Text of the Haftorah of Shabbat Shuvah – Hoshe’a, Michah, Yoel

(When Shabbat Shuvah falls out on Vayelech, see Haftorah of Shabbat Shuvah – Vayelech )

Paths of Hashem

The Haftorah of Shabbat Shuva contains the following puzzling verse:

 מִי חָכָם וְיָבֵן אֵלֶּה נָבוֹן וְיֵדָעֵם כִּי יְשָׁרִים דַּרְכֵי ה’ וְצַדִּקִים יֵלְכוּ בָם וּפֹשְׁעִים יִכָּשְׁלוּ בָם: 

Whoever is wise, understand these, whoever is discerning, know them: the ways of Hashem are straight, and the righteous walk on them, but the crooked stumble upon them. (Hoshea 14:10)

If the paths of Hashem are straight, shouldn’t they cause everyone who walks on those paths to walk  straight also? Hoshea agrees that this is hard to understand, but let’s see if Parashat Haazinu can shed some light on what he is warning us about.

In Shirat Haazinu, Moshe describes how G-d runs the world:

הַצּוּר תָּמִים פָּעֳלוֹ כִּי כָל דְּרָכָיו מִשְׁפָּט אֵל אֱמוּנָה וְאֵין עָוֶל צַדִּיק וְיָשָׁר הוּא —

The Rock, His handiwork is “tamim,” for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness, no evil, righteous and straight is He. (Devarim 32:4)

Moshe also insists that G-d is “straight”. What is this “straight-ness”, as opposed to what?

In the ancient world, there were pantheons whose gods were described as cunning and manipulative — toward each other, and toward their worshippers, destroying or rewarding based on their whims and ephemeral desires.

The Norse Loki, Polynesian Maui, Chinese Monkey King, Greek Hermes – cultures all over the world worshipped tricksters. If IMDB is any indication, perhaps they still do.

Not us.

What happens when someone treats Hashem, “הַצּוּר תָּמִים פָּעֳלוֹ” as if He were Maui? They don’t end up like Moana. They trod a path that is meant to be straight, but they veer from side to side, trying to manipulate Him, outsmart Him, subvert His plans. They don’t succeed in their quest, they stumble and fall. 

And when a Jew walks with Hashem focusing on doing the right thing, “הישר בעיניו”, then He walks with us, and we reach our destination.