Shnayim Mikra

Moshe's father-in-law Yisro (Jethro in English) heard about everything that G-d did in Egypt, so he went to visit his son-in-law. Moshe had previously sent his wife Tzipporah back to her father's house, so Yisro brought her with him, as well as Moshe's two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. Yisro sent word ahead that they were coming, so Moshe came to greet them. The two men were happy to be reunited and Moshe told him all about G-d's deeds in Egypt, as well as what had occurred on their journey. Yisro praised G-d for all He had done for Israel; he renounced his pagan deities in favor of the One G-d. He offered sacrifices to G-d, then he was guest of honor at a banquet Moshe prepared.

An interesting observation: who would one typically expect to say "Baruch Hashem?" Jews, right? Yet only three people in the Torah use the phrase as we do: Noach (Gen. 9:26), Eliezer (Gen. 24:27) and Yisro in our parsha (Ex. 18:10) - not a Jew in the bunch! (Though Yisro subsequently converted.) If you were to do a Concordance search, you would find two other instances of "Baruch Hashem" in Chumash, though the usage in those cases is to call another person "blessed by G-d" rather than to praise G-d Himself. Even so, the people uttering the words in those instances - Lavan speaking of Eliezer and Avimelech speaking of Yitzchak - are also non-Jewish! So, while in the rest of Nach, both Jews (Dovid, Shlomo) and non-Jews (e.g., Chiram) say "Baruch Hashem," in the Torah itself, only non-Jews use the phrase.

The next day, it was back to work. Moshe sat and all the people brought their problems to him. Yisro said, "This won't do. You have to learn to delegate." (After all, not every problem required Moshe's personal attention!) Yisro devised a hierarchy of leaders with responsibility over groups of 10, 50, 100 and 1,000 people. They could always bring major cases to Moshe, but they could handle most matters themselves.

Moshe liked Yisro's idea, and G-d was apparently okay with it, so he implemented it. He found honest, capable men and deputized them as his delegates over the various-sized groups Yisro had suggested.

After this, they said their goodbyes and Yisro went home.

On the first day of the month of Sivan, the Jews camped in the Sinai desert, opposite Mount Sinai. G-d told Moshe to give the following message to the people:

"You saw what I did in Egypt and how I took care of you. If you keep My covenant, you will be My special people. You will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."

When the Jews heard G-d's proposition, they agreed unanimously and unconditionally. That being the case, G-d gave them three days to prepare themselves. They were to purify themselves and even immerse their clothing in a mikvah (ritual bath). On the third day, G-d would manifest His Presence in a cloud on Mt. Sinai and all the Jews would hear Him speak to Moshe.

A perimeter was set around the mountain because any person or animal who touched it during the experience would die; a long shofar blast would sound the "all clear."

The people purified themselves and abstained from marital relations for three days in anticipation of the encounter. On the third day, there was lightning and thunder with a heavy cloud on Mt. Sinai. The people trembled from the spectacle, but Moshe led them to the mountain. There, G-d's Presence manifested in fire and the mountain was smoking like a furnace. The mountain shook and the sound of a shofar grew increasingly louder. Moshe spoke and G-d replied in an audible voice.

G-d's Presence manifested on the mountain's peak, so Moshe climbed up to meet it. G-d told Moshe to go warn the people not to approach - not even the priests, who would normally be expected to interact with the Divine. To disobey would lead to widespread destruction!

Moshe replied that it wasn't a problem, since G-d had already had him set a perimeter around the mountain. G-d told Moshe to go deliver the message anyway. He could bring Aharon with him, but everyone else had to maintain a respectable distance. So Moshe did as he was told.

And then it was "show time."

G-d spoke the first two commandments directly to the people, after which He spoke through Moshe. The "Ten Commandments" given at this time are:

1. To recognize that there's a G-d; He is the One Who brought the Jews out of Egyptian slavery.

2. Not to insult G-d with idols. We have an exclusive relationship with Him and He takes it pretty seriously!

3. Not to take G-d's Name in vain. This is unacceptable!

4. To remember Shabbos (the Sabbath) and sanctify it. Saturday is Shabbos and no one in the household may perform constructive acts of labor on that day in commemoration of G-d's "rest" after creating the universe.

5. To honor our parents. This can be a hard one and fulfilling it promises a person rich spiritual rewards.

6. Not to murder.

7. Not to commit adultery.

8. Not to steal, specifically not to kidnap.

9. Not to testify falsely against another.

10. Not to lust after that which belongs to another. (Really, just be satisfied with what G-d has given you and you won't get into trouble!)

One question: who are the "priests" referred to in verses 19:22 and 24? After all, Aharon and his sons had not yet been appointed kohanim (priests)! Rashi cites the Talmud in Zevachim 115b that before the Mishkan (Tabernacle) was built, the service was conducted by the first born sons - refer back to our synopsis of parshas Bo - Shevii.

The people saw the sounds (you didn't misread that: they saw the sounds!) as well as the fire and everything else that was going on. They were terrified that the experience would literally be the death of them, so they told Moshe, "You know what? From now on, why don't you just talk to G-d and get the mitzvos for us?" (There's a difference of opinion as to when this exchange took place. It might have been after the first two commandments, when G-d switched from talking directly TO Israel to talking to Moshe ABOUT them, but it also might have occurred after the Sinai experience.) Moshe told the people not to worry, G-d had done that for their benefit, so that awe of Him would help to keep them from sin. Be that as it may, it was an experience they were not quick to replicate, so they kept their distance and let Moshe do the talking.

