The Coming Surprise
The Shabbat that precedes the fast of the Ninth of Ab, Tish‘a Be-Av, always features the same haftarah reading, from the first chapter of the book of Isaiah. At first glance, this seems odd. That chapter makes no mention of the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem and the subsequent destruction of the Jerusalem Temple—the events that we mourn in the fast of Tish‘a Be-Av. Nor does it say anything in general about fasting. (The book Isaiah does discuss fasting elsewhere, in chapter 58.) So why do we always read this portion of Isaiah on the Shabbat before the fast?
The standard answer is that it contains the word eikhah (“how” or “alas!”), which happens to be the first word of the biblical book of Lamentations, whose account of the destruction of the Temple we read on Ninth of Ab itself. (The word eikhah also appears in the Torah reading for this Shabbat, Deuteronomy 1:12.)
But this isn’t a particularly convincing answer. Certainly there are other appearances of the word eikhah that might have fit better with Tish‘a Be-Av, especially Jer 8:8, “How (eikhah) can you say, ‘We are wise…’”—words that were followed by some rather clear allusions to the defeat and suffering that were soon to befall Israel. Even if the first chapter of Isaiah alludes to divine punishment, it doesn’t seem to say anything specific about the Babylonian invasion—and why should it? That destruction didn’t take place until more than a century after Isaiah.
What Isaiah describes in this week’s haftarah, and in painful detail, is Israel’s sinfulness. This chapter seems to be a generalized picture of a society gone wrong: the government is corrupt, thievery is everywhere, smalltime shopkeepers are cheats, and people seem to think that if they just keep saying their prayers and offering sacrifices, they will never be held to account.
From head to toe, there’s nothing straight about you!..
Listen to the words of the Lord, You officials of Sodom!
Hear God’s teaching, O people of Gomorrah!
What need do I have of all your sacrifices?—says the Lord—
I’ve had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the suet of fatlings, and bulls’ blood…
That you come to appear before Me—who asked you to trample My courtyards?…
No matter how much you pray, I won’t be listening. Your hands are stained with your crimes.
Wash yourselves clean, get your foul doings from in front of My face.
Stop your evildoing; learn to do what’s right. Seek out justice, free the oppressed.
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So here we are again, facing another Tish’a Be-Av, and I confess I take some perverse pleasure in hearing this haftarah in anticipation of all that will follow—especially here in Israel. Public figures, politicians of the majority and the minority, educators, and of course, endless rabbis will join in our annual rite of mourning, without, however, thinking of this haftarah and what seems to be the true reason for its assigned place just before the fast. Isn’t it there because focusing on the specifics of Jeremiah and the fall of Jerusalem somehow misses the point? So does all the talk about sin’at hinam, “baseless hatred,” as if that was all that brought down Jerusalem’s walls. This lets everyone off too easily. You are what’s wrong, Isaiah says, you and all that you have helped to create, a flawless machine of denying the obvious and then continuing the next day as usual.
The passage ends on what seems like a positive note, “Zion will be redeemed by justice,” but on reflection “justice” has a somewhat ominous ring. What exactly is the machinery by which this redemptive justice will be accomplished? I sometimes like to think that the initials of Tish‘a Be-Av in English—T.B.A.—stand for “To be announced.” It may turn out to be a surprise.