Haftaras Devarim: Permanent Stains

Are our sins like stains that can be removed or are they permanent? Depends on which navi you ask: Yeshayahu or Yirmiyahu. Our understanding of this message is critical for our national teshuvah.

Jul 20, 2018

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Haftaras Parashas Devarim: Permanent Stains

The haftarah for Shabbos Chazon (i.e. the Shabbos before Tishah b'Av) is the first chapter of Sefer Yeshayahu. The navi (prophet) begins with a scathing censure of the citizens of Yerushalayim and Yehudah. He labels them as "rebels," decries their refusal to know God, calls them "a sinful nation, a people weighed down by iniquity, evil offspring, destructive children" who have "forsaken Hashem and turned their back [to Him]" (Yeshayahu 1:4). He tells them that their sacrifices, their holidays, and their prayers are worthless and are abhorrent to Him because "[their] hands are filled with blood" (ibid. 1:15). He refers to his fellow Jews as "chiefs of Sedom ... people of Amorah" (ibid. 1:10), urging them:

Wash yourselves, purify yourselves, remove the evil of your deeds from before My eyes; cease doing evil. Learn to do good, seek justice, vindicate the victim, render justice to the orphan, take up the grievance of the widow. (ibid. 1:16-17)

But then, in the midst of this harsh rebuke, he delivers a message of hope:

"Come, now, let us discuss together," says Hashem, "If your sins are like scarlet they will become as white as snow; if they have become red as crimson, they will become [white] as wool. If you are willing and obey, you will eat the goodness of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword" - for the mouth of Hashem has spoken. (ibid. 1:18-20)

The Abravanel (Yeshayahu 1:18) explains the import of this message:

The correct [explanation] to me is that because the navi rebuked the people of Yehudah and Yerushalayim so much, and called them “chiefs of Sedom, people of Amorah,” “wicked offspring, corrupt children,” he was worried that perhaps they would give up hope from [doing] teshuvah. Therefore, he spoke to their hearts, [saying:] “Come, let us discuss.” It is as if he had said, “My brothers and friends! Let us come, now, and accept rebuke by returning to Hashem” – for this (i.e. doing teshuvah) is the true acceptance of rebuke … And he informed them that even though their sins are like scarlet – that is, red from the blood of the victims of murder and oppression – then if they accepted rebuke, [their garments] would immediately be whitened like snow and like wool, and there wouldn’t remain any mark at all, for the color white signifies purity.

This message is consistent with our understanding of Judaism's stance on teshuvah. Hashem is always willing to accept our teshuvah and forgive our sins. He is "the Gracious One, abundant to forgive," as we say three times a day. This theme permeates the liturgy on Yom ha'Kippurim, especially in Neilah. The Rambam (Hilchos Teshuvah 4:6) writes at the end of his list of the 24 things which prevent teshuvah:

All of these things: even though they hold back teshuvah, they do not prevent teshuvah. Rather, if a person did teshuvah from them, then he is baal teshuvah, and he has a portion in Olam ha’Ba (the World to Come).

So what is the problem here? The problem doesn't stem from the way Yeshayahu talks about teshuvah. The problem is the way Yirmiyahu talks about teshuvah. Yirmiyahu says, in Hashem's name:

For I have always broken your yoke and torn off your straps, and you have said, "I will not transgress!" Yet upon every lofty hill and under every leafy tree you wander like a harlot. I had planted you from a choice vine, entirely of faithful seed; how, then, have you turned yourself into an inferior, alien vine before Me? Even if you were to cleanse yourself with nitre (i.e. stain-remover) and use much soap, your iniquity has become a stain before Me - the word of my Lord, Hashem-Elokim. (Yirmiyahu 2:20-22)

The same analogy is used by these two neviim (prophets), but the message is the opposite: according to Yeshayahu, our iniquity is like a stain that can be removed; according to Yirmiyahu, it is like a stain that can't be removed.

Now, one might try to resolve this by saying that these two neviim were speaking at different times in Jewish history, separated by nearly 200 years: Yeshayahu was the first navi to prophesy about the destruction of Yerushalayim, and Yirmiyahu was the last. Similarly, one can answer that these two neviim were speaking to two different groups of Jews; the Jews in Yirmiyahu's time were undoubtedly more corrupt than the Jews addressed by Yeshayahu.

The reason why this answer fails is that Yirmiyahu, himself, delivers Yeshayahu's same message later on in his sefer, saying: "Cleanse your heart from evil, O Yerushalayim, so that you may be saved; how long will you lodge your iniquitous thoughts within yourself?" (ibid. 4:14). Apparently, their hearts can be cleansed from iniquity, even according to Yirmiyahu!

