The Haftarah that is read on Shabbat Parshat Vayishlach is the entire Book of Ovadiah. This "Sefer" is the shortest book in the entire "TANAKH," or Hebrew Bible, not to mention its being the shortest book in the "Trei Asar," the twelve "Minor" Prophets. Those twelve books are "minor" only in quantity, not in quality or significance "L'dorot," for all generations.

There is some doubt about the identity of the prophet who received these prophesies from HaShem and transmitted them to the People of Israel; that is, which Ovadiah was it? According to CHAZAL, the Rabbis of the Talmud, he was one and the same with the Ovadiah who served, oddly enough, as a high official in the court of Achav and Izevel. Now this not-so-royal pair had a strong penchant for idol-worship and, especially the foreign-born Queen Izevel (Jezebel), harbored a murderous hatred for the Prophets of HaShem.

Unbeknownst to the King and Queen, Ovadiah protected and supported one hundred prophets who were hidden in a cave, exhausting all his resources in this effort. This impoverished his own family, to the point where his widow was on the verge of losing their two sons to a creditor, until she was helped miraculously by the Prophet Elisha. But that was the tale of another Haftarah; namely, that associated with Parshat Vayera, taken from II "Melachim"/Kings Chapter 4, that we read recently.

In our Haftarah, Ovadiah prophesies terrible punishment for the nation of Edom, that was his national origin, before his conversion to Judaism. But, as we shall see, the reference may include all the nations who persecuted Israel.

The Haftarah begins with one of the harshest expressions associated with prophecy; namely, "Chazon," a dark vision of punishment. The Midrash Yalkut Shimoni on the Book of Iyov (Job) comments that HaShem, as it were, criticized Eliphaz the son of Esav, Esav being the Father of Edom, who was one of the so-called "friends" who came to comfort Iyov over his great losses, "You 'comforted' Iyov falsely and began with the word 'Chazon,' implying falsely that Iyov had sinned. So will I bring from the ranks of your own People a Prophet

Another occurrence of the word "Chazon" is at the beginning of the famous prophecy that Yeshayahu spoke to the Jewish People, and which is recited on "Shabbat Chazon," the Shabbat before Tishah B'Av, the day of the destruction of both of the Holy Temples, the saddest day on the Hebrew Calendar.

deliver the harsh condemning message to Edom, the descendants of Esav?" He says that Ovadiah lived in close company with two wicked individuals, King Achav and Queen Izevel, and yet did not learn from their behavior! Esav, on the other hand, lived in "close company" with two righteous individuals, his parents, Yitzchak and Rivkah, and should have learned from their behavior!

being criticized here for the evil and non-brotherly behavior that they exhibited at the time of the Destruction by Rome of the Second Temple (see more on this in connection with Ovadiah 1:10).

He also makes the historical observation that the People of Edom no longer live in the Land of Edom for, as theTalmud says, the nations were blended and mixed one with the other by the conquering Babylonians, but rather are dispersed among the Christian and Moslem nations. But HaShem will be able to find and punish them nonetheless at the "End of Days," when the Jewish People return to the Land of Israel.

Yitzchak and Rivkah, both considered you their eldest son. But in My eyes, says HaShem, you are the youngest and the least worthy. In a similar vein, CHAZAL say that "You are primitive, because you have developed neither a distinctive language nor a distinctive script.

(Unlike Yaakov, about whom the Torah records that when he left "Be'er Sheva," it made an impression there), "your departure and absence would make no impression; you would be missed by no one."

RASHI explains that this means that Esav/Edom relied on the tremendous merit of his parents, Avraham and Yitzchak, to save him from his wickedness, but HaShem tells him that it will be to no avail.

"If thieves come to rob you, \u2026they will only take what they need; if trespassers come to steal from your vineyards\u2026they will leave at least the young grapes. How was Esav cleaned out completely\u2026"

Ovadiah compares the fate that awaits Esav, when he will be reduced to nothing, to the fate of victims of ordinary infringement upon their property rights, when the perpetrator takes some things, but leaves others. When HaShem punishes Esav, it will be the end of him.

words said, and other actions not done by Edom at the time of the Destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians, as referred to by the dirge, "Remember, HaShem, to the Children of Edom the Day of Yerushalayim, when they said 'Destroy, O destroy it to its very foundations!' " And this song was sung in "Bavel," Babylonia, by the Jews in mourning over their Exile from Jerusalem.

And, the Ib'n Ezra continues, "It is written 'Your sin is done with, O daughter of Zion, He will not return to exile you again; your sin is remembered, O daughter of Edom.' Nevuchadnezzar did indeed conquer and destroy Edom, and Yechezkel prophesied that Israel would return after being exiled to Babylon, but Edom would never return."

the Destruction of the Second Temple, when the People of Edom actually took an active role in the destruction, but they and much of that section of the world were under the rule of the Roman Empire and in that sense only, the role of Edom could be seen as indirect.