G-d told Moshe to tell the Jews that now that they had experienced Him, to be careful not to be led into the snare of idolatry. (We can't really grasp how tantalizing the lure of idolatry was back in those days.) G-d told the Jews to build an altar to sacrifice to Him. It could not be built with iron tools, as these were implements of war. The altar had to be approached by a ramp, rather than stairs. Stairs would cause the kohanim (priests) to "flash" a little skin, however minimal, which was unacceptably immodest in the context of the altar. (These three commands, given in the wake of the Sinai experience, correspond to the three cardinal sins - idolatry, murder and adultery - for which one must be prepared to perish rather than transgress.)

The connection of the first half of this haftarah to our Torah reading is clear, since it is Isaiah’s vision of God; just as the Jews’ saw God at Sinai, Isaiah sees God here. The second half does not fit so well, either with the first half or with the Torah reading, since it takes up another incident at a different stage of Isaiah’s career.

A little thought shows that the first half, too, bears further consideration. True, both readings speak of a revelation of God, but the Torah reading speaks of God’s appearance at Sinai, an event on a different scale and of a different sort than Isaiah’s. God appearing to an entire people and giving them the laws that form one version of the core of their religion bears little relation to an individual attaining a personal vision of God in which he volunteers for a prophetic mission. Especially since that mission consists of informing the Jews of their inadequacies, the relation to Sinai becomes tenuous.

What Does God Look Like to Isaiah?

The content of the vision offers a key to figuring out the role of the second half of the haftarah as well as the relationship of both halves to the Torah reading. Isaiah sees God sitting on an exalted throne, with His “bottom parts” (whatever that means when applied to God) filling the Temple. That already suggests a God who is exalted and removed even as His impact is strongly felt in the world, immanent while transcendent.

Isaiah locates his vision in the Temple, an interesting choice since so much of his book bemoans how the Jews’ emphasis on ritual and sacrifice has fed a neglect of social justice. This vision reminds us that he did not mean to deny the Temple’s importance, just to point out the Jews’ failure to balance their Temple- focus with necessary other actions.

Placing the vision in the Temple also gives it a more national than personal tinge, since that is where God promised to relate to the people as a whole, not just individuals. Isaiah’s seeing “seraphim,” fiery angels, rather than ordinary ones, fits the content of the vision, since he then finds out that he has volunteered to tell the Jews of the trouble they are in.

The commentators disagree as to whether he is telling them that their hearts, ears, and eyes are too hardened to heed the messages that will help them avoid the coming destruction or whether he is informing them that God is going to harden their hearts, with the same result. Both readings stress the implausibility of change, again moving the experience from the personal to the national.

This complements Sinai; in the first case, God appeared to the entire people with a message of love, command, and continuing connection, while in the later vision He called on Isaiah to serve as messenger to inform the people of how far they have strayed and their inability to any longer hear from God directly.

Chapter 7, Verses 1-6: A Message of Hope

So far, the haftarah gives a negative counterpart to Sinai, leaving little hope. Chapter 7 balances that picture, opening the door to a more positive outcome than just death or destruction. Here, Ahaz, an evil king, is told not to fear the kings who are coming to attack him, because God will protect him from them. The two incidents, juxtaposed, show us an exquisite irony of Isaiah’s career. He begins his prophecy during the time of a good king, Uziyah, and predicts doom and destruction, but is later also commissioned to tell an evil king, Ahaz, that God will save him.

In the context of Sinai, we see that Isaiah’s job was to clarify aspects that might have been misunderstood by the Jews. At the beginning of his prophecy, faced with people who were in many ways good and dedicated to God, his job was to remind them that they were nonetheless neglecting vital aspects of God’s service. Were that to continue, he is telling them, they would bear significant consequences.

Later on, when the people’s spiritual status has declined, perhaps to the point that they can no longer imagine God’s love, Isaiah is there to remind them of the other half of Sinai. Sinai embodies command, which implies reward and punishment, but also love, connection, and closeness.

God can show both in one meaning-packed event, but people need to separate the various pieces, to experience each on its own, before they can put them back together into a unified whole. Isaiah, in the haftarah, shows us one example of such a process.

Famous Verses

1) Yevamot 49b identifies Isaiah’s referring to the Jews in Verse 5 as an “a nation of impure lips” as the sin that made him vulnerable to being killed. The Talmud says that Menaseh, the son of Hezekiah, accused Isaiah of contradicting Moses, since he claimed to have seen God, which the Torah says is impossible for mortals.

Realizing the pointlessness of arguing, Isaiah instead hid in a tree; Menasseh ordered it chopped in pieces, and when the ax hit Isaiah’s lips—the locus of his sinful denigration of the Jews-- he was killed. Note that his lips remained vulnerable despite an angel having removed his sin by placing a hot coal on his mouth.

The Talmud offers an answer to Menasseh’s claim, explaining that only Moses had to worry about seeing God and living, because only he saw through an “a clear glass,” meaning with enough accuracy that any fuller a vision might be beyond his powers to bear. For all other prophets, the issue never arose.

2) Verse 10 threatens or predicts that the Jewish people’s hearts will be fattened, preventing them from repenting. As it does so, though, the verse notes that were the Jews to repent, they would be healed, teaching R. Yohanan (Rosh haShanah 17b) that, at least for a community, repentance is available even after the promulgation of a Divine decree of punishment.

3) Chapter 7 verse 3 refers to the place where Isaiah and his son should meet Ahaz as “s’dei koveis,” which the Talmud interprets as meaning that Ahaz was ashamed before Isaiah. That shame saved him a share in the World to Come, so that he is not included in the list at the beginning of the tenth chapter of Sanhedrin of those who permanently lost that share.