Parshat Ki Tavo

“B’shuv Hashem et shivat Tziyon, hayinu k’cholmim.” David HaMelech penned these words at the beginning of the 126th psalm describing Israel’s reaction to the arrival of the geula. “Hayinu k’cholmim,” he says, “we will be like dreamers.” The long-awaited redemption will arrive—and we won’t even believe that it’s real! We will have a difficult time believing that the event we longed for and prayed for, the hope and dream of thousands of years, is being realized. I imagine that past generations, upon reciting this perek in Tehillim before Birkat Hamazon on Shabbatot, holidays and joyous occasions, must have caused them to wonder: If the events of the geula will be so miraculous, if the condition of our nation will be changed from victims to victors, from powerless to powerful in such a short period of time, how could we not believe??? We would see it with our own eyes!!

The haftarah selection read this week, the nevuah of Yeshayahu found in the 60th perek of his sefer, is the sixth of the seven haftarot of consolation and is meant to bring us to the heights of consolation and almost ecstasy, surpassed only by the haftarah reading for next week. And in this week’s reading we learn of the dramatic change of a nation that once dwelled in darkness yet becomes the very source of light for the world, reflecting the spiritual glow of God Himself. The prophecy tells of the great wealth that would be brought into the land and of the nations who will come from all over to seek Hashem’s presence. Yeshayahu predicts that the once-abandoned and despised nation would become a people of eternal pride for generation after generation.

And yet, in my view, it is the description that Yeshayahu shares at the opening of the reading that moves me and that addresses the very question of past generations that I alluded to in the beginning of this essay. Before the description of the wealth and the glory that would come, before the royal visitors and the rich merchants who will arrive, the navi tells us “banayich meirachok yavo’u, uv’notayich al tzad te’amanna,” that your sons and daughters, those exiled for so long and from so far, will return. And although you might have trouble believing that these are God-wrought miracles, although you might be “hayinu k’cholmim,” like dreamers gaping in disbelief, just do one thing, the prophet says, and you will come to believe that the geula had arrived. “Se’i saviv eynayich ur’ee, OPEN YOUR EYES!! Look around and see.” See what has happened and understand that these are God’s miracles. Look at your children who have returned to your land—on foot, on boats or by air—the navi tells them and us: This is NO dream! The return to Eretz Yisrael of a nation that has been exiled from her home for 2,000 years is the greatest proof that the galut is ending.

And Yeshayahu’s cry speaks to us each day: Just open your eyes and look around. You too will hear the footsteps of the redeemer getting closer and closer.

By Rabbi Neil N. Winkler

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