Shoftim: The Divine Wake-Up Call

As we discussed two weeks ago, if you listen carefully to the Haftorot during the coming weeks, you’ll hear familiar phrases. These words, spoken by Yeshayahu, were woven into our beloved Friday night Tefilah, Lecha Dodi. By using the words of Yeshayahu, Rabbi Shlomo HaLevi Alkabetz offered a message of faith and solace to the bereaved people of his time.

I would like to focus on a dialogue that begins just before the start of this week’s Haftorah, in Yeshayahu 51:9. The Jewish people, weary from their prolonged exile turn to Hashem and say to Him, עוּרִ֨י עוּרִ֤י לִבְשִׁי־עֹז֙ זְר֣וֹעַ ה’ ע֚וּרִי כִּ֣ימֵי קֶ֔דֶם דֹּר֖וֹת עוֹלָמִ֑ים, Awake, awake, clothe yourself with splendor. O arm of the LORD! Awake as in days of old, As in former ages! In our everyday language, the people are essentially saying, “Come on Hashem, where are You? Get up - You have the strength to save us, You saved us before - why not now? Hashem, You did this once before, why not now?”  

Hashem’s response comes fifteen Pesukim later in our Haftorah (52:1) echoing the same words,עוּרִ֥י עוּרִ֛י. The Posuk reads, עוּרִ֥י עוּרִ֛י לִבְשִׁ֥י עֻזֵּ֖ךְ צִיּ֑וֹן לִבְשִׁ֣י ׀ בִּגְדֵ֣י תִפְאַרְתֵּ֗ךְ יְרוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙ עִ֣יר הַקֹּ֔דֶשAwake, awake, O Zion! Clothe yourself in splendor; Put on your robes of majesty, Jerusalem, holy city! The Malbim connects these two sets of עוּרִ֥י עוּרִ֛י and suggests that Hashem is answering the people’s request to awaken by turning it back on them: “You ask Me to wake up— it is you who must wake up!”

But the dialogue doesn’t end there. Like a parent who is trying to shake a child awake, Hashem tells His tired people, you have the ability, you have the strength within you. In the earlier Posuk, Bnei Yisrael refer to Hashem’s might as עֹז֙, strength. When Hashem calls upon His people to awaken, He uses the word עֻזֵּ֖ךְ—your strength, תִפְאַרְתֵּ֗ךְ, your splendor. Hashem is saying, “You possess the ability and power to respond to this wake-up call and rise.”

The themes of rising and awakening are recurring throughout this Haftorah, familiar to us from Lecha Dodi - הִתְעוֹרְרִ֣י הִֽתְעוֹרְרִ֗י, Awaken yourself, awaken yourself and הִתְנַעֲרִ֧י מֵעָפָ֛ר ק֥וּמִי, Arise, shake off the dust.  

Let the words of עוּרִ֥י עוּרִ֛י enter our souls as we begin Chodesh Elul after a year of horrific loss and pain. Through the comforting words of Yeshayahu, Hashem calls to us to awaken, providing encouragement and confidence that we will indeed experience more glorious times. May we be able to tap into our strength, our עֹז֙ and see the fulfillment of the words of the Navi Yeshayahu at the end of our Haftorah, מַה־נָּאו֨וּ עַל־הֶהָרִ֜ים רַגְלֵ֣י מְבַשֵּׂ֗ר מַשְׁמִ֧יעַ שָׁל֛וֹם מְבַשֵּׂ֥ר ט֖וֹב מַשְׁמִ֣יעַ יְשׁוּעָ֑ה אֹמֵ֥ר לְצִיּ֖וֹן מָלַ֥ךְ אֱלֹהָֽיִךְ׃, How pleasant are the footsteps of the herald upon the mountains announcing peace, heralding good tidings, announcing salvation, saying unto Zion, “Your G-d has reigned!