On Rosh Hashanah, unlike other holidays, the Torah readings and haftara selections do not directly relate to the day’s theme. On Pesach, for example, we read from the Torah the narratives of the Exodus and the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, and the haftarot generally relate either to the observance of Pesach, the future redemption, or, on the seventh day, the theme of shira (song of praise to God). And on Shavuot, the Torah reading is the narrative of the Revelation at Sinai, and for the haftara we read the first chapter of Yechezkel, which describes in detail God’s revelation to the prophet.
On Rosh Hashanah, however, we read from the Torah the narratives of Yitzchak’s birth and childhood, and the story of the akeida(the “binding” of Yitzchak on the altar). The haftara on the first day is the story of the birth of the prophet Shemuel, and on the second day we read one of Yirmiyahu’s restoration prophecies. These readings do not relate directly to the theme of judgment, the primary theme of Rosh Hashanah. The akeida narrative was chosen, presumably, because the merit of the akeida plays a prominent role in our appeal for compassion as we stand judgment before God. Particularly in the zikhronot section of the musaf prayer service, we beseech God to recall Avraham’s devotion exhibited at the akeida as a source of merit for his descendants. The connection of the other three readings, however, is less clear. The common and most obvious explanation is based upon the Gemara’s comment in Masekhet Berakhot (29a) that Sara, Rachel and Chana all had their prayers for a child answered on Rosh Hashanah. On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, we read from the Torah the story of the birth of Sara’s child, Yitzchak, and for the haftara we read of Chana’s prayers which were answered with the birth of Shemuel. On the second day, we read as the haftara Yirmiyahu’s vision of Rachel weeping over the nation’s exile (31:14), perhaps to bring to mind the granting of Rachel’s request for a child on Rosh Hashanah.
Rav Menachem Bentzion Zaks, in his Menachem Tziyon – Yerach Ha-eitanim, suggests that these readings may bear an additional connection to Rosh Hashanah. In all three readings, we read of the shedding of tears. In the Torah reading for the first day of Rosh Hashanah, we read of Hagar’s cries upon seeing her son, Yishmael, dying from thirst. In response, God showed Hagar a well from which she was able to save her son’s life. The haftara for this day, as mentioned, describes Chana’s persistent weeping over her inability to conceive. And in the second day’s haftara, of course, Yirmiyahu envisions our matriarch Rachel crying inconsolably over her descendants’ suffering.
Crying is often an expression of helplessness. A person facing a desperate situation from which he is or feels unable to extricate himself will break down and cry. Weeping is, essentially, an expression of pain which cannot be alleviated.
To one extent or another, this is how we are to feel on Rosh Hashanah, as we stand in judgment. Realizing that we are judged for the coming year based upon our far-from-perfect conduct during the year that has passed, we are seized with unremitting angst. Indeed, one view in the Gemara identifies the “teru’a” as a wailing sound, an expression of our raw emotions of anxiety and grief. We read about the tears shed by Hagar, Chana and Rachel as a model of our own feelings of inconsolable pain.
Importantly, in all three instances the tears were responded to favorably by God. Hagar, as mentioned, was shown a well of water with which she saved her son’s life, Chana was blessed with a child, and God responded to Rachel’s weeping by assuring her of Benei Yisrael’s ultimate redemption and return to their homeland. We, too, are thus reassured that our prayers and weeping will earn a favorable response from God. Just as Hagar, Chana and Rachel turned to God and expressed to Him their pain, similarly, we feel confident in the Almighty’s compassionate acceptance of our tears and prayers, in response to which He will grant us and all Am Yisrael a year of peace, blessing and prosperity.
Courtesy of Yeshivat Har Etzion - www.etzion.org.il