Shemot: Rooted Before Redemption
Yeshayahu 27:6–28:13; 29:22–23
The Haftorah opens with a promise of growth at a moment when it seems least expected:הַבָּאִים יַשְׁרֵשׁ יַעֲקֹב יָצִיץ וּפָרַח יִשְׂרָאֵל, In days to come, Yaakov shall take root; Yisrael shall blossom and flower. The Malbim explains that these are not parallel phrases but two stages of national existence. Yaakov describes a people under pressure — inward, constrained, focused on survival. Yisrael describes a people able to expand — visible, confident, and generative. The order is deliberate. First Yaakov takes root. Only then can Yisrael blossom. Rooting happens underground. It is unseen, uncelebrated, and slow. But without it, growth collapses.
The Navi does not deny the difficulty of such moments; instead, he reframes it. Growth is not suspended under pressure, it simply moves beneath the surface. In Yeshayahu’s vision, rooting is not passive endurance. It is active steadiness;the decision to remain anchored when conditions press inward and clarity is absent. It is the work of holding fast to shared responsibility even when outcomes remain unclear.
This language resonates powerfully in times when pressure is collective rather than individual. In recent months, many have experienced what it means to live in a Yaakov moment, when strength is measured not by momentum, but by cohesion; not by confidence, but by care for one another. This, too, is the work of rooting.
The Haftorah insists that becoming Yisrael does not happen all at once. Transformation does not begin with visible success, but with a refusal to fragment under strain. A people becomes expansive only after it has learned how to hold together.
The Haftorah closes with a vision in which both names stand side by side: וְהִקְדִּ֙ישׁוּ֙ אֶת־קְד֣וֹשׁ יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב וְאֶת־אֱלֹהֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל יַעֲרִֽיצוּ, They will hallow the Holy One of Jacob, And stand in awe of the G-d of Israel. Yaakov, the name of struggle and inwardness. Yisrael, the name of dignity and presence. Hashem’s name is sanctified not in the leap from one to the other, but in the faithfulness that sustains a people through the space between them.
And sometimes, the holiest work we do is simply to remain — unseen, uncelebrated, but deeply anchored — until the moment comes to bloom.