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And
she (Ḥanna) was bitter in spirit, and she prayed to the Lord, and wept. And
she vowed a vow, and said: “Lord of Hosts, if You will look upon the
affliction of Your handmaid, and You will remember me, and You will not forget
Your handmaid and You will give Your handmaid a man-child, then I shall give
him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his
head.” First Samuel
1:10-11
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The
haftara of the first day of Rosh haShana is the opening chapter
of First Samuel through the end of the prayer of Ḥanna, Samuel’s mother [2:10].
This choice is based upon our Sages’ tradition that Sarah, Rachel and Ḥanna
(each of whom was barren) were remembered by God on Rosh haShana. For
the same reason, the Torah reading for the day is “And the Lord remembered Sarah,”
etc. [Genesis 21:1-34]
In
fact, the haftara includes two prayers of Ḥanna; the first is her
request that she be blessed with a son, the second her prayer of thanksgiving after
her request was granted. In truth, the verses do not specify the content of Ḥanna’s
prayer of request, however, the verses we quoted, which are Ḥanna’s vow should
her request be granted, convey the content of her prayer.
Our
Sages presented a variety of explanations for Ḥanna’s request to be given “a
man-child:”
“And You will give Your handmaid
a man-child” - What is meant by “a man-child?” Rav said: “A man among men;”
Samuel said: “Seed that will anoint two men, namely, Saul and David;” Rabbi Yoḥanan
said: “Seed that will be equal to two men, namely, Moses and Aaron, as it says,
‘Moses and Aaron among His priests and Samuel among them that call upon His
name;’” [Psalms 89:6] the Rabbis say: “Seed that will be absorbed among men.”
When Rabbi Dimi came (from Israel to Babylonia) he explained this to mean: “Neither
too tall nor too short, neither too thin nor too corpulent, neither too pale nor
too red, neither clever nor stupid.”
Babylonian Talmud, B’rachot 31b
At
first glance, the opinion of the Rabbis is astonishing. What mother would not
want her son to be clever? Rather – Rashi explains – “Not overly clever, lest
others consider him amazing and he be subject to the evil eye.” Rashi is
sensitive to a psychological aspect: a woman who gives birth following a period
of being barren will no doubt tend to be extremely protective of her child and
fear that he be especially vulnerable to the evil eye. For this reason, Ḥanna
requested having a son who’s physical and intellectual traits are average.
A
simple reading of Scripture indicates that God answered Ḥanna’s request fully;
when Ḥanna brought her son Samuel to Shiloh after weaning him, she informed Eli
the High Priest “I prayed for this child, and the Lord gave me what I asked Him
for.” [Verse 27] Rabbi Ḥayyim Shmulevitz (1902 – 1979 head of the Mir Yeshiva
in Jerusalem) comments:
It is thus clear that
Samuel, who is equal to Moses and Aaron is “neither clever nor stupid,”
teaching that even one who is “absorbed among men, neither clever nor stupid,”
who does not stand out among people and who was not born clever, has the
ability to become the Prophet Samuel.
The practical lesson is
that “one must not say ‘I do not have the ability to accomplish great things
with the wisdom that has been granted me.’ Learn from Samuel what an individual
can achieve and the heights he can attain.”
This
lesson is sufficient reason for the first chapter of Samuel to have been chosen
as the haftara of Rosh haShana, independent of our Sages’
tradition that God remembered Ḥanna on this day.
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