Parashat Nitzavim

“Sos asis baShem! —I shall exult in God!”

No longer do we hear how Hashem urged the prophets to comfort Israel. No longer do we read how Israel wept because God had abandoned them!

Nor does she claim that all consolation had failed. Hashem no longer needed to reassure her that He would comfort her, or that she should rejoice and bask in His light.

All of these were the opening messages of the first six haftarot of consolation. But it is not the message of this seventh and final haftarah of comfort. Yishayahu opens with no words urging solace or promising a glorious future. He expresses no reassurance that the nation would be comforted by God. Not at all…

This selection from the 61st, 62nd and 63rd perakim of sefer Yishayahu is the culmination of previous chapters of comfort, because it is not God or the prophet who proclaims the message — it is Israel herself! Which is precisely why this is the high point of this series of haftarot — because the people have accepted the message, they have felt the comfort that Hashem promised and have recognized the redemption.

We might think that recognizing the arrival of Geula would not be among the final stages of redemption. If anything, we would rightly believe that identifying yad Hashem — the hand of God — as He miraculously begins to fulfill His prophecies, would be something we would realize in the very early stages of the redemptive process.

But, somehow, it seems that it is only at the end of the process that there will be “sos asis,” true rejoicing, complete exultation.

It is hard to believe that there is an ending after 2,000 years! It is hard to believe that, after almost 1,000 years of promising “Ani Ma’amin,” we will see the arrival of the Mashiach, the coming of the Geula! Is it really so hard to believe? It certainly is!

When a spouse returns home after a late meeting in the office … When a child returns after driving the car on his own for the first time … Or when a soldier wearily enters his home after a military campaign … What is the usual response of those who have waited impatiently when they finally hear that knock on the door?

“I don’t believe that you’re finally here!”

So, should that not be true for those who waited for 2,000 years?

As an oppressed people — thirsting for relief — we cannot believe when it finally arrives. So often in the past, they have believed that the “knock on the door” would bring their long wait to an end — only to be disappointed over and over again.

“Sos asis” is a reaction that comes with time. It will not be recognized by everyone during the first stages of Geula and, perhaps, not even in the middle. Some will make aliyah early on and prepare the land for the return of the exiled. Some will return in time to defend the land from its enemies. Some will return to join their people and contribute to binyan ha’aretz in any way they can. And some will take longer…

We rejoice at all stages of the redemption. But the “sos asis,” complete exultation will come only when all will recognize that Hashem returned to His land and that, perhaps, it is time for us to do so as well.

Only then can there be true rejoicing; only then will all be able to declare: “Sos asis baShem.”

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