Ilustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman
Haftarah הַפְטָרָה
This Shabbat we read a light-filled haftarah:
קוּמִי אוֹרִי כִּי בָא אוֹרֵךְ
וּכְבוֹד ה' עָלַיִךְ זָרָח׃
כִּי הִנֵּה הַחֹשֶׁךְ יְכַסֶּה אֶרֶץ וַעֲרָפֶל לְאֻמִּים
וְעָלַיִךְ יִזְרַח ה' וּכְבוֹדוֹ עָלַיִךְ יֵרָאֶה׃
וְהָלְכוּ גוֹיִם לְאוֹרֵךְ
וּמְלָכִים לְנֹגַהּ זַרְחֵךְ׃
Rise up, shine, for your light has dawned;
The Presence of God has shone upon you!
Behold! Darkness will cover the earth,
And thick clouds the peoples;
But God will shine on you,
And God’s Presence will be seen over you.
And nations shall walk by your light,
Kings, by your shining radiance.
In these pesukim, light moves in a few directions: God is light, God’s light shines on the Jewish people, and the Jewish people shine their light on the rest of the world.
Later in the haftarah, Yeshayahu talks about the Jewish people’s bright future, when they will return to Yerushalayim from גָּלוּת (galut, exile). He says that Yerushalayim will no longer rely on the sun for its light, because God will be the source of light instead (Yeshayahu 60:19-20).
The idea of God as light also appears in Tehillim 27, which we’ve been adding to our tefillot each day since Rosh Hodesh Elul. The opening line there is: ה’ אוֹרִי וְיִשְׁעִי מִמִּי אִירָא– “God is my light and my help, whom should I fear?”
- What does light do for us? In what ways is God like light?
- In what ways can you be a light for others?
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