Halakhah su Isaia 54:41

Mainstream halachic opinion, which is reflected in practice in most Orthodox Jewish educational settings both in Israel and North America (as noted by Rav Ben Yaakov and Rav Bush), permits confiscating items from students if the educator believes that it distracts the students from learning. However, all committed Jews aspire to creating communities where teachers and students are fully invested in their partnership of learning. In such an environment, the question of confiscating items that detract from learning becomes a moot issue, since everyone is learning to the best of their ability, as prophesied by Yeshayahu (54:13): “And all of your children will be students of Hashem, and your children will have much peace.” We pray to speedily attain that situation.

And you already knew that the words of our rabbis follow the Torah’s means of expression, and so in the Torah there are permitted and prohibited foods: this you shall eat; this you shall not eat, and it is written, “from their flesh you shall not eat.”²⁷Lev 11:8. You wouldn’t say that this is an allegory – God forbid! – but it’s the actual literal meaning. And so they went on to say The Holy One, blessed be He, will in time to come make a sukkah for the righteous from the skin of Leviathan; for it is said: “Can you fill sukkot with his skin?”²⁸Job 40:31. Sukkot here is spelled with a sin, not a samekh as in sukkah meaning “tent,” and means “darts.” Thus, the meaning of the verse in context is “Can you fill his skin with darts?” If a man is worthy, a sukkah is made for him; if he is not worthy, a shadow [tzel] is made for him, for it is said: “And his head with a fish covering [bi-tziltzel].”²⁹Job 30:41. R. Bahya following the Talmud takes the two parts of this verse in Job as contrasting: the first part hints at the reward of the worthy, the second part to the punishment of the unworthy – “shade.” After this he skips a few lines of Talmud that expand on this theme of the worthy and unworthy’s “rewards.” The rest [of Leviathan] will be spread by the Holy One, blessed be He, upon the walls of Jerusalem, and its splendor will shine from one end of the world to the other; as it is said: “And nations shall walk by Your light.”³⁰Is 60:3, in b. Baba Batra 75a.

And in connection to this you will also find it plainly stated in Perek Helek³⁴B. Sanhedrin 100a, a well-known passage from the Talmud describing the world to come. that in time to come the human height [komot] will return to two hundred cubits, and they also taught this in a midrash likewise in Perek Sefinah:³⁵B. Baba Batra 75a. “I will lead you komamiyut,”³⁶Lev 26:13, literally, “I will make you walk erect” (JSB), but the midrash plays on the similarity between komamiyut “erect” and komot – “height.” R. Meir says: [it means] two hundred cubits – twice the height of Adam. R. Judah says: A hundred cubits; corresponding to the [height of the] temple and its walls. For it is said: ‘carved after the fashion of the Temple.³⁷Ps 144:22. But insofar as it said,³⁸B. Baba Batra, ibid. The Holy One, Blessed be He, will in time to come bring precious stones and pearls…and will cut out from them [openings] ten by twenty cubits, and will set them up in the gates of Jerusalem, as it is said, “and your gates of stones of carbuncle,”³⁹Is 54:12. it seems from this that the height will be no more than twenty cubits. So therefore it must be said that the gates of the houses are not being spoken about, for how could they enter them at that height?! But rather, it’s certainly the gates of the windows that are being spoken about. And you already knew that parashat “Im Behukotai” is a promise of what will happen in the future, for what it says there never existed in the two Temples, neither in the First nor the Second Temple. For what is destined in the Torah through its promises is not al shlemut, but will happen in time to come after the ancient sin has been atoned for, which has never occurred at any time, and this is what our sages z”l taught in a midrash:⁴⁰B. M.K. 16b. When David went out to war he killed eight hundred at one time, but was sorry for the two hundred [he would have killed], to fulfill what has been said, “How could one have routed a thousand?”⁴¹Dt 32:32, from the future promises enumerated in Deuteronomy. A voice from heaven went out and said, “Were it not for the matter of Uriah the Hittite.”⁴²1 Kings 15:5, and see the story in 2 Samuel chapters 11-12. King David fell in love with Uriah’s wife Bathsheba, and so sent Uriah off to the front lines of battle to be killed so that he could marry her.