Chazal (Rosh ha'Shanah 18a) note this internal contradiction and offer a cryptic resolution:

It is written: "cleanse your heart from evil" and it is written: "even if you were to cleanse yourself with nitre and use much soap, your iniquity is a stain before Me"! ... There is no contradiction: here [in the latter case] we are dealing with a [Divine] verdict accompanied by a [Divine] oath, whereas there [in the former case] we are dealing with a [Divine] verdict that is not accompanied by a [Divine] oath.

According to Chazal, we can cleanse ourselves from iniquity even after the Divine verdict has been sealed, but only if this verdict was not accompanied by a Divine oath. If a Divine verdict is sealed with a Divine oath, then the iniquity cannot be cleansed. As an example of the latter, they cite the case of the House of Eli: "Therefore, I have sworn concerning the House of Eli that the iniquity of the House of Eli would never be atoned for by sacrifice or minchah-offering" (I Shmuel 3:14).

The Abravanel doesn't accept Chazal's answer:

If we were to say like the words of Chazal – that “your iniquity is a stain before Me” because it was a Divine verdict accompanied by an oath, which cannot be overturned, and the teshuvah cannot be accepted – then a huge difficulty is posed to us by the repeated sending of the neviim and their rebukes, and all their words would be in vain and for no purpose, for if the decree were true, the diligence of the neviim would be false. Moreover, [according to Chazal’s answer], this severely weakens the doctrine about the virtue of teshuvah that we have received [through the Oral Tradition, namely,] that nothing stands in the way [of teshuvah].

In other words, if teshuvah cannot atone for a sin when the Divine verdict was accompanied by an oath - as in the case of Yirmiyahu 2:22, according to Chazal's reading - then the sending of the neviim urging the people to do teshuvah was pointless! Furthermore, this answer flies in the face of everything we know about the unstoppable power of teshuvah!

Instead, the Abravanel offers two answers: first the Radak's, and then his own. The Radak (as paraphrased below by the Abravanel) resolves the contradiction based not on the acceptance of teshuvah, but on the process of kaparah (atonement) for different levels of sin:

Based on the divisions of kaparah (atonement) expounded by Rebbi Yishmael (Yoma 86a), the view of the Radak is proper and acceptable. [He answers] that if the Jews of that generation did teshuvah, they would be saved from the enemy and would not have gone into exile, but they [still] would have received [some degree of] punishment for their iniquities – whether by plague, or by famine, or by other catastrophes while they were still on their land. This is because there are iniquities for which teshuvah alone is not sufficient to provide kaparah; [in some cases the teshuvah must be accompanied] by yisurin (afflictions) that cleanse [the remnants of the iniquities] or with death. Regarding the possibility of saving the people from exile by means of teshuvah, [Yirmiyahu] said: “cleanse your heart from evil so that you may be saved.” Regarding the other punishments which cleanse iniquities it was stated here: “even if you cleanse … [your iniquity is a stain before Me.”

The Radak's answer is that teshuvah is always accepted - completely and fully - but this doesn't mean that the teshuvah will remove all of the punishments or consequences. In some cases, the sinners may need to endure suffering or even death in order to provide full kaparah. Accordingly, it would seem that in Yeshayahu's time, Bnei Yisrael could have done teshuvah and attained complete kaparah, whereas in Yirmiyahu's time, their teshuvah would have successfully "cleansed their hearts from evil," but there would remain a stain which could only be removed through additional suffering.

The Abravanel answers through a subtle reading of the metaphor which dissolves the contradiction:

But according to my own opinion, this question doesn’t apply to our pasuk, for here it did not state: “if you cleanse your heart from evil" - which alludes to true teshuvah - as he said in the other pasuk: “cleanse your heart from evil.” He didn’t say that in this pasuk because the navi didn’t intend to say here that even if they did teshuvah it wouldn’t benefit them.

Rather, his intent was to say that the people of his generation were wicked in secret, but outwardly portrayed themselves as pious. Regarding this he said to them that even though they do outward acts of piety, Ha’Kadosh Baruch Hu knows their secret wicked actions. This is the meaning of: “even if you cleanse yourself with nitre and use lots of soap” – which are things used to whiten clothing. Behold! Despite all of the outward actions that you do with deception and fraud, “your iniquity is a stain before Me” – in other words, your hidden iniquity is a stain and a blemish before Me.
There is a difference between cleansing your clothing (i.e. doing external acts of piety) and cleansing your heart (i.e. doing real teshuvah, thereby changing yourself). The navi here doesn't say "you can't cleanse your heart" but rather "even if you cleanse your clothing, the sin of your heart is a stain before Me."

