Thought for the Day: What You Can and Can't Say in תוכחה, טַעַם, תפילה -- Reproof, Explaining, and Davening

I decided when I added a full morning seder to my learning schedule, that I should put some time into learning the prophets. I have read (I wish I could say "learned", but... ) the so-called נביאים ראשונים/early prophets, so now it is time to dive into נביאים אחרונים/later prophets. I strive to be irritatingly consistent, so obviously I started in order from the beginning with ישעיה/Isaiah. My Hebrew is fairly good, so I opted to learn -- on the advice of one of the foremost authorities on Tanach in Chicago -- from the R' Kook series, which is an excellent guide in modern Hebrew by Orthodox sources. After trying for more than a year and making little progress, I admitted to myself that my Hebrew is just not that good and and now learning from the really, really excellent ArtScroll -- The Milstein Edition -- prophets, which includes Rashi, Metzuda, Radak, and a beautiful English elucidation. I am now making palpable progress.

Since there are so many haftarahs are taken from ישעיה (more than any other prophet, in fact), I know a lot of events that are related in ישעיה, but don't have a clear picture of their chronology nor context. They ArtScroll introduction gives a superb overview of ישעיה, his mission, and his life. The story of how ישעיה was inaugurated into his position is related in the the sixth chapter. ישעיה finds himself in the presence of angels praising HaShem (verses from there form the core of our k'dusha) and is terrified. ישעיה cries out in fear that he is a man of impure lips who dwells among people of impure lips. An angel approaches to touch a coal to his lips and ... well, I don't want to spoil it for you.

In any case, the medrash says that ישעיה was chastised for saying the Jewish people had impure lips. In fact, when ישעיה was finally murdered -- after an 86 year career as a prophet; right... 86 years! -- by his own grandson. HaShem protected him... until he was struck in the mouth. The mouth that had sad lashon hara about the Jewish people was his, so to speak, Achilles heel. (Was there ever a more out of place metaphor?)

Here's the thing, though: Check out the first few verses of ישעיה -- yes, the opening verses in Chap 1. ישעיה compares Klal Yisrael unfavorably to oxen and donkeys. ישעיה addresses the leaders as people who would make the leaders of Sodom and Gomorrah jealous for their evil. Seems just a touch more insulting than "impure lips", no?

And then there is our davening. In tachanun we say (before vidui): "in Truth, we and our ancestors have sinned." At the end of the first paragraph of the M/Th tachanun, "because or our sins and the sins of our ancestors, Yerushalayim and Your nation have become disgraced."  Wait! ישעיה got chastised for just an off hand comment about impure lips and yet we brazenly declare that we have sinned -- but so did our forefathers! Is that a good idea?!

The answer to the first is a Yalkut Shimoni. In the first chapter, ישעיה has a job: He needs to wake Klal Yisrael up to know how profoundly they are missing the mark. This is not mean nor spiteful, it is the greatest kindness. Some 30 years ago I had a bad case of bronchitis that wouldn't go away. One doctor tried a couple different courses of antibiotics. Nothing was working. I went to a different doctor, one with more experience and broader knowledge. He found the problem: I had cancer. Difficult news to hear, but it was the greatest kindness, because then I could be treated and, Baruch HaShem, cured. That is what ישעיה was doing. Of course Klal Yisrael knew there were problems, but they were oblivious as to how far they had strayed and they needed ישעיה to see that.

When ישעיה was in the presence of angels and HaShem, however, he had no reason to mention the faults of Klal Yisrael. Imagine parents seeking a special tutor for their beloved son who is falling very far behind. If the tutor says he can't take the job because he is just not up to, fine... they can look elsewhere. But if he adds, "and, anyway, your son is kind of a bum, anyway, so I don't think I could help him." That's just mean and hurtful. The parents know very well what their son is doing, but they also love him and know what he is capable of.

Finally... tachanun. We are praying for help and guidance. We have to let HaShem know that we are fully aware of how deeply rooted our sins are. We are not in denial, claiming that we just have some minor deficiencies that are just surface wounds. We have sins that have festered for generations. We have to let HaShem -- and ourselves -- know that we are ready to do the real work necessary to truly return to our Father, our King. We need help... lots of help, but we really want to succeed. (R' Klausner, once again, helped me with this one.)

 תוכחה, טַעַם, תפילה -- Reproof, Explaining, and Davening -- there is no "one nusach fits all" prescription. Each has its place and each has its own mode and mood of expression.