The dominant theme of our parsha is the confrontation between Yehuda and Yosef – the two putative firstborns of Yaakov, the kings of Yehuda and Yisrael, and eventually the Moshiach ben Yosef and the Moshiach ben David. In our haftara the navi Yechezkel is anticipating a day when Yehuda and Yosef will be joined together in the final redemption.
It is in this context that we encounter one of the few iterations in Scripture of the “Covenant of Peace,” Brit Shalom. This is noteworthy in particular because here in Yechezkel we see it written, “I will make with them a Brit Shalom, a Covenant of Shalom.” (Yechezkel 37:26). Elsewhere we see this idea expressed as Briti Shalom, My Covenant of Shalom (Bamidbar 25:12) and as Brit Shlomi, the Covenant of My Shalom (Yeshaya 54:10).
This notion has been imperfectly translated and wielded as a banner for groups and individuals who have sought to critique the expressions of national sovereignty of the Jewish people or to criticize our strength of arms in self-defense. In the pre-state period and the first years of the State of Israel, Brit Shalom was a highly influential organization opposing Israeli militarism.
The phrase was clearly understood to reference a “covenant of peace,” but this understanding is not clear from the textual context. In fact, those who choose to invoke a covenant of peace in opposition to Jewish national defense are willfully ignoring the second half of the verse, not unlike how the second half of “Tzedek tzedek shall you pursue” (Devarim 16:20) is frequently elided by those who use it as a rallying cry. In the case of our verse, the Covenant of Shalom is an eternal covenant, accompanied by the installation of the Tabernacle, the Mishkan, eternally in our midst. An integral part of the Covenant of Shalom is the triumph of Divine rule, of a theocratic State of Israel.
Rav Moshe Avigdor Amiel, of blessed memory, became the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv – previously the position of Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook – in 1936, the year after Rav Kook’s death. Rav Amiel was younger than Rav Kook and he sprung from the same rich soil of Torah in Volozhin, among the disciples of the Vilna Gaon. It is certain that they met, and likely that the elder Rav Kook had an influence on Rav Amiel, but we have little or nothing in writing from either of them to frame this relationship for us.
It is intriguing that both wrote manuscripts inspired by Rambam’s Guide for the Perplexed. Rav Kook’s For the Perplexed of the Generation was written many years before Rav Amiel’s arrival in Israel but it was not published until long after the deaths of both men. It is unlikely that Rav Amiel would have been acquainted with that book. Rav Amiel wrote a book called For the Perplexed of (Our) Time, published upon his death in 1945, although it was probably written two years earlier.
Rav Amiel’s book deals with the foundations of Jewish faith in a world in revolutionary upheaval, and understanding the special national mission of the people of Israel in constructive, practical terms. He invokes the verse from our haftara in a discussion of the nature of chosenness, which he understands as a unique burden placed upon the people of Israel. A set of responsibilities as opposed to privilege. Rav Amiel says that individuals and nations both have destinies, and that Hashem’s plan often concerns the destinies of nations or even the human race and only considers in passing the fates of individual humans. However, the election of the Jewish People is a designation of individual Jewish people as divine emissaries and partners in the Divine plan for Creation. The covenants that we make with the Creator of the Universe, at Har Sinai and elsewhere, are eternal and immutable.
Thus, he interprets “Brit Shalom” here in our haftara similarly to how we understand Hashem’s Covenant of Shalom with Pinchas. It is a promise of never-ending constancy in the relationship between G-d and man, in this case the entire nation of Israel – Yehuda and Yosef, reunited and eternally committed to the performance of the Divine will. The Shalom is the supernal grace, the all-encompassing wholeness which envelops the true servants of Hashem when they commit themselves to performing His will in Creation.