Yeshaya 43:21–44:23
Unconditional Favor and Grace
One often wonders why the Jewish people receive so much grace and favor from Hashem. Although there were periods in Jewish history when the bulk of the Jewish people strayed far from the Torah path, yet Hashem continued to relate to them as His “chosen nation.” This week’s Haftarah offers significant insight into this matter. Indifference to Hashem’s Service Yeshaya Hanavi addressed the Jewish nation and declared in Hashem’s name, “This nation that I fashioned for Me, will tell My praise.” (43:21) But Hashem proceeded to say, “And you, Yaakov, didn’t [even] call Me because you, Yisrael, were too tired [to find time] for Me.” (43:22) Chazal explain this to refer to the Jewish people’s indifference to Hashem’s prayer service. Throughout the day they would invest endless energy in self-pursuit, but afterwards they would respond to a call to attend prayer service and say that they were too tired. Hashem reprimanded them for not giving at least as much value to His service, as to their personal matters. (Yalkut Shimoni 457) Yeshaya continued, “You did not bring Me your sheep for burnt offerings and didn’t honor Me [with your sacrifices]. I didn’t overwork you with a meal offering and didn’t exhaust you with frankincense spice.” (43:23) Chazal explain that Hashem stated that He never demanded from His people more than two sheep for their daily communal sacrifice. Even their inexpensive meal offerings were not obligatory. Yet, during certain periods of history the Jewish people totally abandoned Hashem’s service. (Yalkut Shimoni 457) Radak notes that during the wicked King Achaz’s reign, the Bais Hamikdash doors were literally shut tight withholding every Jewish person from Temple service. (Radak ad loc)
Unconditional Love to His People
Suddenly, Yeshaya digressed from his sharp reprimand and addressed the Jewish people with love and affection. He said in Hashem’s name “I have erased [and will continue to erase] your rebellious acts for My [glory’s] sake and will not recall your unintentional sins.” (43:25) Hashem informed the Jewish people that, irrespective of their unworthiness, He forgave and will forgive them for the sake of His glory. Yeshaya continued and said, “And now, listen My servant Yaakov whom I chose as Yisrael. So says Hashem Who made and formed you… ‘Do not be afraid My servant Yaakov, Yeshurun whom I chose.’” (44:1-2) Although moments before, Hashem sharply reprimanded the Jewish people for forsaking His service, in the statements immediately following He surprisingly referred to the collective Jewish nation, as His servant. It seems that beneath all Jewish defiance and disinterest, the core-essence of the collective Jewish nation distinguishes them above all nations and earns them the coveted title of “Hashem’s servant.”
World Nations’ Sense of Worship
Yeshaya explained the reason for this in his narrative that followed. He described in detail world nations’ selection process for their idol images. He said about the worshipper, “Half [of the wood] he burned in fire… to satiate himself with roasted meat and to warm himself…the remaining [part was preserved] for producing a [foreign] deity…” (44:16-17) Radak explains that the idol worshipper rejoices over the full service he derives from his choice wood. One half of it produces savory roasted food and warmth and the other half (in his distorted mind) secures him his salvation in time of need. (Radak 44:16) The foolish worshipper does not even realize the grave disrespect he shows his deity by the dual purpose of his sacred wood. The reason for this is because man-made religions are rooted, by definition, in self-pursuit. Why would anyone create and worship a false deity without self interest in mind?! A self-created deity never demanded anything from anyone and certainly did not request any service. The unequivocal answer is that the worshipper seeks, in some way, to benefit himself through his service. Yeshaya, therefore, taunted the idol worshipper and displayed his foolishness. In essence he stated that since the worshipper’s self-indulgence and false deity are rooted in the same self-pursuit, he sees them as complementing each other, and he therefore rejoices over that fact.
Jewish Service – Submission to the Creator
The Torah’s concept of service differs greatly from this. The Jewish people direct their sacrificial service towards the fulfillment of Hashem’s will. The collective factor in all sacrifices is devotion and submission. Ramban explains that the sacrificial procedure of offering animals on Hashem’s altar served as a symbolism. One who offered a sacrifice displayed through it one’s similarity to the animal offered up on the altar. In essence, the sacrificial procedure represented one’s personal commitment to Hashem. In the sin offering, one recognized that in truth his blood rather than the animal’s blood should have been offered up to Hashem in atonement for one’s sinfulness. In the peace offering, one expressed his desire to devote his life and his physical drives to serving Hashem. In the burnt offering one displayed one’s interest to dedicate every fiber of his being, even his private thoughts to serving Hashem. (Ramban on Vayikra 1:9) In addition, the Torah refers to a sacrifice as a “korban” which comes from the root word “kiruv” that means to draw near. The ultimate objective of every Jewish sacrifice is to draw nearer to Hashem and to establish closer contact with Him through serving Him. In fact, the root of all mitzvos is Hashem’s service and not one’s personal benefit. This can be discerned from Hashem’s initial encounter with Moshe Rabbeinu wherein Hashem revealed His master plan of giving His Torah to His people. Hashem said to Moshe, “When you liberate this nation from Egypt you will serve Me on this mountain [Sinai].” (Shemos 3:12) Hashem proclaimed the Jewish nation’s upcoming acceptance of His Torah as an act of service to Him, because, with their acceptance, they were, in effect, devoting their entire being to 613 acts of His service.
