Haftarat Miketz, 5784

The Haftara of Miketz is quite rarely read.  See this old post from 2010 showing how rare it is.  This is the last time it is read in the 5700s.

The Haftara that is read is the story of the 2 harlots coming to Shelomo Hamelech and both claiming the living baby as her own and the dead baby as the other's.

One could possibly say that this story is also an allegory for the Land of Israel.  The living baby is Eretz Yisrael and the dead baby is the lands of Galut.  The mother of the dead baby is the nations and the mother of the living baby is the Jewish people.  The mother of the dead baby ruined their lands and rendered them dead.  She next put the baby next to the mother of the living baby, signifying the Jews going to Galut.  The mother of the living baby wants her baby back, but the mother of the dead baby is not giving up, signifying the fight over Eretz Yisrael.  Eventually, the decision is to split the living baby - The Two-State Solution.  The mother of the dead baby is all for it, but the mother of the living baby (the Jewish people) reluctantly says that it's better to allow even antagonistic non-Jews to remain in the Land than to split the Land up into two.  

כז  וַיַּעַן הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיֹּאמֶר, תְּנוּ-לָהּ אֶת-הַיָּלוּד הַחַי, וְהָמֵת, לֹא תְמִיתֻהוּ:  הִיא, אִמּוֹ.

27 Then the king answered and said: 'Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.'

In the end, the King of kings sees how much we don't want the Land split, so a Bat Kol comes out and says "היא אמו" - she is his mother.  The Land is given solely to the Jewish people.

This story occurred in the beginning of Shelomo Hamelech's reign.  He started his reign in 2924.  That is 2860 years ago.

The gematria of the verse above which includes היא אמו is 2864.  Since we will not be reading this haftara for another 17 years, this year is the closest the gematria of the verse gets to the number of years ago it occurred when it is read.

May we be awarded the full Land of Israel speedily in our days, Amen.