Haftorah Parashat Tazria-Metsora
Yeshayahu 66: 1-24
“This court will come to order. The defendant being present and represented by counsel of his choosing, we can begin discussing the accusations made against him. Bailiff, please read out the first charge.”
“In a proper court assembled, be it known that Yeshayahu b. Hilkiyahu, henceforth to be referred to as The Prophet, has been charged with impugning the motives of the priests and other Temple functionaries, declaring himself and a cohort of followers to be the only ones who truly fear the Word of God.”
“Defendant, how do you plead?”
“Your honor, my client has informed me of his intention to say only, “My words speak for themselves.” While I understand the Court’s desire to secure witnesses’ and defendants’ cooperation, I beg the Court’s indulgence, since defendant claims he is only empowered to speak as commanded.”
“Be that as it may, we are left to work only with defendant’s words in deciding the truth of the charges. Specifically, the prosecution has presented Exhibit A, known as Chapter 66, as evidence of each of the charges to be brought. From our reading, it does seem true that he contrasts those who care about the Temple and its worship with those who are “haredim al devari, who are anxious to fulfill God’s Words,” meaning the first group are not. Aside from its false assumption that the Temple need not be central to worship of God, the statement maligns the priests who work so hard to keep the sacrifices being offered!”
“Perhaps, Your Honor, we might move on before rushing to judge. I believe the next charge blames my client for predicting a dire end for others than the haredim. Later the charge sheet accuses him of going further, assuming that all people who refuse to recognize God’s hand in the world will meet awful punishments. Does that cover the charges?”
“No, it leaves out his deciding that other nations will eventually serve us by bringing back to Israel even Jews who no longer know of their connection to the religion or nation. As if we have the right to lord our special status over others!”
“Thank you for the clarification, Your Honor. Defense argues that even were we to grant all of the claims so far—which we do not—the Court seems to be ignoring more positive elements of the presentation. The promise that those who mourn for Jerusalem will be able to rejoice in its rebuilding, for example…”
“Defense in turn is ignoring the implication that the city will be destroyed— seditious speech – and defendant’s certainty of a right and a wrong way to mourn for it. Who is defendant to decide whether mourning must mean refraining from having the usual parties, building large homes in exile, making no plans or provisions for returning even when the opportunity arises? How can he decide that constitutes a lack of mourning the Destruction?”
“Defense wishes to note and take exception to the Court’s insistence on finding the negative in even the positive. What about the vision of a stream of peace, of Jews returning to the Land, of the Land being repopulated almost instantaneously, of all the nations coming to appreciate our God and His concern with the world?”
“We’ve been over this before, Counselor. We find the implication that other nations and religions will have to admit the truth of ours to refelect a troubling spiritual imperialism. How does your client expect these other nations to hear about our God before He starts raining down punishment on them?”
“Why, Your Honor, I would think the answer would be obvious; by consulting with us and our Sages, the same way those who are haredim al devaro are supposed to do.”
“There you go again! As if the priests who serve in the Temple aren’t good enough to guide us in proper religiosity? And how exactly would we expect other nations, cultures, and religions to submit themselves to us for that purpose?”
“If defense counsel is finished with conferring with his client….?”
“I’m sorry, Your Honor, but I do not think I have an answer for your last questions that the Court will enjoy. My client has instructed me to say only the following: His job is to announce the truth as it has been vouchsafed to him. That truth, like it or not, revolves around God and His relationship to the Jewish people and the world.”
“My client is required to point out uncomfortable truths, to wit: those who stubbornly cling to sacrifices as the necessary sum and substance of a relationship with God, which can then excuse other abominable acts, such as theft, murder, and idol worship, will be proven wrong. Even those who do not take it so far—who only engage in idle gossip, or neglect of Torah study, or fail to care for the sick or the poor, for example—still wrongly assume, as my client has pointed out elsewhere, that performing their chosen rituals properly will insure God’s good graces.”
“Further, my client’s God wishes to make clear that He will eventually be “forced” to make His presence known to the entire world, but if that becomes necessary, He will do so in a way that is significantly less pleasant than if people come to those kinds of realizations on their own. If it happens the harder way, many people will die, deaths that will need to be continuing reminders to those who survive, a reminder of the truths my client has worked so hard to spread.”
“My client wishes to stress that his words are meant to help people avoid their coming true. While he speaks of a monthly attendance at the Temple followed by a ritual visit to view the rotting corpses of those who rejected his messages, his warnings can help bring about a different future. Each Rosh Hodesh, were his words to find their mark, people would know it was a time to rededicate themselves to achieving a society in which Jews work to fulfill God’s Will as a whole—not just specific rituals, but all of God’s Will; a future in which Jews manage to make non-Jews aware of God before He does it in a painful and destructive way, in which humanity moves not only towards a more humane society, but one that engages the idea of a concerned and involved God in a meaningful way.”
“Or at least that is what he was striving to get across. Whether repeated readings of his words will have that impact on readers or listeners, even he, he tells me, cannot predict, but it is his fervent hope that he will contribute somewhat to ushering in a future like that. With that, the defense rests.”
Isa.66
[1] Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
[2] For all those things hath mine hand made, and those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
[3] He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.
[4] I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.
[5] Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.
[6] A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that rendereth recompence to his enemies.
[7] Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.
[8] Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
[9] Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.
[10] Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:
[11] That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.
[12] For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.
[13] As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
[14] And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.
[15] For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
[16] For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
[17] They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
[18] For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
[19] And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.
[20] And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.
[21] And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD.
[22] For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.
[23] And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
[24] And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.