This Shabbat is known for its haftara, which always precedes Tisha B’Av: Chazon Yeshayahu – the vision of Yeshayahu. This is a difficult affair, traditionally read in the melody of Eicha, but it concludes with a promise of eventual redemption.
The navi says Tzion will be redeemed in justice and her captives by charity (Yeshayahu 1:27). The Aish Kodesh asks: Why is the language doubled here? If Tzion is to be redeemed, will her captives not be freed as well? He brings other examples from Scripture to show that such a doubling is often used to signify faith in an outcome. Somebody who sees a promise being fulfilled will have faith in another aspect of a guarantee, once he sees that the one who made the guarantee is reliable. But when we have perfect faith in Hashem, we believe everything He promises us even before any of it has come to pass. The Aish Kodesh says that just as we have faith in Hashem, Hashem has faith in us in equal measure. When Hashem sees that we are reliable in fulfilling His mitzvot and performing His will, He believes in us and believes that we will continue to advance along this path. Thus, as we attempt to conform to His commandments, Hashem enables us to draw nearer to Him.
Here again, we see an amazing perspective that foreshadows the horrors of the coming destruction that we will mourn on Tisha B’Av but which the Aish Kodesh could not have anticipated in 1936 when he wrote these words. This is one of those moments when we glimpse the greatness of he whom Hashem had designated in advance to serve as the leader of His people in the Warsaw Ghetto. The Aish Kodesh teaches that the true servant of Hashem not only believes every promise but prepares every part of himself to do His will, no matter what obstacles may present themselves. Even if he is to be thrown into a furnace, says the Aish Kodesh, the true man of G-d will gladly embrace this fate in order to remain always a true servant. Sometimes he understands why he must do what he must do and other times he does it anyway because he knows this is what is expected.
Thus, the navi teaches not only that Tzion will be redeemed, but that her prisoners will be freed. Just as the one follows the other, so do the people of Israel perform mitzvah after mitzvah, thereby inspiring our Creator’s faith in us.
