The first blessing after the reading from the Prophets is marked by two themes: the faithfulness of G-d; and G-d’s consistent pattern of declaring and fulfilling. The reason these themes resonate here is because broadly speaking the readings from the Prophets through the course of the year reverberate with alternating condemnations of the people of Israel for inappropriate behavior, and glorious descriptions of the people’s future redemption and return to Zionism.
The ability to see redemption even in condemnation is beautifully expressed in a midrash about Rabbi Akiba and his followers seeing the ruins of the Temple in Jerusalem, after the Roman destruction. The other rabbis started to cry, but Rabbi Akiba started to laugh. “How could you laugh at a time like this?” they asked. And Rabbi Akiba answered, “Didn’t G-d say that we would suffer for our disobedience? Yes, and G-d was true to His word. And didn’t G-d say that someday the people would be redeemed? Yes, and G-d will be true to His word again. That is why I am laughing, with joyful thoughts for the coming redemption.” (Please note: a reality we have been privileged to witness in our own days!!).
As we will discuss next week, the following blessings after the haftarah discuss various aspects of the theme of redemption—which led to great ambivalence among the more liberal branches of Judaism. But that’s another story. Stay tuned.
One further note about style. Both biblical and rabbinic Hebrew make tremendous and intentional use of repetition. In this first blessing, tzedek (righteousness), ne’eman (faithful—similar to amen), and davar (word, as in “true to His word”) are repeated numerous times, much more than is common in English. In our English composition classes, we are always taught not to repeat, to find synonyms instead, and to have a progression of thoughts rather than a simple restatement of them. But even in English, repetition sometimes can have a powerful effect—“Quoth the Raven—‘Nevermore;’” “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender;” and, of course, “I have a dream.”
Our ancestors too had a dream, one that is repeated in the weekly haftarah, and one that, like all great dreams, bears repetition.