It is a positive commandment to give charity to poor Jewish people, as it is said "Open your hand to him."¹Deuteronomy 15:8. And it is said: "That your brother may live with you."²Leviticus 25:36. Anyone who sees a poor person seeking help and ignores him, and does not give him charity, transgresses a prohibitive commandment, as it is said: "Do not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your brother in need."³Numbers 15:7. [Giving] charity is a characteristic of the descendants of Abraham, as it is said: "For I have a special love for him because he commands his children and his household after him [to preserve the way of Hashem] doing charity and justice."⁴Genesis 18:19. And the throne of Israel will be established and the religion of truth confirmed only through charity, as it is said: "Through charity will you be reestablished."⁵Isaiah 54:14. Greater is he who performs acts of charity than [one who brings] all the sacrifices, as it is said: "Performing acts of charity and justice is more desirable to Hashem than sacrifices."⁶Proverbs 21:3. The Jewish people will be redeemed only through [the merit of] charity, as it is said: "Zion will be redeemed through justice and its captives through acts of charity."⁷Isaiah 1:27. A person never becomes poor through giving charity, nor will any evil or harm befall him because of his giving charity, as it is said: Through acts of charity, there will be peace."⁸Isaiah 32:17. Whoever is merciful with others will be treated with mercy [from Heaven], as it is said: "He [God] will show you mercy; and have compassion upon you and multiply you."⁹Deuteronomy 13:18. Anyone who is cruel, causes his lineage to be suspect.¹⁰The descendants of Abraham are known for their kindness and generosity. One who does not possess this attitude causes his lineage to be doubtful. The Holy One blessed is He, is near to the cry of the poor, as it is said: "He will hear the cry of the poor."¹¹Job 34:28. Therefore one must beware of their anguished cry, for a covenant was made with them, as it is said: "When he cries out to me I will listen, for I am compassionate."¹²Exodus 22:26. The Jerusalem Talmud says: The door that doesn't open for the poor will open for the doctor. A person should consider, that he continually requests his sustenance from the Holy One blessed is He; and just as he requests that the Holy One blessed is He, listen to his cry and prayer, so should he listen to the cry of the poor. A person should also consider that [fortune] is a wheel that revolves in the world, and in the end he or his children or his children's children might [have to] accept charity. Let no man think: "Why should I diminish my wealth by giving it to the poor?" For he should know that the money is not his, but rather [it was given to him as] a trust, with which to do the will of the One Who entrusted the funds to him. And this [charity giving] will be his real share from all his toils in this world, As it is written:¹³Isaiah 58:8. "Your acts of charity shall preceed you [into the World to Come]. Charity voids evil decrees and prolongs life.

Beginning with the Shabbos following Tishah beAv and after that, for the next seven Shabbosos we read the haftoras "sheva denechamasa" [seven haftoras of consolation]. If the first day of Rosh Chodesh Elul occurs on Shabbos, the haftorah, Aniyah so'arah, is set aside ["O you afflicted, floundering in the storm,"] (Isaiah 54:11) and we read instead, "Hashamayim kis'i," [The heaven is My throne] (Isaiah 66:1), because this haftorah also contains consolation for Jerusalem. On the Shabbos of Parshas Ki Seitzei, when the haftorah Roni akarah [Sing, O barren woman] (Isaiah 54:1) is read, we conclude the haftorah with Aniyah so'arah, which is next to it. If, by mistake, on Shabbos Rosh Chodesh Elul, you said Aniyah so'arah, and you became aware of it before saying the concluding berachos, you should also say Hashamayim kis'i, and then say the concluding berachah. If you only became aware [of your error] after saying the concluding berachos, then you should recite, Hashamayim kis'i without the berachos. If Rosh Chodesh Elul occurs on Sunday, the haftorah, Machar Chodesh is set aside, [Tomorrow is Rosh Chodesh] (I Samuel 20:18), because it contains no consolation for Jerusalem, and the haftorah Aniyah so'arah is read.

Beginning with the Shabbos following Tishah beAv and after that, for the next seven Shabbosos we read the haftoras "sheva denechamasa" [seven haftoras of consolation]. If the first day of Rosh Chodesh Elul occurs on Shabbos, the haftorah, Aniyah so'arah, is set aside ["O you afflicted, floundering in the storm,"] (Isaiah 54:11) and we read instead, "Hashamayim kis'i," [The heaven is My throne] (Isaiah 66:1), because this haftorah also contains consolation for Jerusalem. On the Shabbos of Parshas Ki Seitzei, when the haftorah Roni akarah [Sing, O barren woman] (Isaiah 54:1) is read, we conclude the haftorah with Aniyah so'arah, which is next to it. If, by mistake, on Shabbos Rosh Chodesh Elul, you said Aniyah so'arah, and you became aware of it before saying the concluding berachos, you should also say Hashamayim kis'i, and then say the concluding berachah. If you only became aware [of your error] after saying the concluding berachos, then you should recite, Hashamayim kis'i without the berachos. If Rosh Chodesh Elul occurs on Sunday, the haftorah, Machar Chodesh is set aside, [Tomorrow is Rosh Chodesh] (I Samuel 20:18), because it contains no consolation for Jerusalem, and the haftorah Aniyah so'arah is read.

Laws of Rosh Ḥodesh that happens to fall on Shabbat, which has three clauses: On Rosh Ḥodesh that happens to fall on Shabbat, for the 'aravit, shaḥarit, and minḥah services pray the regular seven blessings, but say Ya'aleh v-Yavo in the 'avodah prayer, and it is not necessary to menton Shabbat in the Ya'aleh v-Yavo. And take out two Torah scrolls, and read from the first the seven regular readings for the day, and from the second read the mafṭir — "and on the Sabbath day" and "and on your new moons" until the end of the portion, Numbers 28:9-15. And as a prophetic conclusion read Isaiah 66, "The heavens are My throne" except for Rosh Ḥodesh Elul that falls on Shabbat, on which we read Isaiah 54:11–55:5, "Unhappy, storm-tossed..." (Rema: And some do say Isaiah 66, and thus is the custom in our lands, but on Rosh Ḥodesh Av that falls on Shabbat we as a prophetic conclusion read the portion starting with Jeremiah 2:4, "Hear ye," and this is the general practice where there is no custom. And if Rosh Ḥodesh happens upon one of the four special Shabbatot, we read the final prophetic reading for that reading, and see below, siman 785.)