This is a special series on the weekly Haftara, the portion from Prophets that corresponds with the weekly reading from the Bible. It was co-written by Rabbi Dr. Ethan Eisen and Rabbi Tuly Weisz.
The Haftarah this week (Isaiah 49:14-51:3) is the second of the Seven weeks of comfort and deals with a fundamental question: does the fact that our enemies twice destroyed our Holy Temple show that God had abandoned the Jewish people? Have we caused irreparable harm to the relationship with God?
In fact, the gentile world, particularly Christians, arrived at this very conclusion–the Jewish people rejected their prophet just as the Romans were preparing to wage war against Jerusalem. Early Christians saw the destruction of the Temple as evidence that God was rejecting Israel, an argument buttressed by the rapid expansion of Christianity.
The comfort of our haftara combats this misperception in a direct, almost simple manner:
Famously, the prophets challenge the Jewish people to prove that He has forsaken them: “What is your mother’s bill of divorce by which I sent her away?” Although the relationship has been injured, the Jewish people are not, and will never be completely severed from Him.
The Biblical commentators agree with the possibility that, God did not actually abandon the Jewish people. Many great philosophers point to references in our history that answer this troubling question. They conclude that the exile has been so difficult, with so much persecution and suffering, that it would be impossible for us to have survived but for Divine intervention. The commentators continue that in every generation of exile, God assigned different individuals to help us navigate through.
Our haftara provides a surprising glimpse of just who will help support us when we are downtrodden. “For thus said my Lord, Elokim: Behold I will raise My hand toward nations, and I will hoist my banner towards peoples, and they will bring your children in their arms, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulder. Kings will be your nurturers and their princess your wet nurses.”
Further commentators add, “[the Jewish people] will no longer experience shame from the other nations who used to say that the Jews have no hope.” Instead, God will direct a miracle that these other nations, who may have participated in our persecution, will one day raise the Jews up and bring them back to Israel in order to restore the Israelite’s relationship with God.
The First Zionist Congress in 1897, which ultimately formulated the first Zionist platform, was supposed to be held in Munich, but Theodore Herzl, the chair of the Congress, received strong opposition from both Orthodox and Reform leaders. The Reform were concerned about seeming ungrateful to their host country at a time when they had just received their emancipation, and the Orthodox leaders rejected the secular Herzl for being against the Torah. Herzl was forced to host his conference in Basel, Switzerland, far away from the center of European Jewry.
Just over 100 years ago Herzl was running around Europe trying to find supporters for his idea of a Jewish State, but he was unable to find significant Jewish allies on the right or the left who were willing to aid him in developing political connections to advance the Zionist cause. Rejected by much of the Jewish community, he instead found unwavering support from a Christian Pastor named William Hechler who introduced Herzl to the leading Kings and Queens of Europe, including German Kaiser Wilhelm, the Queen Victoria of England and the Sultan of Turkey who controlled the land at the time.
Since then, there have been many important Christians who have played crucial roles in the return of Israel to the Land, and who saw themselves as God’s messengers–seemingly put there specially to help lift the Jewish people out of exile, just as the commentators described — including William Hechler, Lord Balfour, and President Truman.
This fulfillment of the prophecy is in some ways the greatest comfort. After thousands of years of persecution, Gentile leaders and Jewish leaders are standing together, shoulder to shoulder, in agreement that God has remained true to His covenant with the Jewish people.
Allowing a Palestinian terror state in the heart of Israel would destroy the Jewish State.
Keep God’s Land is dedicated to strengthening and defending Israel’s right to its biblical heartland, with the ultimate goal of Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. Learn More about this incredible mission today!
