Parashat Eikev

“Hal’ven me’ah shanah yivaled v’im Sarah—havat tish’im shana teiled?” (Breishit 17; 17).

When Avraham was 70 years old, Hashem promised him that he would be the progenitor of a great nation. When Avraham was 100 years old, he was still childless when Hashem repeated His promise to Avraham adding that He will bless him with a son. It is then that Avraham expressed his “disbelief” (Chazal understand it as “amazement”) that a 100 year-old man and a 90 year-old woman could merit a child.

So what does this have to do with our haftarah this week?

One verse before the closing of our haftarah, the navi Yeshayahu cries to the suffering nation “Habitu el Avraham Avichem v’el Sarah t’cholelchem, Look to Avraham your forefather and to Sarah who bore you.” Now, unquestionably, we are inspired by the deeds and the faith of our patriarchs and matriarchs—but what connection is there to the message of comfort that the navi hopes to leave with the suffering nation?

To answer that question we turn to the very opening of the haftarah echoing Israel’s cry that Hashem had forgotten them and even abandoned them. To this plaint Yeshayahu responds that God could never do so, just as a mother could never forget her child and continues by describing the glorious future that awaits the nation. He speaks of how God will lift them out of the Diaspora and how He will return them to their land and increase their numbers until their population will outgrow the borders of Eretz Yisrael. Yeshayahu furthermore promises victory over their oppressors and even foresees the time when foreign rulers would pay homage to them.

He continues his words of comfort by reassuring the people that Hashem’s anger at them was precipitated by their sins and if they but return to their God, to their ultimate Source, Hashem would return to them, comfort them and bless them. In fact, the very mention of their misdeeds and shortcomings was not meant as criticism alone but as words of comfort to the nation, emphasizing that there has not been—and would not be—any “abandonment” by God. Rather, Yeshayahu tells them, Hashem’s “estrangement” from them was caused by their own sins and, therefore, His return to them would depend only upon their return to Him. The consolation found in the words of Yeshayahu was in his message that the repair of their relationship with the Divine was eminently possible and the glorious future promised by the navi would indeed take place—when they change their ways.

So what does that have to do with Avraham and Sarah?

The Radak proposes that this closing message of our haftarah was meant as a response to its opening cry. The people failed to believe the promises of the navi because they felt that they had completely broken away from God, as they said: “Hashem has abandoned me.” And, because of that, they could not believe that any return was possible nor accept the truth of Hashem’s promise of a wonderful future. Simply put, they had lost all hope in redemption.

And so, the navi tells them “Habitu el Avraham Avichem,” to look back to Avraham, “v’el Sarah t’cholelchem,” and to Sarah. They, too, found it difficult to accept God’s promise of a son, a descendant, a great nation. And yet, they stood as living witnesses to the truth of Hashem’s promise. And we, as well, stand today as witnesses to the truth of Yeshayhu’s prophecies. We are a nation living on the same land, speaking the same language and following the same mitzvot just as we did thousands of years ago. We have returned…and Hashem has brought us back!

So when we are tempted to doubt some of the remarkable predictions found in the sefarim of our nevi’im, we are reminded to turn to the brachot that precede the haftarah that state “asher bachar bin’v’im tovim v’ratza v’divreihem hane’emarim be’emet,” that the words of the prophets are true.

And, as we listen to those words, we should also remember the promises made to Avraham and Sarah.

Rabbi Neil Winkler is the rabbi emeritus of the Young Israel of Fort Lee, and now lives in Israel.