The Holy City of Yerushalayim was stripped of all of its spiritual glory and physical beauty when it was invaded and occupied by its enemies, and when it suffered the ultimate destruction of the Beit Ha-Mikdash. The haftarah for Parashat Ki Teitzei is one of the seven haftarot which are read during the seven weeks between Tishah Be-Av and Rosh Ha-Shanah. These haftarot serve to inspire us to look toward the future when we will rebuild the Beit Ha-Mikdash and experience the ultimate return of Benei Yisrael from galut to Eretz Yisrael.

The first pasuk in chapter 54 of Yeshayahu describes the moment of comfort and reassurance of geulah in the following words: “Rani akarah lo yaladah” – “Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child.”  Yerushalayim is compared to a woman who is childless. Imagine her prior embarrassment, shame, and disgrace as she experienced being surrounded by a society where happiness was found in abundance. The akarah (barren woman) felt alone and separated from society, with no future to look to for hope. However, as the navi describes, the Holy City, likened to the akarah, will soon emanate expressions of joy, for in the future she will be surrounded with her own children, who will be born without her having experienced any signs of birth pains.

The Malbim interprets this phenomenon by explaining that the teshuvah performed by Kelal Yisrael results in mechilat avonot (complete forgiveness of sins). After the completion of sincere teshuvah, Ha-Kadosh Barukh Hu forgives the Jewish people and treats them as if they had never committed any sin. Thus, in the future, the joy of Yerushalayim will be on such a high level that it will appear as though it never experienced any pain (including the type of emotional and psychological pain associated with a woman who is childless, which the navi metaphorically ascribes to it). The experiences of galut will be retroactively nonexistent.

The next pasuk tells us, “Enlarge the site of your tent. Extend the size of your dwelling, do not stint! Lengthen the ropes, and drive the pegs firm” (Yeshayahu 54:2). Due to the abundance of children that will be coming to Yerushalayim, the borders of the city will expand.

The Radak explains that the next pasuk (54:3), which states “ki yamin u-semol tifrotzi” – “for you shall spread out to the right and the left,” means that your people and borders will expand in all four directions. This pasuk in Yeshayahu reminds us of the pasuk in the Torah, “u-faratzta yamah va-keidmah ve-tzafonah va-negbah” – “you shall spread to the West and to the East, to the North and to the South” (Bereshit 28:14). These pesukim are coming to tell us that according to the Tanakh, at a time when there will be achdut (unity) among all of Kelal Yisrael, then the geulah will come about and Benei Yisrael will grow by leaps and bounds.

One can prove this point by the fact that when Benei Yisrael received the Torah on Har Sinai, it was only because they were united, and the 600,000 people standing at the mountain were described as “ke-ish echad be-leiv echad” – “like one person with one heart,” as stated by Rashi on the pasuk “Va-yichan sham Yisrael neged ha-har” – “Israel encamped there in front of the mountain” (Shemot 19:2). The Sinai experience was only achieved through a unanimous decision from every member of Benei Yisrael to express their joint commitment by all saying together “na’aseh ve-nishma” – “we will faithfully do” (Shemot 24:7).

The Ohr Ha-Chaim explains that every individual said “na’aseh ve-nishma” without exception and without hesitation. They echoed these words without watching for the reactions of their friends or family members. “Na’aseh ve-nishma” was pronounced both in the hearts and in the mouths of all the members of Benei Yisrael spontaneously. This is the concept of “ke-ish echad be-leiv echad” – it was as if Kelal Yisrael were composed only of one human being. The Yerushalmi in Massekhet Nedarim explains in this manner the mitzvah of “ve-ahavta le-rei’akha ka-mokha” – “to love your neighbor as yourself,” which Chazal point out is a “kelal gadol ba-Torah,” the basic foundation of all of our mitzvot. One needs to love his fellow man like himself. The Yerushalmi teaches us that these words should be taken literally. For example, if a person is hammering a nail into an object, and his right hand, in which he is holding the hammer, accidentally hits his left hand, will his left hand retaliate and harm his right hand? We obviously know the answer: the right hand also feels the pain and agony of the left hand, and will not retaliate, since they are part and parcel of the same body. So too, Benei Yisrael are like one body. The Ba’alei Mussar connect this idea to the notion that we are created be-tzelem Elokim (in the image of God). We are like one body since we are created from one source. That is the source of our achdut.

Our haftarah of “Rani Akarah” in Yeshayahu is not a only a part of the Shevah De-Nechemtah (Seven of Consolation) – those aforementioned seven haftarot read on the Shabbatot after Tishah Be-Av which foretell the future of Kelal Yisrael by detailing the period of the Third Beit Ha-Mikdash – but additionally, it also serves as the haftarah for Parashat Ki Teitzei. What is the connection between the “Rani Akarah” and Parashat Ki Teitzei? The mefarshim (commentators) point out that in the pasuk in Ki Teitzei “zakhor et asher asah lekha Amalek” – “Remember what Amalek did to you,” the word “lekha” is written in the singular form (Devarim 25:17). The strength of Amalek to desensitize Benei Yisrael to Torah and mitzvot can only be successful with a yachid – an individual who is separate and not part of a unified whole. The pesukim then continue and tell us “va-yizanev bekha kol ha-necheshalim acharekha” – “and they cut down all the stragglers in your rear” (Devarim 25:17). Amalek was only successful against all those who trailed along who were spiritually weak and lacking faith in God. We see, therefore, that once Benei Yisrael are not knit together spiritually, it is only then that Amalek can attack them. Thus, the unity of Kelal Yisrael called for by Yeshayahu in our haftarah, which can only be maintained if all of Kelal Yisrael follows the laws of Torah, is a necessary prerequisite for Israel’s very survival. As such, in order to achieve unity, and strengthen ourselves against any potential dangers, we must continue to live lives full of the observance of the mitzvot that we received on Har Sinai, when we were “ke-ish echad be-leiv echad.” And, Yehi ratzon she-geulah yavo be-meheirah be-yameinu amen selah – May the final redemption called for by Yeshayahu come speedily in our days.