This week, the haftora from parshas Re’eh is only read in sefardi shuls. In ashkenazi shuls it is delayed until parshas Ki Teitzei. It is the next haftora in the shiva d’nechemta – the seven weeks of comfort by the nevi’im following Tisha B’Av. Yeshaya again prophesies our glorious future. (54:11-13) “O afflicted, storm-tossed one who has not been consoled, Behold I will set down gems as your flooring stones and lay your foundation with sapphires. I will set your window-frames with ruby, make your gates of carbuncle stones and all your boundary of precious stones.” Yeshaya seems to tell us that, our financial circumstances will be very comfortable, unlike our years in Golus. Our homes will be built with the most precious stones, with ‘money no object.’ But is this a comfort? Is poverty the reason for our discomfort in Golus? Baruch Hashem the Jews don’t do so badly. Most of our homes are adequate and some verge on the luxurious. Poverty is not per se an intrinsic part of Golus. The Ramban writes: “…all the curses of the Torah are for Eretz Yisroel before the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash or immediately after based on our behavior then. (Devarim 28:42). Once we have been exiled, the posuk says “lo me’astim velo ge’altim lechalosom – I will not reject them to destroy them.” “On the contrary,” says the Ramban,“our financial situation in Golus will be relatively benign on the whole, better than the non-Jews.” So in what sense are Yeshaya’s words a source of comfort to us?
I would like to suggest two different ways that Yeshaya is comforting us with these words. My first way is Yeshaya “leshitasei.” Yeshaya in our haftora is alluding to a concept he spoke about a few chapters later, based on Rosh Hashana 23a. “Says Reb Yochanan, “Woe to the idol worshipers who will have no atonement, as is written, (Yeshaya 60:17), ‘In place of the copper I will bring gold, in place of iron I will bring silver, in place of wood, copper and in place of stones, iron.’” And what about Rebbe Akiva and other Jewish martyrs? How will their deaths be atoned for? About them it is written in Yoel 4:21 ‘Venikeisi, domom lo nikeisi.’ I will atone for those who stole from the Jews by forcing them to pay back what they stole, many times over but there is no atonement for those who shed Jewish blood.”
We do not look forward to the Redemption to become rich. But we will become rich anyway. If the nations plundered our copper they will have to give us gold; if they plundered our iron they will have to pay back silver and so on, as Yeshaya writes. With all the money paid as restitution by the nations, we will be able to build our homes with precious stones as Yeshaya said. The knowledge that those who stole will pay back many times over and those who shed Jewish blood will have no atonement is quite a comfort for us, even now. In fact it is heartwarming to anticipate the traffic jams all over the streets of Europe, especially down the autobahn, as trucks full of money make their way to Eretz Yisroel to pay back the Jews for what the non-Jews stole from us. And this is from those who only plundered. Those who killed Jews or even co-operated in the killing of Jews will not have a mere monetary punishment. Domom lo nikeisi – they will have no atonement.
But Yeshaya may also be giving us comfort in a different way. After Moshe Rabbeinu appealed, at the beginning of Vo’eschanan, to be allowed into Eretz Yisroel he was told, “Rav lach.” Rashi in one explanation says that Moshe Rebbeinu was being told that he should stop davening to enter Eretz Yisroel because he will receive something more important. “Harbeh mizeh shamur lecha .” What will Moshe Rabbeinu receive that is more important than Eretz Yisroel? Perhaps we can understand this if we refer to a similar statement said to Aaron Hakohen. When he was upset that he wasn’t included in the Chanukas Hamizbe’ach, he was told, “Shelecha gedola mishelohem.” There Chazal concluded the phrase, “She’atah madlik umeitiv es haneiros.” Aaron’s role in preparing and lighting the menorah was more important than participating in the chanukas hamizbe’ach. (Bamidbar 8:2, Rashi) The menorah symbolized the Torah sheb’al peh as explained by many commentaries. It what sense was the Torah sheb’al peh more important than the Avoda in the Beis Hamikdash? And Moshe Rabbeinu symbolized Torah shebiksav which he brought down from Har Sinai. Perhaps he was also being told that, “Harbeh mizeh shamur lechah” – the Torah shebiksav which you represent is more important than Eretz Yisroel. In what sense?
Moshe Rabbeinu and Aaron Hakohen together represented the Torah in its totality – Torah shebiksav and Torah sheb’al peh. The importance of Torah is greater than both Eretz Yisroel and the Beis Hamikdash because, despite their huge significance, Klal Yisroel can survive without them, as evidenced by the nearly two thousand years of our present golus. But without the Torah we could not have survived more than a few generations. In this sense, for both Moshe and Aaron, “Shelecha gedola mishelohem. Their zechus and consequent reward is greater than those of who enter Eretz Yisroel or who participate in the Avoda in the Beis Hamikdash.
The very next posuk of Yeshaya after the description of our homes adorned with precious stones says, “Kol bonayich limudei Hashem verav shalom bonayich – all your children will be students of Hashem and they will enjoy peace.” The Malbim learns that the stones Yeshaya speaks about are symbolic of spiritual concepts. We can now explain that Yeshaya is comforting the ‘afflicted, storm-tossed one who cannot be consoled’ by assuring her that her children will return to her and even before they return to her, she can be comforted that they will be like precious stones. Even in golus, the Jewish homes will be adorned with the Torah which will be learned and practiced in them. “All your children will be students of Hashem and will be like precious stones in their determination to remain loyal to the Torah. Their beautiful middos tovos will shine in contrast to the coarseness of those not privileged to have the Torah’s inspiration. Their faith in Hashem will glow in contrast to the godless world around them. Their purity will illuminate the darkness of a world which in every generation tries to destroy the Jews to salvage their own conscience. And because of this, Hashem guarantees their survival and their eventual return.
In the merit of the Torah, Yeshaya assures and comforts us, “Mountains may move, hills may fall, but My covenant with you will always remain, (54:10).
Rabbi Fletcher is the mechaber of the popular Family Halacha Series, Do You Know Hilchos Shabbos? Do You Know Hilchos Brachos? and Do You Know Hilchos Chol Hamoed? and his hashkafa sefarim, From Strength to Strength, Dancing in our Hearts and The Hidden Light.