Haftarah of Parshat Va'etchanan - 5760

 "Nachamu, Nachamu, Ami"
"Be Comforted, Be Comforted, My People" (Yeshayahu 40:1)

This week, Ashkenazim and Sefardim both read, for the First Haftarah of Consolation, from the Book of Yeshayahu, beginning with Chapter 40, from the beginning through (and including) Verse 26.

Introduction 1

Before getting into the Haftarah itself, I would first like to make note of two recent events on the current world scene, both of which seem to hint, at least to right-wing reactionaries such as myself, to consolation for the Jewish People.

The first of these was the breakdown of the so-called "Peace Talks" at Camp David over the "Jerusalem Issue."  What it may have meant to the current Israeli leadership is not clear, but the very fact of the breakdown, if only temporary, of the "peace" juggernaut, a very misguided effort, in my opinion, is a positive sign.

The second event is the designation and acceptance by Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut of the Vice-Presidential slot on the democratic Ticket; which, to my mind, is a great "Kiddush HaShem," Sanctification of G-d's Name.

The fact that Senator Lieberman had established a reputation in the Senate as a good  person, a "mentsch," the fact that he was the first to speak out against the immorality of  the President that was perpetrated upon this nation, the fact that that was probably the reason he was selected by Presidential Nominee Al Gore, to distance himself from the man under whom he had served, all add to the "Kiddush HaShem."

Introduction 2

The Haftarah begins in the fortieth chapter of Sefer Yeshayahu.  According to the  wrong-headed thinking of the Biblical Criticism Movement, which flourished in the  Nineteenth and has existed with declining influence during the decades of the Twentieth  Century, this chapter marks the nonsensical boundary between Isaiah 1 and Isaiah 2, or Proto Isaiah and Deuteronomy Isaiah, or whatever silly designation now being used.

The fact that one human being could express prophecies of dark warning and destruction, and at the same time of comfort and consolation, seemed impossible to these "scholars."  On the other hand, this capacity is found not only in Yeshayahu, but in  many of the Prophets who make up the "Trei Asar," the twelve prophets grouped together in one Book, as well as many of the other prophets, with whom HaShem communicated both with His aspect of "Midat HaDin," Attribute of Justice, and His "Midat HaRachamim," Attribute of Mercy.

The Haftarah

Yeshayahu (40:1-2)

1.  ”Be comforted, Be comforted, My People,
Says HaShem."  

This is the first of the Seven Haftarot of Consolation that were spoken to the Jewish People.  RASHI and RADAK say that this refers mainly to Prophets of the Messianic future, that they are to comfort the Jewish People after all the Exiles and Punishments of history are over.

2.  "Speak unto the heart of Jerusalem,
And call out to her,
That her time of service is accomplished,
That her guilt is atoned;
That she has received from the L-rd's Hand
Double for her sins."  

"Double" - RASHI asks, "Is this the way that G-d punishes, by doubling the deserved punishment?  He cites a verse from Yirmiyahu that affirms this.  (Of course, given this affirmation, it follows that the righteous are rewarded 1,000 times their good, because HaShem rewards 500 times as much as He punishes.)

RADAK and Metzudat David explain "Double" as referring to the two Destructions of Yerushalayim and of the Temple, the first by the Babylonians and the second by the Romans.

Yeshayahu (40:3-5)

3.  "A voice is calling in the wilderness,
'Clear the way for HaShem,
Make level in the plain,
A road for our G-d.' "

RASHI:  Which road is this?  It is the road to Yerushalayim, for those returning from the Exile to use.

4.  "Every valley shall be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill 
Shall be made low;
And the rugged shall be made level,
And the rough places a plain." 

RADAK:  The above images need not be taken completely literally, but are all metaphors for the ease of transportation that will prevail at the time of the Redemption.

5.  "And the glory of the L-rd shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of HaShem has spoken it."  

RADAK:  The meaning of "seeing it together" is that the Presence of HaShem will be made known to all inhabitants of the world.

Yeshayahu (40:6-8)

6.  "A voice is heard, saying 'Call out!'
But he says, 'What shall I call out?'
That all flesh is like grass,
And all his promise of kindness is (temporary),
Is (temporary) as grass."  

7.  "The grass withers, the flower fades;
Because the breath of the L-rd blows upon it;
Truly are the people as grass." 

8.  "The grass withers, the flower fades;
But the word of our G-d shall stand forever."

RASHI:  The verses above refer to promises of kindness made by human beings versus promises of kindness made by HaShem.  The former are unreliable, because human life is so fragile; whereas the promises of HaShem are completely reliable.  

RADAK and Metzudat David:  The intent of these verses is regarding not promises of kindness, but rather threats of harm against the Jewish People, which, because those who make them are only frail and mortal human beings, need not be taken so seriously.

