The Prophet Who Defended Israel

Each summer, we spend two months reading from the Book of Yeshayahu each Shabbat as the Haftarah of the week.  Through one Haftarah of woe and seven Haftarot of comfort, Yeshayahu, or Isaiah, is with us each week, guiding us through the emotions we feel as we transition from the grief of the 9th of Av, to the comfort of the later summer, all the way through the opportunity of Rosh Hashanah and the new year.

Why was Yeshayahu so fortunate that we read from his book more than any other book of Navi?  Why was he the one whose book is considered by the Talmud (Bava Batra 14b) to be fully consolation?

Leviticus Rabba 10:2 gives a possible answer.  In the Midrash’s telling, Hashem looks to appoint a new prophet, and Yeshayahu volunteers.  Hashem demands that the prophet accept upon himself that he might be mistreated by the Jewish people, and Yeshayahu accepts, but he worries that he is still not worthy.  G-d replies that since Yeshayahu loved to defend the Jewish people and hated to express their guilt, therefore he was chosen by G-d to be His new prophet.

The famous opening lines of the Mechilta contrasts between three prophets who were all different, yet still none are known for defending the Jewish people.  Eliyahu accuses the Jewish people (and as a result his prophetic career ends), Yona is concerned for their honor but not Hashem’s (and a a result his prophetic career remains rather short).  Yirmiyahu, the prophet destruction, does better than his colleagues, yet he accuses the Jewish people out of concern for the honor of G-d, and then accuses G-d out of concern for the Jewish people, without defending either one.  None of the three advocate for the Jewish people or proclaim their righteous like Yeshayahu does “And your nation they are all righteous, they will forever inherent land (Isaiah 60:21).”

By defending Israel, Yeshayahu is selected to become the prophet of comfort and consolation.  And moreover, he is reward to be the one to give the resounding doubled prophecies (the Midrash’s word for the literary technique epizeuxis) that we will read in the upcoming weeks.  As Vayikra Rabba concludes: For all of the prophets give singled prophecies, but you shall give doubled prophecies: ‘Arise, arise (Isaiah 51:9, 52:1)!’ ‘Wake yourself up, wake yourself up (Isaiah 51:17)!’ ‘Joy I shall rejoice (Isaiah 61:10)!’ ‘I, I am your consoler (Isaiah 51:12)!’ ‘Comfort, comfort (Isaiah 40:1)!’ ”

May we all learn character from the great prophet, and may we thereby merit to see the fulfilment of these doubled prophecies of comfort.

Rabbi Dr. Yaakov Jaffe is the author of Isaiah and his Contemporaries, available from Kodesh Press.