BackRebuke and Promise
By: Rabbi Dr. Abraham Unger
This Shabbat’s Haftorah sets the tone for the upcoming mournful fast of Tisha B’Av next week. We are reminded that actions have consequences. As our ethics and unity declined, we became ripe for invasion. Our Temples were destroyed because we became weakened from within. What was the precise source of our decline? How did we reach the precipice of destruction?
The Haftorah that the prophet Isaiah recites desperately exclaims that G-d is disdainful of all the “choicest of meaty animals” offered as sacrifices in the Temple. They are “worthless” – if we are not doing the right thing: to “seek justice” for the orphan and the widow. It does not matter that we cross our t’s and dot our i’s in our formal behavior. Our integrity is what truly matters.
The Mitzvot are not the ceiling of refined conduct. They are the floor. They provide the foundation needed to give us a glimpse of what we can be. For example, the Sabbath is not just about lighting candles and making Kiddush. Those are beautiful ceremonies, but they are there to inspire us to something greater. They are there to remind us how beautiful is Creation, and how deep our own humanity runs.
As we approach Tisha B’Av and think of loss and redemption, we recall it begins this Shabbat with rebuke, and ends next week with the promise of repair and resolve to be better, earning the opportunity to realize a holier world.