Hashem Has Not Divorced Israel, Nor Cast Us Away

This week’s parsha, Eikev, is largely concerned with the consequences for our decisions and actions. We are given to understand that we as individuals and as a collective are accountable for our choices, and we reap the penalties and benefits accordingly. The haftara, which is the second of seven haftarot of consolation, introduces another very important offsetting principle. It begins with Tzion sighing, “Hashem has abandoned me, the Lord has forgotten me.” (Yeshayahu 49:14). As we emerge into independence and sovereignty, we are confronted with the enormity of our shortcomings and of the offenses we committed against the Divine Will which led to – and extended – our exile. It is only natural to presume that we have abrogated our Divine covenant, that we have caused our G-d to despair of us.

Indeed, in the world today, we are surrounded by enemies and by those who pretend to be our friends who believe exactly this. There are many who are quick to assert for one reason or another that Hashem has abandoned Israel or replaced us. But the Navi Yeshayahu reminds us that Hashem is unchanging and His love for us eternal. Although we might act in a way that pushes Him away and creates distance between us due to our choices, His intention is always to be reunited with us.

As if in direct response to those who claim that Hashem cast Israel away, the Navi asks in the name of Hashem, “What document of separation did I deliver to your mother (i.e., to divorce her) when I sent her away, or who are the creditors to whom I was forced to sell you?” (Yeshayahu 50:1). Malbim explains that the terminology used in this passage is significant to establish different causes of banishment or exile with different outcomes. When a husband banishes his wife from his home, he might give her a divorce to demonstrate that he wishes that she never returns, but he might also send her away because they need some time apart and because he hopes that the factors that are driving them apart will be resolved in the future.

Similarly, the children might be disowned or repudiated, whether because their mother has been dishonored or because they have so disappointed their father that he doesn’t wish to be associated with them ever again. Alternatively, the father might fall on such desperate times with such great debts that the only way to extricate himself from his predicament is to sell his own children into slavery. In such a situation, there is little or no hope of redeeming them because the proceeds of their sale were only sufficient to satisfy the debt, and the father can only assume that the children are lost to him forever.

Here in our haftara, Hashem is explaining that He has not repudiated the mother and He has no creditors to take His children from Him. In fact, the pasuk goes on to explain why Hashem has banished His wife and children, and here too, according to Malbim, we find implicit the expectation that in time they will return to Him. The children have been sold due to their erroneous beliefs (avonot), and the mother has been banished due to her children’s transgressions (pesha’im). Malbim explains further that the difference between these two words has to do with intentionality and motivation. Avonot (translated above as errors, following Malbim here) result from flawed beliefs and conclusions that lead one into error. The children were confused; they couldn’t distinguish right from wrong. Therefore, our Heavenly Father wants us to learn from our mistakes and return wiser. If we had understood that what we were doing was wrong and acted that way anyway, then we would have been knowingly rebelling against Divine authority and this might be unforgivable. But Hashem acknowledges that we simply didn’t understand the meaning and value of His commandments as we violated them.

Similarly, if the mother couldn’t distinguish between right and wrong, then of course her husband would want to be disassociated from her as an unsuitable partner. However, since she acted out of rebelliousness and defiance, this speaks to the intensity of the relationship and the personal struggles that lead one or another party to lash out and act hurtfully toward their partner. Still, Hashem hopes that the “Mother” of Israel will repent of her pique and come back to be reconciled.

But what of this mother and children as an allegory for Israel – who is the mother and who the children? In the most literal and popular meaning, we typically understand the mother as the Shechina, the Divine Presence that rests among Israel, which is identified as feminine. Our Sages taught that the Shechina went into exile along with us, her children. However, the ShelaHaKadoshin his reading of this passage sees different spiritual aspects of Israel as we interface with Hashem. In this relationship, due to the inherent power dynamic, Hashem is always the father and the husband. He is the “master,” which is a synonym in Hebrew for husband. In our relationship with him, we are sometimes a bride, sometimes children. Each of these relationships expresses different spiritual qualities in us, whether we are partners with Him in love, like a bride with her husband, or obedient in serving Him, like faithful children.

But the bride, as noted above, can choose to become defiant and to cease to honor the covenants of marriage. This essentially is what happened in the final years of the “marriage” between Hashem and Israel. Israel chose to throw off the yoke of mitzvot and to seek independence from her “husband” and protector. As a consequence, the terms of our relationship were increasingly compromised and it became impossible for us to continue to live together. This is itself a reflection of the original rebellion of the first humans against the Divine Will, when Chava subverted Adam and brought about their collective downfall. Ever since that time, the feminine has been associated with frailty and inconstancy – she was the seed and the agent of the moral collapse of leaders and civilizations.

However, with the redemption of Israel and the restoration of the feminine aspect of Hashem as dwelling among Israel, the aspect of femininity will itself be cured from the downfall of Chava. The Shechina will be elevated again as a partner to the Divine, and the balance will be restored between masculine and feminine. In the rectified world of the Final Redemption, the feminine will be the aspect of rectification and restoration; she will be the unique agent of elevating Israel and all of humanity higher and higher toward union with the Divine.