitzhak marries. Natan and Batsheva also want to make sure that the right person (Shlomo) carries on for King David after he dies.
- How do we carry on the traditions of our parents and ancestors who came before us? How do we want our traditions and families to carry on after us?
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