KI SEITZEI
Yeshaya 54:1–10
Reflecting Hashem’s Benevolence
This week’s Haftarah continues describing the Jewish people’s redemption and reveals the totality of their return. Yeshaya’s presentation is so magnanimous that it will produce a concern of unworthiness. The people are prone to ask, what did they do to merit such favor. Yeshaya shared that Hashem pre-empted that question, and in addition, gave direction for all generations how to elicit His benevolence.
Filling to Capacity and Beyond
Yeshaya began and quoted Hashem’s future invitation to the collective Jewish nation, “Rejoice barren one who never gave birth [in such proportions]… Broaden your tent area and extend…your temporary quarters without interruption…For you will break through on the east and west and your children will…settle the desolate cities.” (54:1-3) In essence, the proportions of the return will be so great that the land will be incapable of absorbing it. Yerushalayim will overflow with inhabitants and the surrounding cities will fill to capacity. The Judean hills will be saturated with sprouting neighborhoods, but the Jewish influx will continue. Although they will reclaim possession of their entire land, even those quarters won’t suffice, and they will be compelled to extend Eretz Yisrael’s boundaries further than ever! (Malbim ibid)
No Trace of the Past
But Hashem’s kindliness will extend even beyond that point. Yeshaya addressed the Jewish people’s future sentiment and stated, “Do not fear, because you won’t be ashamed, embarrassed or humiliated…you will forget your embarrassing past, and you won’t even remember your shameful widowhood.” (54:4) These words reflect the Jewish people’s reservation over their shameful and defiant past. They will be concerned that their past wrongdoings will remain in their minds. How could they envision a perfect relationship with Hashem after mistreating Him for so many years? Yeshaya foretold that Hashem will erase every trace of their improper past. His kindliness will be so encompassing that it will leave no room for them to recall their earlier experiences. They will bind so tightly with Hashem that they won’t be capable of imagining what life was like prior to their perfect relationship. (see Malbim ad loc)
Conditional Merit of the Patriarchs
Yeshaya continued and revealed why the Jewish people will merit Hashem’s boundless kindliness. He quoted Hashem saying, “For the mountains may move and the hills may falter but My kindness will never leave you and My covenant of peace will never falter.” (54:10) Chazal interpret the analogy of the mountains to refer to the Patriarchs’ sound merit and the hills to refer to the Matriarchs’ merit. Chazal explain that Yeshaya told the Jewish people that even if in the most remote of circumstances they become undeserving of their ancestors’ merit, they should cleave to acts of loving-kindness and Hashem will respond with His everlasting kindness. (Yalkut Shimoni Yeshaya 477) Let us interpret Yeshaya’s message and discover Hashem’s implausible level of kindliness. Although the Jewish people primarily exist through the merit of the Patriarchs, even their merit is conditional. Indeed, Hashem is graceful to the Jewish people because of their prominent ancestry. He views them as offspring of His most devout and is therefore filled with compassion for them. This, however, applies when they act in a manner befitting to their lineage. During those times Hashem sees in them traces of their forebears and credits their actions as extensions of their ancestors. Although the people’s personal mitzvah acts do not warrant Hashem’s compassion, their acts identify them as extensions of their forbearers, thereby qualifying them for His compassion and favor. But, in the remote situation that their actions don’t even identify them with their ancestry, they forfeit such merit and are undeserving of His compassion and favor.
