Consolation in Stone 

Haftorah Re'eh: Yeshayahu 54:11-55:5

Our Haftorah opens with the posuk,עֲנִיָּ֥ה סֹעֲרָ֖ה לֹ֣א נֻחָ֑מָה הִנֵּ֨ה אָנֹכִ֜י מַרְבִּ֤יץ בַּפּוּךְ֙ אֲבָנַ֔יִךְ וִֽיסַדְתִּ֖יךְ בַּסַּפִּירִֽים׃, Oh, you afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold I will set your stones in fair colors and lay your foundations with sapphires. At first glance, it is unclear whom Yeshayahu is consoling. There are those commentaries who understand that Hashem is turning to Yerushalayim to comfort her and to assure that she will be rebuilt with beauty.

R’ Yisrael of Koshnitz argues that in actuality Yeshayahu is comforting the Jewish people.  He suggests that the phrase,וִֽיסַדְתִּ֖יךְ בַּסַּפִּירִֽים, and lay your foundations with sapphires, is an allusion not to instant transformation of return, but rather to the evolving comforting which comes as a result of performing proper Teshuva.  Transformation is a gradual process in which a foundation needs to be laid and relationships rebuilt.  

This Shabbos is Mevarchim Rosh Chodesh Elul.  It was on Rosh Chodesh Elul that Hashem said to Moshe, פסל לך, hew for yourself, instructing him to create the second set of Tablets. Moshe Rabbeinu took sapphire from which he fashioned the עשרת הדברות, the Ten Commandments. The resulting beauty of these Tablets came about because Moshe sculpted them ever so carefully, removing unnecessary pieces of stone.  This craftsmanship is representative of the Teshuva process whereby we eliminate that which is undesirable. The Koshnitzer Maggid explains that this is the meaning of the וִֽיסַדְתִּ֖יךְ בַּסַּפִּירִֽים, and lay your foundations with sapphires. If one does Teshuva properly, certainly he/she will never sin again and will sparkle like the sapphires of the original Ten Commandments. 

With these words, Hashem truly consoles the Jewish people who, with their many sins, feel that repentance is no longer a possibility.  Hashem insists that just as the sapphire is unbreakable, so too is the individual who repents sincerely. 

As we transition from the immediate aftermath of the suffering of Tisha B’Av to the Yemei Ratzon, we should be strengthened by this message of Yeshayahu.  If we repent completely, then our foundation will be unbreakable like the sapphire stones of yore.