Parshat Yitro
The dramatic scene of Hashem’s revelation to Bnai Yisrael at Har Sinai is depicted in this week’s parsha and is, naturally, the focal point of the Torah reading. It is there that all of the nation hears God’s voice as He publicly pronounces the Aseret HaDibrot and directs His words to them. In the haftarah, the navi Yeshayahu shares a private revelation shown to him by God, in which he is shown the vision of Hashem’s throne. It is not God’s words that he hears but those of the ministering angels who recite the “Kedusha” (which is how Rashi refers to the declaration), “Kadosh, Kadosh Kadosh…”
According to most meforshim, this vision is the earliest nevuah of Yeshayahu, one that charges him to take on the mission of condemning the nation for her sins and exhorting the people to return to the proper observance of Hashem’s mitzvot. As opposed to other prophets (Moshe Rabbeinu and Yirmiyahu), Yeshayahu shows no reluctance to take on this challenge, actually volunteering to fulfill the mission (“Hineni, shlacheini”).
HaRav Yehuda Shaviv makes an interesting observation when he questions the Ashkenazic minhag of including the first seven verses from the seventh perek to the haftarah and then skipping all the way to the ninth chapter in order to close the haftarah. Rav Shaviv posits that these “additions” were meant to underscore the subtle yet crucial theme that runs throughout the parsha and ties it to the haftarah. Both of these final pesukim emphasize the concept of “shalom”—“sar shalom” and “ul’shalom ein ketz.” The dream of everlasting peace is not limited to praying for a lack of war. Genuine peace is achieved when we first establish peaceful relations within our own people.
This idea is hinted to throughout the parsha. The opening of the Torah reading, which focuses on the reunion of Moshe with his family, the following episode of setting up a functional judicial system that could adjudicate disagreements between individuals, and the story of hearing the Decalogue pronounced by God only after the nation camped at Har Sinai “k’ish echad, b’lev achad,” as one person with one mind, all remind us that unless we create an atmosphere of peace and respect between all elements of our society we will never meet the obligation of being a “mamlechet kohanim v’goy kadosh,” a holy nation that would serve Hashem.
God, Who is revealed in the last parsha as a warrior and punisher, is revealed both in this parsha and haftarah as One who desires peace and demands such from His nation. Perhaps this is precisely what our chachamim wanted to teach us with these additional pesukim.
It certainly is a lesson we ought to learn today.
By Rabbi Neil N. Winkler
Rabbi Neil Winkler is the rabbi emeritus of the Young Israel of Fort Lee and now lives in Israel.