Hashem Remembers the Patriarch’s Kindness
Yeshaya taught in our Haftarah that in the absence of personal merit and even ancestral merit, Hashem provided a justified way to share His boundless kindliness with His people. To understand and appreciate this opportunity, we refer to our Amidah service wherein we declare Hashem as the one “who remembers the Patriarchs’ kindness and brings the redeemer to their grandchildren.” Rav Yitzchok E. Landau, in his commentary Dover Shalom, explains that we refer here to the Patriarchs’ service as acts of kindness because they were not commanded to perform that level of service, rather they chose to do so of their own volition. The Torah states in Parshas Toldos that our patriarch Avraham went far beyond his required Noahite prohibitions and obligations, and he fulfilled the Torah precepts long before they were given. Accordingly, all of the Patriarch mitzvah acts are regarded as benevolent deeds rather than obligatory ones. Their boundless love and reverence for Hashem propelled them to do virtually everything in their ability to please Hashem and to direct world population towards that goal. Once Avraham (intuitively) ascertained Hashem’s master mitzvah plan, he together with the other Patriarchs accepted to fulfill six hundred and thirteen (Rabbinic ordinances included) additional acts of service to Hashem. (Rashi to Bereishis 26:5) Dover Shalom explains that because the Patriarchs related to Hashem out of loving-kindness and served Him far beyond their required level, Hashem reciprocated and related to them far beyond His general level of goodness and showered them with plentiful blessing. We therefore declare Hashem three times daily as the one who remembers the Patriarchs’ kindness, and in their merit brings the redeemer to their grandchildren, irrespective of their personal level of worthiness. (Dover Shalom, Otzer Tefillos ad loc)
Conditional Meritorious Promises
The Vilna Gaon explains with this Avraham’s response to Hashem’s unlimited blessing. After Hashem assisted Avraham in miraculously defeating the world’s mightiest powers, Hashem extended His kindness to Avraham and promised him offspring in enormous proportions. The Torah records Avraham’s response, “He believed in Hashem and regarded it a charitable act.” (Bereishis 15:6) Vilna Gaon explains these words to reflect Avraham’s attitude towards His incredible blessing. In general, when Hashem commits to relate to someone with extraordinary goodness, He does so in response to one’s extraordinary acts of service. Such commitments are conditional and depend on the recipient’s continuous service. If he maintains his meritorious level, he will undoubtedly receive his promised blessing. But if he reduces his piety level, he could forfeit his earlier promised blessing. This is the rule of Hashem’s commitments in response to meritorious conduct.
Hashem’s Loving-Kindness Commitments
Avraham, however, viewed his commitment in a different manner. Barren until age seventy-five, he did not dream of bearing children, let alone producing a nation of such proportions. When Hashem committed to making him a nation Avraham considered it an expression of loving-kindness. Conceivably, Avraham reasoned that Hashem sought to display His attribute of kindliness and He chose Avraham to be His vehicle for that. Vilna Gaon explains that whenever one merits Hashem’s commitment of loving-kindness, it is unconditional and everlasting. Since it was not made in response to outstanding service or mitzvah performance, there is no room for change or recourse. In effect, the recipient becomes Hashem’s permanent expression of His unconditional loving-kindliness. Regarding Avraham, the Torah says, “He believed in Hashem and regarded it a charitable act,” meaning that Avraham trusted in Hashem’s unconditional fulfilment of His blessing since he regarded Hashem’s commitment a display of benevolence, rather than a response to Avraham’s meritorious act of risking his life to save his nephew. (Vilna Gaon to Mishlei 25:15) Yet, in this week’s Haftarah we discover that even this display of benevolence has a prerequisite. True, Hashem committed to display His loving-kindness through Avraham and his descendants, they must activate that kindness and qualify to be its channel. If their actions reflect, in some fashion, Hashem’s attribute of loving-kindness they then qualify to display it through their actions His boundless loving-kindness. Since they cleave to acts of kindness Hashem can justifiably shower them with His loving-kindness for them to display through their kindness.
Reflecting Hashem’s Kindliness
We now understand Chazal’s explanation for Hashem’s boundless kindness at the time of redemption. Yeshaya stated that in the remote situation that the Jewish people’s mitzvah observance does not identify them with their prominent ancestry and their ‘mountains’ referring to the merit of the Patriarchs begins faltering, Hashem still provided them a path to regain that merit. Since Hashem promised it to the Patriarch’s as an expression of His attribute of loving-kindliness, they can qualify to be an extension of that benevolence through their personal display of benevolent loving-kindness to others. We read this Haftarah in conjunction with Parshas Ki Seitzei that in part, contains a number of mitzvos that relate to benevolence and sensitivity such as, guarding lost articles indefinitely; timely payment of wages and fees; restrictive regulations for collateral; daily return of loan security; laborers partaking of the fruit of their labor and leaving forgotten grain for the poor. Although, all of these are Torah obligations, the collective message is acting kindly to others and being extremely sensitive to their predicament. Since the Patriarchs distinguished themselves through outstanding acts of benevolence, our Haftarah reading reminds us of our general responsibility and opportunity. The Torah states in Parshas Vayeira, “For Avraham is beloved to me, because he charges his children and his household stating, ‘Guard Hashem’s path by doing charitable acts and justice so that Hashem will fulfill his commitment to me [through you]’” By reading our Haftarah we, in effect, reiterate our Patriarch Avraham’s charge to his children namely to guard the Torah path of benevolence and sensitivity expressed through many of its mitzvos so that they qualify to merit Hashem’s unconditional commitment to Avraham’s children of boundless loving-kindness. May we merit to appreciate our opportunity and yearn for its realization. Let us cleave to acts of loving-kindness thereby qualifying us to display Hashem’s loving-kindness in its fullest measure and in their merit to bring our redemption, speedily in our times.