Parshat Shoftim
This week’s haftarah, the fourth in the series of Yeshayahu’s prophecies of consolation (although, this year, due to Rosh Chodesh last Shabbat, we postponed the reading of the third haftarah to next week), returns to a theme that the navi struck in the very first haftarah of comfort, one that we read for Parshat Va’etchanan (Shabbat “Nachamu”). There, Yeshayahu consoles the people with the reassuring words that God’s punishment has been completed, that Israel’s suffering has ceased, that Hashem had exacted full retribution for the nation’s sins. In this Shabbat’s selection, taken from the 51st and 52nd perakim of Sefer Yeshayahu, he again repeats that same idea, even describing the tragedies that had befallen God’s nation as a result of their sins.
There is, however, a supplemental theme that the prophet adds in this week’s haftarah that was not included in the earlier one. Here, Yishayahu includes the promise of that punishment would be meted out to those nations who persecuted Israel so terribly over the years. One might feel that such a theme would be of little value in comforting the nation. Indeed, many might even argue that it is no more than simple revenge that would not help Israel or ease her pain. This, however, is not so.
The understanding that God is just and fair, that He rewards good and punishes evil, is essential to the healing process of our people. The idea that, as the Talmud states, “it din v’it dayan, there is justice and there is a Judge” in this world, helps us understand that the horrible events that occurred were not random but had a purpose and a reason. The post-Churban generation had to grapple with the meaning of their loss. Why did it happen? Were we guilty? Was it fair?
The knowledge that Hashem would punish the evil of other nations was a comfort to Israel not because they thirsted for revenge but because they searched for meaning. They could now understand that punishment was not God’s display of anger but was a directed, targeted response meant to awaken the nation to their misdeeds so they could repent and return.
Through these words of Yeshayahu, the nation now realized that there was a purpose and goal to their suffering, suffering that was decreed by the Righteous Judge. In this light we can better understand Chazal’s choice of this haftarah to be read on Parshat Shoftim, the parsha that opens with the laws of courts, of judges, of justice. The portion that demands “tzedek, tzedek tirdof,” that we pursue justice, reminds us that the words spoken by Avraham Avinu, “Hashofet kol ha’aretz lo ya’aseh mishpat?” that the judge of the entire world must act justly, remains as true today as it was then. And, that these seven weeks of consolation and of preparation for the Day of Judgment is indeed a perfect time to remember the moral ways of a just God.
By Rabbi Neil N. Winkler
Rabbi Neil Winkler is the rabbi emeritus of the Young Israel of Fort Lee and now lives in Israel.
