The Shabbat before Tish’a B’Av is generally referred to as Shabbat Chazon. Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev, a Hassidic rabbi of the 18th century, taught that this name alludes to a vision (chazon) of the Third Temple, which God reveals to the Jewish people on this very Shabbat.1 However, this beautiful idea is at odds with the more standard explanation, that the name is derived from the haftarah reading of the day: the mournful first chapter of Isaiah, which begins with the words of Chazon Yeshayahu.  

While the Talmud only states that this chapter is to be read when Rosh Chodesh Av coincides with Shabbat, Tosfot (Megillah 31b) cites the customary practice of today:

ואין אנו עושין כן אלא מפטיר בירמיה שמעו דבר ה’ ובשבת שלפני ט”ב חזון ישעיהו והטעם לפי שאנו נוהגין על פי הפסיקתא לומר ג’ דפורענותא קודם תשעה באב ואלו הן דברי ירמיה שמעו דבר ה’ חזון ישעיהו 

We do not do this, but rather the haftara comes from Yirmiyahu,2 ‘Shim’u devar Ha-Shem,’ and on the Shabbat that is before Tisha B’Av, ‘Chazon Yeshayahu.’ The origin of this custom is found in Pesikta which says to read the three haftarot of mourning, ‘Divrei Yirmiyahu,’ ‘Shim’u devar Ha-Shem,’ and ‘Chazon Yeshayahu’ before Tisha B’Av.

As Tosfot mention, Chazon Yeshayahu is generally viewed as a prophecy of mourning.3 Indeed, upon analyzing this chapter, one realizes that both its opening and conclusion focus on lamenting Israel’s destruction. Verses two through nine employ vivid imagery, describing how, unlike “an ox who knows its master” (1:3), the nation of Israel has abandoned God. In turn, God has abandoned his people and “fair Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard” (1:8). Verses 21 through 274 further delineate the destruction that will befall Israel in order that “Zion shall be saved in judgment” (1:27). However, the middle section of this haftarah reading is of a slightly different tone, as this set of verses offers words of rebuke and a chance to atone.

“‘What need have I of all your sacrifices?’ says the Lord” (1:11). God then specifies the different sacrifices that no longer provide Him with satisfaction, instructs the people to stop appearing before Him and finally instructs His people to devote themselves to justice and “learn to do good” (1:18).

God’s statement is shocking.5 The Torah commands the Jewish nation to offer sacrifices every day. They were the apex of the Jewish nation’s connection to God, a sacred act that was only performed in the Holy Temple. What does it mean for God to reject this ritual and His wish that the people appear before Him? Does God really no longer want sacrifices? This question is compounded for the modern reader of Isaiah’s words, who is deprived of the ability to bring sacrifices. If God no longer wants sacrifices, is the inability to offer them today still considered a tragic loss?

One way to approach both questions is through exploring how the Jewish sages interpreted these words of prophecy. The words “lama li rov zivcheichem” or “What need have I of all your sacrifices?” appear only twice in all of the Talmud. In both instances, the Rabbis are not explaining the verse, but rather using it as a proof text for their ideas. However, analyzing how this phrase is employed still provides insight regarding their interpretations.  

In the beginning of Tractate Chagigah (4b), we are told: 

רב הונא כי מטי להאי קרא בכי וזבחת שלמים ואכלת שם עבד שרבו מצפה לאכול על שלחנו יתרחק ממנו דכתיב למה לי רוב זבחיכם יאמר ה’.

When R. Huna came to the [following] verse, he wept: And thou shalt sacrifice peace-offerings, and shalt eat there. The slave at whose table his Master longs to eat should become estranged from him! For it is written: To what purpose is the abundance of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the Lord.6

According to Rav Huna’s commentary on this verse in Deuteronomy, sacrifices are not what God is rejecting; He still wants sacrifices, just not those of His nation. The Jewish people have become so estranged from God that He no longer desires what they offer to Him.7 Rav Huna’s use of Isaiah’s words is especially tragic because there, though God verbally rejects the sacrifices, physically they were still being offered. The exile represents God’s more complete rejection of the Jewish people, when they are also deprived of the physical experience of bringing sacrifices.

