Like a popular poet whose phrases become famous memes and quotes though few know who wrote them, some of Isaiah’s powerful ideas have made it into some of the better known moments on the Jewish calendar - sung, recited, chanted and whispered - whether he gets the credit or not.
The Havdala ritual that concludes the Sabbath and means ‘Demarcation’ was composed during the rabbinic period and opens with a few famous lines from today’s chapter -- focusing on hope and salvation, marking sacred time.
Chapter 12 is a hymn of gratitude and yearning for the better days ahead. It’s situated between the previous chapters that evoke the utopia of the future - and the following chapters that will follow Isaiah's gaze as he looks beyond the borders of Judah to share violent visions about the fates of the other nations populating the region - foes and friends alike. So in some way - this chapter is itself a liminal moment, a border zone, a pause between one section of the book and another. It’s interesting to note that whoever edited the book decided to put it here, and that whoever composed the liminal liturgy of the threshold between Sabbath and the work week chose these words to bid farewell to each Sabbath and mark the threshold of time with focus on a word that is usually translated as ‘salvation’ - appearing here three times:
הִנֵּ֨ה אֵ֧ל יְשׁוּעָתִ֛י אֶבְטַ֖ח וְלֹ֣א אֶפְחָ֑ד כִּֽי־עׇזִּ֤י וְזִמְרָת֙ יָ֣הּ יְהֹוָ֔ה וַֽיְהִי־לִ֖י לִֽישׁוּעָֽה׃
וּשְׁאַבְתֶּם־מַ֖יִם בְּשָׂשׂ֑וֹן מִמַּעַיְנֵ֖י הַיְשׁוּעָֽה׃
“Behold the God who gives me salvation!
I am confident, unafraid;
For Yah — GOD —is my strength and might,
And has been my salvation.”
Joyfully shall you draw water
From the fountains of salvation.”
Isaiah 12:2-3
The Hebrew word ‘Yeshuah’ - here rendered ‘Salvation’ is sometimes translated as ‘Triumph’. Although Isaiah includes this hopeful sentiment in his chapter - he’s actually quoting - or copying - from an earlier epic poem that celebrates salvation in liminal time and space.
It’s THE earliest poem, in fact:
“GOD —is my strength and might and salvation” is a verbatim quote from the Song of the Sea found in the Book of Exodus 15:2, celebrating Israel’s historical (and/or mythic) escape from bondage in Egypt.
Isaiah imagines the future song of relief - one day in the future when the enemies will cease and the people will be back on the land, drinking from the foundations of plenty, assured by the safety of home and deity who never leaves, even through some dark moments.
To imagine the future salvation - he salvages the poems of the past. In some way - that’s why these words and sentiments likely made it into Saturday night. Shabbat is like the paradise, the time-out we all need and crave, a taste of the world to come. But then it’s over and it’s back to work. How do we cross that threshold? With the words that evoke timelessness, poetic nods to what transcends the here and now. With each new week we enter our future - and who knows what’s in store? Why not imagine better days and wiser choices? Why not strive for how each of us can help make this a kinder world? We learn from the past - not to repeat but to reclaim, and reimagine, growing all the time. That’s why Isaiah borrowed from the Exodus vision of liberation - and why the rabbis placed his words at Havdala.
Ethan Schwartz, a scholar commenting on this chapter, wrote:
“A well-known rabbinic adage goes, “The stories of the ancestors are paradigms for the descendants.” Long before the rabbis, however, Isaiah already affirmed this ideal. Jewish history is not simply a forward-facing march. Divine actions that seem discrete and linear in isolation might ultimately constitute a historical cycle so vast in scale that it takes a prophet to perceive it. The songs of a storied past may yet be those of a redeemed future.”
Hope it’s a great week for all of us, drinking from the foundations of prophecy, lifting up the torch of poetry and joy.
“Like Watchmen in the Night”
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