Listen Israel : The Prophets are Speaking

[muman613]

Yesterday was Shabbat Parasha Shoftim. I attended a Shabbaton at a Chabad Rabbis house and davened Shacharit and we read the Torah portion. Parasha Shoftim has several important commandments in it including the commands concerning going to war, further discussion of the establishment of cities of refuge, how to determine if a prophet is a true prophet of Hashem, what constitutes witchcraft and sorcery, and the creation of courts of justice and how to handle witnesses.

I was invited to this Shabbaton in order to fulfill the requirements of a minyan. I live in a small community where the number of Orthodox Jews is small and thus I am a valued minyan member. My friend called me in the morning on Friday and asked if I can make it so I went, as I feel an obligation to my community that we be able to do the parts of the davening which require a minyan . This Shabbat we needed the minyan since one of the members had to say Kaddish for his father who had just passed away last week.

In a very interesting twist I happened to be called for the second Aliyah, which is traditionally the aliyah for the Levi. In a previous posting I had revealed that rarely I have been called for that Aliyah because often times we do not have a Cohen and we only have one Levi and he gets called for the Kohain aliyah. Anyway, the second aliyah concerns the laws of a Jewish king.

2nd Aliyah for Parasha Shoftim : http://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading.asp?AID=36236&p=2

But what really spoke to me about todays Torah service was the Haftorah portion which we read on Shabbat. The Haftorah is a portion from the Prophets which was added to the Torah service after the Greeks outlawed learning Chumash. Haftorah for Parasha Shoftim are some pasuks from Isaiah Chapter 51.

I would like to reproduce them here because the words are moving and if we open our Jewish souls to this message we surely will be able to rise to any challenge which threatens us. Hashems words through the Navi Isaiah strike at the very soul and provide comfort to ease our suffering.


http://www.chabad.org/parshah/TorahReading_cdo/AID/36236/section/haftorah


Isaiah
Chapter 51
12. I, yea I am He Who consoles you; who are you that you fear man who will die and the son of man, who shall be made [as] grass?
13. And you forgot the Lord your Maker, Who spread out the heavens and founded the earth, and you fear constantly the whole day because of the wrath of the oppressor when he prepared to destroy. Now where is the wrath of the oppressor?
14. What must be poured out hastened to be opened, and he shall not die of destruction, and his bread shall not be wanting.
15. I am the Lord your God, Who wrinkles the sea and its waves stir; the Lord of Hosts is His name.
16. And I placed My words into your mouth, and with the shadow of My hand I covered you, to plant the heavens and to found the earth and to say to Zion [that] you are My people.
17. Awaken, awaken, arise, Jerusalem, for you have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of His wrath; the dregs of the cup of weakness you have drained.
18. She has no guide out of all the sons she bore, and she has no one who takes her by the hand out of all the sons she raised.
19. These two things have befallen you; who will lament for you? Plunder and destruction, and famine and sword. [With] whom will I console you?
20. Your sons have fainted, they lie at the entrance of all streets like a wild ox in a net, full of the wrath of the Lord, the rebuke of your God.
21. Therefore, hearken now to this, you poor one, and who is drunk but not from wine.
22. So said your Master, the Lord, and your God Who shall judge His people, "Behold, I took from you the cup of weakness; the dregs of the cup of My wrath-you shall no longer continue to drink it.
23. And I will place it into the hand of those who cause you to wander, who said to your soul, 'Bend down and let us cross,' and you made your body like the earth and like the street for those who cross."
Chapter 52
1. Awaken, awaken, put on your strength, O Zion; put on the garments of your beauty, Jerusalem the Holy City, for no longer shall the uncircumcised or the unclean continue to enter you.
2. Shake yourselves from the dust, arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; free yourself of the bands of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
3. For so said the Lord, "You were sold for nought, and you shall not be redeemed for money."
4. For so said the Lord God, "My people first went down to Egypt to sojourn there, but Assyria oppressed them for nothing."
5. "And now, what have I here," says the Lord, "that My people has been taken for nothing. His rulers boast," says the Lord, "and constantly all day My name is blasphemed.
6. Therefore, My people shall know My name; therefore, on that day, for I am He Who speaks, here I am."
7. How beautiful are the feet of the herald on the mountains, announcing peace, heralding good tidings, announcing salvation, saying to Zion, "Your God has manifested His kingdom."
8. The voice of your watchmen- they raised a voice, together they shall sing, for eye to eye they shall see when the Lord returns to Zion.
9. Burst out in song, sing together, O ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has consoled his people; He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10. The Lord has revealed His holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
11. Turn away, turn away, get out of there, touch no unclean one; get out of its midst, purify yourselves, you who bear the Lord's vessels.
12. For not with haste shall you go forth and not in a flurry of flight shall you go, for the Lord goes before you, and your rear guard is the God of Israel.




And once again I was comforted to know that most of the members of my minyan are shifting to the right when it comes to Israel. When we were singing 'Am Yisroel Chai' at the Shabbat lunch table I interjected a couple of refrains of 'Od Kahane Chai' to several of my friends approval.