Personally, I prefer the Abravanel's interpretation over the Radak's. Time and again we see the Navi rebuking Klal Yisrael for engaging in external forms of teshuvah while retaining their inner corruption. A great example of this can be found in another one of Yeshayahu's prophecies, which we read as the haftarah on the morning of Yom ha'Kippurim:

Cry out vociferously, do not restrain yourself; raise your voice like a shofar - proclaim to My people their willful sins, to the House of Jacob their transgressions. They pretend to seek Me every day and to desire to know My ways, like a nation that acts righteously and has not forsaken the justice of its God; they inquire of Me about the laws of justice, as if they desire the nearness of God, [asking,] "Why did we fast and You did not see? Why did we afflict ourselves, and You did not know?"
Behold! On your fast day you seek out personal gain and you extort all your debts. Because you fast for grievance and strife, to streak [each other] with a wicked fist; you do not fast as befits this day, to make your voice heard above. Can such be a fast I choose, a day when man merely afflicts himself? Can it be merely bowing one's head like a bulrush and spreading sackcloth and ashes?
Surely this is the fast I choose: to break open the shackles of wickedness, to undo the bonds of justice, and to let the oppressed go free, and to annul all perversion. Surely you should break your bread for the hungry, and bring the moaning poor [to your] home; when you see a naked person, clothe him; and do not hide yourself from your kin.

This provides us with valuable practical insight: having a religious self-image can be an obstacle to teshuvah. The Jews in Yeshayahu's time - and, according to the Abravanel, in Yirmiyahu's time as well - viewed themselves as pious and religious. They brought their korbanos, they observed the moadim (holidays), they made their aliyos l'regel (festival pilgrimages), they davened, and they learned. This is precisely why Hashem's rebuke in our haftarah was calculated to shatter their pious self-image, which which was reinforced with outward actions of piety and the scrupulous observance. Yeshayahu's central message in our haftarah may be summed up as: "Who do you think you are?" He goes on to dismantle every characteristic that the Jews of his time used to prop up their righteous façade:

"You think you are loyal? You are rebels! You think you're special because you're the descendants of the Avos? You are like the citizens of Sedom and Amorah! You think you're righteous because you are scrupulous in the avodah ba'Mikdash (Temple service)? Your avodah is worthless to me. I am sick of your korbanos, your moadim, your aliyah l'regel, and I refuse to listen to your tefilos - all so long as you continue to harbor inward corruption and injustice towards your fellow man. Yerushalayim was once a city of righteousness and faithfulness. Now it is a city of murderers and liars."

This "assault on self-image" is a harsh tool, but an effective one. My chavrusa gave an apt analogy: if you point out policy problems among the respective parties of conservative Republicans or liberal Democrats, this will be very easy for them to shrug off these critiques - but if you accuse the Republicans of being hell-bent socialists intent on destroying America or if you accuse Democrats of being villainous fascists who oppress minorities, that'll get their attention. And if you are skillful enough in making your case, you might succeed in getting them to question the veracity of their own self-image and identity.

This is what many of the neviim sought to do in their rebukes of Klal Yisrael. If they merely pointed out specific aveiros (transgressions) and avonos (iniquities), it would be very easy for the Jews to shrug and say: "Sure, I agree that this is a problem, but there's always room for improvement." No real teshuvah would take place; any teshuvah they did would be confined to their outward actions - their clothing, rather than their heart. Instead, the neviim framed their rebukes in terms of identity: "Is that who you think you are? You are exactly the opposite." Once their self-image is shattered, the real teshuvah process can begin.

This is a core objective of the annual ymei taanis (fast days). Rather than wait for a national catastrophe to befall our people and compel us to engage in a national soul-searching, we use the national tzaros (catastrophes) of the past to prompt this type of introspection in the present, at regular intervals. Who are we, as a nation? Who are we supposed to be, and how have we become what we have become?

This is also why we read haftaros such as this one today. Nevuah has ceased from our nation, as a result of our iniquities, but the contents of nevuah are more relevant than ever. The question is whether we will listen to the words of the navi and ask ourselves: “Who are we, as a nation? Who are we supposed to be, and how have we become what we have become?”

[1] Don Yitzchak Abravanel, Commentary on Sefer Yeshayahu 1:18; this goes for all Abravanel references in this post

[2] Rabbeinu Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam / Maimonides), Mishneh Torah: Sefer ha'Mada, Hilchos Teshuvah 4:6

[3] Rabbeinu David Kimchi (Radak), Commentary on Sefer Yeshayahu; I've chosen to quote the Abravanel's summary of the Radak's view, since it's a little bit clearer

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