Conditional Service to Hashem
Although Hashem certainly does not need our service, He displays appreciation for our sacrifices to afford us an opportunity to relate to and interact with Him. At present, the only nation worthy of that relationship is the Jewish people, who forgo self-pursuit for the sake of Hashem. As stated, even when world nations engage in some form of service their ulterior motive is themselves. Therefore, they continue that practice even when they engage in serving Hashem. Chazal display this fact through the Persian king, Daryavish, who contributed huge sums of money towards rebuilding the (second) Bais Hamikdash and for its sacrificial service. Although his devotion appeared to be meritorious, Chazal deduce from his accompanying request that his generous act was done out of self-pursuit. In Sefer Ezra it states that Daryavish explicitly instructed the Jewish people to include a plea for his family’s wellbeing in exchange for his generosity. Even when granted the greatest privilege of all, Daryavish, who acted on behalf of the Persian Kingdom, could not forgo self-pursuit and sought personal benefit from his deeds. (Rosh Hashana 4a) Tosfos explains that a Jewish person is permitted to do mitzvah acts of this sort because his interest does not define his action. He will never make his personal interest the focal point of his mitzvah as is evidenced by the fact that he will never regret his mitzvah act even if his interest is not met. Conversely, a non-Jewish person will totally regret his act and will even be angered by Hashem’s “failing” to fulfill his personal interest after all the devotion he showed Him. (Tosfos ibid) This distinction is clearly displayed through Shlomo Hamelech’s wording in his supplication to Hashem after completing the Bais HaMikdash construction. Shlomo asked Hashem regarding the prayer of a Jewish person, “Please respond to each person in accordance with the sincerity of his heart [to You].” But regarding the prayer of a non-Jew there, Shlomo asked Hashem, “Please accept whatever he requests [irrespective of his worthiness].” Rashi explains that a faithful Jewish person will accept Hashem’s decision regarding his request, even if the answer is no! Conversely, a non-Jew will be upset and even complain if his request in not fulfilled. (Rashi to Bereshis 27:28)
Unconditional Service to Hashem
The Jewish people inherited their pure approach to Hashem’s service from their patriarch Avrohom, the paradigm in this field. The Torah tells us that Avrohom readily engaged himself in fulfilling Hashem’s commandment to offer up his beloved son Yitzchak, born to him at a very old age, as a sacrifice to Hashem. Undoubtedly, Avrohom realized that with his act of service offering his son as a sacrifice to Hashem, he would undermine his life-mission of bringing the world closer to Hashem. In addition, he would forfeit Hashem’s blessing to him that his son Yitzchak would produce the pre-destined Jewish nation. But even with all this, Avrohom immediately engaged himself in his loyal service to Hashem to fulfill what he perceived was Hashem’s command to him. With this thought we can appreciate Hashem’s unconditional reference to the Jewish people as “His servant, Yaakov.” The objective of all creation is for every human being to recognize Hashem and to faithfully serve Him. This will undoubtedly occur at the end of time. But, for most of the world it will be a difficult learning experience, a total reversal of their selfish nature and perverted value system. Only one nation qualifies to teach the world this truth – the Jewish people, who have shown throughout the millennia their loyalty to Hashem’s service. Irrespective of persecution, painful exile and apparent rejection from Above, the Jewish People remain Hashem’s loyal servants and direct their service to unconditionally fulfilling His will, at all costs. Although there have been times when the Jewish People did not deserve Hashem’s forgiveness and grace in their own merit, they nevertheless received it for Hashem’s sake. Hashem’s master plan calls for a devout nation who will teach the world the value of selfless devotion and no other nation fills this role. Yeshaya added that even when a thick cloud of sin separates the Jewish people from Hashem, He promises to accept their repentance and to re-establish perfect contact with them. Yeshaya concluded and invited the Jewish people to return to Hashem’s service, through a magnificent display of the future. He stated in Hashem’s name, “Remember these… for you are My servant [whom] I fashioned [to be] My servant… The heavens will praise… the depths of the ground will shout, the mountains… the forest and all trees, that ‘Hashem redeemed Yaakov.’” (44:21, 23) During the Jewish people’s final era, Hashem will redeem His people in an incredible manner that will leave an everlasting impression on all of creation. During those upcoming years everyone who will merit to be present will proclaim the entire universe as Hashem’s creation and will decern its resounding message to Hashem, “We are Your creations!” (see Malbim ad loc) Currently, the Jewish people are going through one of their most difficult eras. How beneficial it would be for us to internalize the above lesson and to plead with Hashem for our redemption. Every Jewish soul has the potential of glorifying Hashem’s name by showing the world the true meaning of His service. In these very trying times let us devote concentrated energies