Summary:
In our portion this week, Yitro brings his daughter Zipporah and her two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, to his son-in-law Moses. Moses follows Yitro's advice and appoints judges to help him lead the people. Later, the Children of Israel camp in front of Mount Sinai. Upon hearing the covenant, the Israelites respond, "All that God has spoken we will do." After three days of preparation, the Israelites encounter God at Mount Sinai. God gives the Ten Commandments aloud directly to the people. Frightened, the Children of Israel ask Moses to serve as an intermediary between God and them. Moses tells the people not to be afraid.
Lessons from our Haftarah – Isaiah 6:1-7:6 and 9:5-6:
Just as the Torah portion focuses on the revelation to Moses at Sinai, so too does our haftarah focus on revelation – this time from God to the prophet Isaiah. As part of the prophetic revelation, aware of how difficult it is to speak God’s word to those who often refuse to hear it, God promises to support Isaiah and tells him not to be afraid.
In our Torah portion this week, along with the revelation of laws and commandments, the people are presented with a blueprint for justice. The haftarah echoes these themes. God reveals to Isaiah instructions for living. We are presented with two ends of a spectrum. First, we hear of the past when the covenant itself is revealed. Then the future vision of a messianic kingdom is revealed. What begins with Moses in the past, Isaiah then envisions unfolding in the future.
As prophet, Isaiah’s role is to remind that people who have been called to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, are failing in their task They are not living up to the covenant. They are actions are impure. However, the promise for the future still remains.
Isaiah is the inheritor of Moses’ message. His words remind the people of the historical covenant, of their failure to live its ancient words, and their ongoing obligation to bring it to life. Isaiah’s question challenges us as well. Do we have the ability to become the holy nation about which Moses spoke at Mt Sinai? Can we be the people who bring about the messianic age?
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Don Goor