Haftorah Shemos
Yishayah 27-28 The Navi forewarned of the eventual destruction of the nation, which began, with the exile of the ten tribes of Israel. The entire nation was in the grips of a spiritual and moral decline, and the exile seemed inevitable. The nation of Israel was immersed in physical pursuit and excess which the Navi described as arrogance and drunkenness. The nation of Yehudah wasn’t much better. They lost sight of the holistic intent of the Torah. Instead, they related to the Torah as a series of individual commandments and demands that were overwhelming and burdensome. The beauty and meaning of a G-dly life style was lost. Nevertheless, the Navi reassured us that in the end, our essence, the “root” of Yakov, would survive and flourish, as it had throughout history.