
Please click here to donate and sponsor Torah learning on YUTorah
Against the prophet's magnificent promises of redemption, the hopes of the first returnees from Babylon were shattered by a harsh reality. They left Babylon — a thriving cultural center — and, after a grueling journey through the wilderness, arrived in a desolate and ruined city. Only a small remnant of the people returned, and it became evident that these were not the upper echelons of society. Consequently, it was exceedingly difficult to establish an organized and strong community in the land. The idealists who heeded the prophet's call and left Babylon to return to the Land of Israel found themselves facing a very incomplete redemption.
The blame does not lie with the prophet but with the people, who missed the opportunity. God sent a prophet to promise, encourage, and assure the people that everything would turn out well, that the end would be good, and that complete redemption would surely come. Yet the responsibility lay with the people to listen. The sin of lacking faith in God is not merely a religious sin that explains why God might refrain from helping us; it is also a sin that practically reveals where redemption went wrong. Had all the Jews of Babylon returned to the Land of Israel, it would have been much easier to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, establish a strong cultural society, and create a sturdy economy and political power that could also serve as a spiritual force. The people's decision to remain in Babylon shaped the redemption into something far different. Ultimately, the Temple was built, but even this Temple did not fulfill the vision of consolation found in the prophecies. It too was eventually destroyed.
At the beginning of our chapter, the prophet poses God's question: "Why is it that I came and no one was here; I cried out, and no one answered? Does My arm fall short to redeem you; have I not strength to rescue?" (Yeshayahu 50:2). This question is likely directed toward those who remained in Babylon, but it may also serve to explain something to those who had already returned to the land: This isn’t over. When everyone returns, you will see a different reality.
In the coming chapters, the prophet will continue to struggle to persuade, to promise, and to encourage. But at a certain point, the prophecies will come to an end, and the outcome we are left with is that the full redemption failed to materialize in that generation. However, this is the crucial point: these prophecies are not false. Redemption will occur, and the timing of their fulfillment has simply been postponed to the future: to a generation that will merit answering the call.
Learning on the Marcos and Adina Katz YUTorah site is sponsored today by Miriam & Alan Goldberg and Ruth Peyser Kestenbaum to mark the twelfth yahrtzeit of their father, Irwin Peyser, Harav Yisroel Chaim ben R' Dovid V' Fraidah Raizel Peyser and by Francine Lashinsky and Dr. Alexander and Meryl Weingarten in memory of Mary Wininger, Matel bat Ephraim, z"l on the occasion of her yahrzeit on the 29th of Shevat and in honor of their children, Mark, Michael, Julie, Marnie and Michelle, and in gratitude to Hashem for the release of Agam bat Meirav Berger and for the zechut of the other hostages and the chayalim
0 comments Leave a Comment