Some of the most stirring and beautiful Biblical words – or any words – are those spoken by the prophet Yishayahu. “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation” (Yishayahu 2;4); “I the Lord have called unto you in righteousness...to be as a light unto the nations” (Yishayahu 42:6); “For out of Zion shall Torah come forth and the word of G-d for Jerusalem” (Yishayahu 2;3); “Be comforted, Be Comforted My nation” (Yishayahu 40:1);and so many more.
Yet when we open the book and begin to read - as we do on the shabbat before Tisha B’Av - we meet a very different Yishayahu “That you come to appear before Me—Who asked that of you? [don’t’] Trample My courts”; “Your new moons and fixed seasons fill Me with loathing; They are become a burden to Me, I cannot endure them”; “Your rulers are rogues, And cronies of thieves, Every one avid for presents. And greedy for gifts”, “They do not judge the case of the orphan, And the widow’s cause never reaches them”.
These two Yishayahu’s are but one.[1] The same prophet who speaks so beautifully of the Temple being a place where all nations of the world shall gather together to pray is the same prophet who tells us that G-d hates our prayers. It all depends on the context.
Judaism has never believed in an all or nothing approach. Just because one violates Shabbat does not mean they should not keep kosher. And just because one gossips one dare not refrain from helping the needy. However, this only holds true when one violates the rituals of Judaism. One who is “non-observant” can, should and must be encouraged to follow the ethical guidelines of the Torah[2]. But the reverse does not hold true.
One who is ethically deficient should be discouraged from observing the “ritual” mitzvot of the Torah. As radical as that may sound, such is the advice of our Sages. “What is the desecration of God’s name?...One who reads Torah, and learns Mishna, and serves Torah scholars, but his business practices are not done faithfully, and he does not speak pleasantly with other people, what do people say about him? Woe to so-and-so who studied Torah, woe to his father who taught him Torah, woe to his teacher who taught him Torah. So-and-so who studied Torah, see how destructive are his deeds, and how ugly are his ways” (Yoma 86a).
It is precisely because one studies Torah and serves Torah scholars that his dishonesty and not niceness are so damaging, desecrating the name of G-d, the one sin for which even Yom Kippur cannot atone. Whereas the ritually non-observant but of good character is observing many, but not yet all, of the mitzvot of the Torah, the ritually observant but ethically wanting is, is in fact desecrating G-d’s name.
Such a person sadly did not understand that the purpose of rituals is to develop our ethical refinement. We fast - this same Yishayahu tells us as we read the Haftarah of Yom Kippur – so that we develop our sensitivity to the hungry. As our Sages put it the “reward for fasting is charity” (Brachot 5b). One sits in the sukkah to appreciate what it means to have a roof over one’s head and to goad us into helping the homeless finds homes. G-d surely does not need our rituals. “What need have I of all your sacrifices? says G-d" (Yisayahu 1:11).
That the purpose of all ritual is the ethical explains how Hillel can say that the entire Torah can be summed up as “what is hateful to you do not do to others” (Shabbat 31a). Hillel does not say that is the summary of all the mitzvot between and man, he says that is the entire Torah. All mitzvot – kashrut, shabbat, shofar, sha'atnez are connected to how we treat our fellow man.
Yishayahu does not mince words. And it is these words that we need to hear each year before Tisha B’av, as long as sina’at chinam, apathy, or G-d forbid hatred exists between Jews.
Yet this approach is in seeming contrast to Moshe’s approach which we also read every year on the shabbat preceding Tisha B’Av. “These are the words that Moshe addressed to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan, in the wilderness, in the Aravah near Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Lavan, Chazerot, and di-Zahav” (Devarim 1:1). While the Torah seems to be telling us where Moshe was when he spoke, there is no such place where all the above meet. Rather, Rashi explains that each of these places serves as a hint to remind the Jewish people of the sin they committed at that place. Instead of hitting them over the head, the sins are just alluded to. “Because these are words of reproof and he is enumerating here all the places where they provoked God to anger, therefore he suppresses all mention of the matters in which they sinned and refers to them only by a mere allusion contained in the names of these places out of respect for the Jewish people” (Rashi, Devarim 1:1).
The Jewish people despite their shortcomings are an amazing people and out of respect to the people Moshe just alluded to their sins[3].
Did Yishayahu not get Moshe’s message? One might posit that there is a time for allusions – might we call this diplomacy – and a time for a direct talk without mincing words. There were no hints when Moshe smashed the tablets and just a few verses into sefer Devarim Moshe is quite direct in his critique of the people. “Eicha, How can I bear unaided the trouble of you, and the burden, and the bickering! (Devarim 1:12). All depends on time and place.
A closer look at Moshe’s references leads one to the conclusion that it depends on the type of sin we are referring to. Rashi explains the places listed are references to the following sins; complaining to G-d about the lack of food in the desert, sinning with the daughters of Moav in the Arava, their murmurings at Yam Suf "are there not enough graves in Egypt", their complaints about the manna food, their lack of faith re: the meraglim, their failure to learn not to speak against the land after seeing Miriam punished for misuse of speech, and the sin of the golden calf.
With the possible exception of the Miriam[4] incident these are all sins between man and G-d and for that hinting is best. Yishayahu – and Moshe some ten verses into his speech – refer to sins between man and man; corruption, ignoring the plight of the poor, injustice, libel and more. For that one needs to speak much more forcefully – even if only to telegraph a message of the centrality of the ethical mitzvot of Judaism.
This distinction between ethics and ritual, between mitzvot between man and man and man and G-d is codified by the Rambam. “It is most praiseworthy for a person who repents to confess in public and to make his sins known to others, revealing the transgressions he committed against his colleagues…Anyone who, out of pride, conceals his sins and does not reveal them will not achieve complete repentance...When does the above apply? In regard to sins between man and man. However, in regard to sins between man and God, it is not necessary to publicize one's [transgressions]. Indeed, revealing them is arrogant” (Hilchot Teshuva 2:5).
One’s relationship to G-d is a private matter between man and G-d. One’s relationship to others is of great public concern. Let us take that to heart.
[1] This is not the place to discuss the authorship of sefer Yishayahu.
[2] It is worth noting that the great Talmudic Sage Rava is of the view that one who is ethically upstanding but not ritually observant is still considered a valid witness in Jewish law (Sanhedrin 27a). That the opposite is not so hardly needs to be said.
[3] In addition to displaying respect this is generally a more effective approach – at least in our era where many react quite negatively to any criticism.
[4] I say possible exception because while Jewish law forbids what Miriam did, secular law does not as she spoke the truth. That speaking the truth should be forbidden seems to me to at least partially be a mitzva between man and G-d.
