Thursday, February 16, 2017

Yeshaya 65

The fragment Yeshaya 65 verses 13-25:

לָכֵן כֹּה-אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה, הִנֵּה עֲבָדַי יֹאכֵלוּ וְאַתֶּם תִּרְעָבוּ--הִנֵּה עֲבָדַי יִשְׁתּוּ, וְאַתֶּם תִּצְמָאוּ; הִנֵּה עֲבָדַי יִשְׂמָחוּ, וְאַתֶּם תֵּבֹשׁוּ. הִנֵּה עֲבָדַי יָרֹנּוּ, מִטּוּב לֵב; וְאַתֶּם תִּצְעֲקוּ מִכְּאֵב לֵב, וּמִשֵּׁבֶר רוּחַ תְּיֵלִילוּ. וְהִנַּחְתֶּם שִׁמְכֶם לִשְׁבוּעָה לִבְחִירַי, וֶהֱמִיתְךָ אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה; וְלַעֲבָדָיו יִקְרָא, שֵׁם אַחֵר. אֲשֶׁר הַמִּתְבָּרֵךְ בָּאָרֶץ, יִתְבָּרֵךְ בֵּאלֹהֵי אָמֵן, וְהַנִּשְׁבָּע בָּאָרֶץ, יִשָּׁבַע בֵּאלֹהֵי אָמֵן: כִּי נִשְׁכְּחוּ, הַצָּרוֹת הָרִאשֹׁנוֹת, וְכִי נִסְתְּרוּ, מֵעֵינָי. כִּי-הִנְנִי בוֹרֵא שָׁמַיִם חֲדָשִׁים, וָאָרֶץ חֲדָשָׁה; וְלֹא תִזָּכַרְנָה הָרִאשֹׁנוֹת, וְלֹא תַעֲלֶינָה עַל-לֵב. כִּי-אִם-שִׂישׂוּ וְגִילוּ עֲדֵי-עַד, אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי בוֹרֵא: כִּי הִנְנִי בוֹרֵא אֶת-יְרוּשָׁלִַם גִּילָה, וְעַמָּהּ מָשׂוֹשׂ. וְגַלְתִּי בִירוּשָׁלִַם, וְשַׂשְׂתִּי בְעַמִּי; וְלֹא-יִשָּׁמַע בָּהּ עוֹד, קוֹל בְּכִי וְקוֹל זְעָקָה. לֹא-יִהְיֶה מִשָּׁם עוֹד, עוּל יָמִים וְזָקֵן, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יְמַלֵּא, אֶת-יָמָיו: כִּי הַנַּעַר, בֶּן-מֵאָה שָׁנָה יָמוּת, וְהַחוֹטֶא, בֶּן-מֵאָה שָׁנָה יְקֻלָּל. וּבָנוּ בָתִּים, וְיָשָׁבוּ; וְנָטְעוּ כְרָמִים, וְאָכְלוּ פִּרְיָם. לֹא יִבְנוּ וְאַחֵר יֵשֵׁב, לֹא יִטְּעוּ וְאַחֵר יֹאכֵל: כִּי-כִימֵי הָעֵץ יְמֵי עַמִּי, וּמַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵיהֶם יְבַלּוּ בְחִירָי. לֹא יִיגְעוּ לָרִיק, וְלֹא יֵלְדוּ לַבֶּהָלָה: כִּי זֶרַע בְּרוּכֵי יְהוָה, הֵמָּה, וְצֶאֱצָאֵיהֶם, אִתָּם. הָיָה טֶרֶם-יִקְרָאוּ, וַאֲנִי אֶעֱנֶה; עוֹד הֵם מְדַבְּרִים, וַאֲנִי אֶשְׁמָע. זְאֵב וְטָלֶה יִרְעוּ כְאֶחָד, וְאַרְיֵה כַּבָּקָר יֹאכַל-תֶּבֶן, וְנָחָשׁ, עָפָר לַחְמוֹ; לֹא-יָרֵעוּ וְלֹא-יַשְׁחִיתוּ בְּכָל-הַר קָדְשִׁי, אָמַר יְהוָה

Two verses of this fragment appear in our list. The English Standard Version is as follows:

Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame; behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out for pain of heart and shall wail for breaking of spirit. You shall leave your name to my chosen for a curse, and the Lord God will put you to death, but his servants he will call by another name, so that he who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth, and he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten and are hidden from my eyes. “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain tor bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.

See, a description of revolutionary change, really the entrance to Olam Haba. Man will receive a longevity that may be difficult to conceive. It is a longevity that is predicated on a change of heart. The science of man can fix the errors in man, but it cannot bring him true happiness. It is written that there is "the tree of life, inside the garden." There is the place, inside the garden, which is pointed at by the Cheruvim, and by "the flaming sword that turns every way." The flaming sword "protects the way to the tree of Life," so as to prevent longevity without a change of heart, which would be a sure recipe for disaster. Know that the flame of the sword can only be identified clearly in darkness. Because, the main usefulness of a flame is in darkness.

Who merits to identify the flame and who finds the tree, and also succeeds taking from it, he as it were awakens Hashem, the God of truth, in himself/herself: "but the Lord will arise upon you." True happiness shall be his/hers, and death does not force him/her. Such is the time after the redemption, when hatred of the other is no longer, when anti-Semitism has disappeared from the human heart. This is truly "the creation of new heavens and a new earth," when "we no longer speak of the former things," when "we shall bless ourselves by the God of truth."