Yeshayahu (40:9-11)

9.  "Climb up the high mountain,
You who bring good news to Zion,
Raise your voice with all your strength,
You who bring good news to Yerushalayim;

Raise it, Do not fear;
Say to the Cities of Yehudah,
'Behold, here is your G-d.' " 

RASHI:  Here the language is "feminine" ("mevaseret" is feminine); elsewhere the  language is masculine (the masculine "mevaser" is used); if the Jewish People are  worthy, the Redemption will come quickly, as a man can run quickly; otherwise, the  Redemption will come more slowly, with the dainty hesitant steps of the female (Women's Track and Field was, I guess, unknown in RASHI's time).

Metzudat David:  The reference is to the group of Prophets, who bring the good news of redemption to the Jewish People.  

10.  "Behold! The Eternal Master 
Will come with strength,
And His Arm will rule for Him;
Behold! His reward is with Him,
And His payment for good is before Him."  

RASHI:  The "strength" is meant for the punishment of the enemies of Israel, such as the Babylonians; the "reward" is for the righteous (Metzudat David adds, "each according to his just desserts.")

11.  "As a shepherd who pastures his flocks,
Gathering in lost sheep with his arms,
And carrying them in his bosom,
And gently leading those who give suck."  

RADAK:  The Redemption is being described, how HaShem will assist those Jews injured and broken by the troubles of the Exile.

Yeshayahu (40:12-14)

12.  "Who has measured the waters 
In the hollow of His Hand,
And laid out heaven with the span,
And measured the dust of the earth in a vessel,
And weighed the mountains in scales,
And the hills in a balance?"  

13.  "Who has measured 
The Spirit of the L-rd?
Or who was His Teacher, 
That he might instruct Him?"

14.  "From whom did He seek advice,
And who instructed Him,
And taught Him the path of Right;Who taught Him knowledge,
And made Him know the ways of discernment?"  

The above three verses provide a brief "description" of the Infinite Creator, Who laid out the structure of the Physical Universe and of the Moral Universe from His Own unfathomable depths

Yeshayahu (40:15-20)

15.  "Behold!  The nations are as a drop in a bucket,
And are as much as the small dust of a balance;
Behold!  The land masses are as a mote in weight."  

16.  "And the forests of the Lebanon are not sufficient fuel,
Nor are their beasts sufficient for burnt sacrifices!" 

17.  "All the nations are as nothing before Him,
They are counted by Him as things of emptiness, and vanity."  

18.  "To whom then will you liken G-d?
Or what likeness will you compare unto Him?"

19.  "The image, perchance, which the craftsman has melted,
And the goldsmith spread over with gold,
The silversmith casting chains?"  

20.  "A holm-oak is set apart,
He chooses a tree that will not rot;
He seeks a cunning craftsman
To set up an image,
That shall not be moved." 

The above six verses convey the idea that there is nothing in the human imagination that can portray the greatness of HaShem.

Yeshayahu (40:21-26)

21.  "Don't you know? Didn't you hear?
Wasn't it told to you at the beginning?
Did you not understand the foundations of the earth?"  

22.  "It is He Who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are as grasshoppers;
The One Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out as a tent to dwell within."

23.  "Who brings princes to nothing;
He makes the Judges of the earth as a thing of nought."  

24.  "As soon as they are planted,
As soon as they are sown,
As soon as their stock has taken root in the earth;
When He blows upon them, they wither,
And the whirlwind takes them away as stubble." 

25.  "To whom then will you liken Me, 
That I should be equal,
Says the Holy One."  

26.  "Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
And see Who has created these?
He Who brings them all out by number,
He calls each by name;
By the greatness of His might,
And the immensity of His power,
Not one is lost."  

The above six verses continue to expand the ideas developed above, that HaShem is totally beyond compare, but notice that in Verse 40:25, a new element is introduced.  HaShem is referred to as the "Holy One."  And the next verse does indeed speak of His might.  Perhaps to teach that "holiness" and "might" are separate.  As we would put it, "Might does not make right, and it certainly does not make for holiness!"

Or that HaShem is unique in all the world in that, as the Holy King, He possesses both infinite might and infinite holiness.

As Rabbi Yochanan puts it, in the prayer that we say each Motzaei Shabbat, bringing  proofs from the Torah, the Prophets and the Sacred Writings, "Wherever you find  reference to the greatness of HaShem, there also do you find reference to his humility."

And the proof from the Prophets comes, appropriately enough, from Yeshayahu (57:15), "For so says the exalted and uplifted One, Who abides forever, and Whose Name is  Holy, 'I abide in exaltedness and holiness - but am with the contrite and humble of spirit,  to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite.' "

And this brings us back again to one of the proofs of the seamlessness of Yeshayahu;  that is, there is only one Yeshayahu!  The unique expression "Kedosh Yisrael, or "Holy One of Israel," that the hallmark of our Champion is not His great strength but His great  holiness, appears frequently both in the part of Yeshayahu that is devoted more to ideas of punishment, and in the part devoted more to ideas of comfort and consolation.

Rabbi Pinchas Frankel