Interestingly, a discussion in Brakhot 32b offers a slightly different perspective:

וא”ר אלעזר גדולה תענית יותר מן הצדקה מאי טעמא זה בגופו וזה בממונו. וא”ר אלעזר גדולה תפלה יותר מן הקרבנות שנא’ למה לי רוב זבחיכם.

R. Eleazar also said: Fasting is more efficacious than charity. What is the reason? One is performed with a man’s money, the other with his body. R. Eleazar also said: Prayer is more efficacious than offerings, as it says, “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me?”8

Rabbi Eleazar suggests that sacrifice is not the form of worship that God cherishes most. Similar to how fasting, an act of the entire body, is preferred over charity achieved through money, which is external to man, the ritual act of a sacrifice is less effective than praying with one’s body and soul. The purpose of all these actions is to come close to God; when performed without intent they lose their significance. Fasting and charity are easily transformed into mere ritual acts that are mechanically performed without contemplation. Thus, according to Rabbi Eleazar, perhaps God truly no longer desires sacrifice, a form of connection that is so easily abused and misused. Instead God desires prayer, service of the heart, which requires concentration and engagement of one’s entire being.9

Rabbi Eleazar’s words are comforting to today’s reader, who lacks sacrifices and uses prayer as a primary mode of connection to God. However, sacrifice is not the only form of service rejected in Chazon Yeshayahu. God also says (Isaiah 1:14-15), “Your new moons and fixed seasons fill me with loathing . . . though you pray at length I will not listen.” Can these terrifying words really indicate that prayers, Rosh Chodesh and the holidays are all worthless before God?

Combining the words of Rabbi Huna and Rabbi Eleazar, we can suggest that what is valueless to God are insincere actions. God despises neither sacrifices nor prayers. Rather what He abhors are the sacrifices of people who do evil outside the Temple without any signs of regret. He rejects insincere prayer whose quality is measured by length and not sincerity. Though Rabbi Eleazar says that God prefers fasting over charity, these words remind us that fasting too can become a meaningless service. God desires acts of devotion far more than empty stomachs. The poignant words of “What need have I of all your sacrifices” critique not just sacrifices but all ritualistic actions performed without devotion. The message of both rabbis is that God seeks wholesome, sincere actions of worship.

With this understanding of Chazon Yeshayhu, perhaps we can say that Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev’s teaching about a vision for the Third Temple is not an alternative explanation of the source for Shabbat Chazon’s name, but a deep insight into the haftarah’s message. Though the chapter ends in destruction, the Rabbis chose to end the haftarah with its 27th verse on a positive note of redemption. Rabbi Levi Yitzhak highlights that amidst the lamentations of Chazon Yeshayahu lies a path of repentance, a vision of hope for the Third Temple. “Zion shall be saved in the judgment, her repentant ones in the retribution.”

Notes

1 Kedushat Levi, 3:18.

2 This is referring to the two Shabbatot before Tish’a B’Av. 

3 The mournful tone of this chapter is highlighted by the word eikhah, which appears in verse 21 and brings to mind Eikhah, the book of Lamentations. Furthermore, many communities emphasize the mournful words of this haftarah through opting to replace the generally used trope for the haftarah of Shabbat with that of Eikhah.

4 Though the chapter contains 31 verses, the haftarah ends with the 27th verse.

5 Though similar sentiments are expressed in other books of Prophecies, such as Micah and Hosea, this is the first time the Jewish nation hears these shocking words.

6 Chagigah 4b, Soncino Translation.

7 Rashi on Isaiah 1:11, reads this verse similarly, “After you have transgressed my Torah, ‘the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination.’”

8 Soncino translation.

9 My understanding of Rabbi Eleazar’s words is inspired by Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed, Part 2: Ch. 33, where Maimonides uses this verse to prove that God never really desired sacrifices but allowed the people to use them as a means to connect to Him since it was the general mode of service to one’s deity at that era in history.