Explanation of the Haftarah of Parshat Ki Teitzei

Explanation of the Haftarah of Parshat Ki Teitzei

4 Elul 5785 / Aug. 28 2025

The Connection Between the Haftarah and the Parasha

Haftarah: This is the fifth haftarah of the seven haftarot of consolation, which are read on the seven Sabbaths of consolation starting from the first Sabbath after Tisha B'Av.

Content of the Haftarah

The prophet says to Zion, sing and rejoice because even though you were desolate, in the future the people of Israel will multiply greatly, and there will be more of them than all the nations that dwelt safely and were not exiled from their land. Therefore, expand all the cities around so that there will be room for your children, for you shall burst forth to the right and to the left.

The prophet announces to her, that from the abundance of good that she will have, then she will forget all the days of exile, and all the days of exile will be like a moment, relative to the eternal good that she will receive.

And as I swore that I will not bring another flood upon the earth, I swear that I will no longer be angry with you and will not rebuke you, and know that even though the mountains and the hills are strong, nonetheless sometimes they move by earthquake etc., nevertheless my kindness and covenant of peace between us shall not depart forever.

Yishayahu Chapter 54 Verse 1 - 10

1 Sing, O barren one [A] who has not borne [B] that was like a barren woman [who did not bear children like the nations (according to Berakhot 10a)], break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not traveled in labor open your mouth to raise the voice of song even without having felt labor pains (M.D.), for the children of the desolate shall be more than the children of the inhabited woman for the children of Jerusalem are many even though she was desolate, [more] than the children of the nations who dwelt on their land, like a woman living with her husband (Radak), says Hashem. 2 Enlarge the place of your tent to absorb your children who will return to you (Radak), and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out (M.Z.) which are the rest of the cities of Israel, do not hold back; lengthen your cords enlarge the vessels of the tent intended to tie them firmly (Rashi), and strengthen your stakes that are fixed in the ground so they will not move from their place (M.D.). 3 For you will burst out to the right and to the left to the south and north strengthen yourself (Targum) and spread out (E.Y.), and your offspring will possess nations because of the gates of Israel will not suffice, therefore Israel will possess the cities of the nations, and will inhabit desolate cities now they will settle children of Israel (Malbim). 4 Fear not, for you will not be ashamed do not fear that your exit form this exile of yours will be like the exit from the rest of the exiles that came with many troubles, neither be humiliated, for you will not be disgraced for never again after you emerge from this exile will you be disgraced anymore (Radak), and you will not be ashamed, but take strong hold for you will not be disgraced anymore to go into exile, but rather you will hold on to greatness for you will forget the shame of your youth (Rashi) the trouble that you had in exile which was to you like the shame that was in your youth, you will no longer have (M.D.), and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more the troubles that were to you in exile, that you were like a widow, you will no longer remember from the abundance of good that will be to you (Radak). 5 For your Maker is your husband for your Master who made you and magnified you (Targum), Hashem of hosts is His name He is the ruler of capacity and ruler of the hosts of heaven and earth, and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the L-rd of the whole earth He is called (Radak) in the time of the Messiah. 6 For like a woman forsaken He called you, resembling a woman whose husband was angry with her and left her for a certain period, but did not divorce her (Malbim), and grieved in spirit that her husband calls her to return to him, so Hashem called you, and a wife of youth when she is rejected in her husband's eyes will not always be rejected, for he will return to have mercy on her, so says your L-rd to have mercy on you (M.D.). 7 For a small moment [D] I abandoned you all the days of the exile will be considered like a small moment compared to the days of good that will come to you in the time of the gathering of exiles (Radak), and with great compassion [E] I will gather you and this will be for long days without limit (M.D.). 8 In an outburst of wrath [a little] I hid My face from you for a moment (Targum) [anger] considered like a small moment (according to Radak), and with everlasting kindness that will endure forever (Rashi) I will have compassion on you [1] I had pity and had mercy on you, says your Redeemer, Hashem that the future redemption will be only by His hand, may he be blessed and no servitude after it (see Malbim on Psalms 85, 2). 9 For this is like the waters of Noah to Me [see Radak] that was in the time of (Targum) Noah, an oath that I swore that the waters of Noah should no more pass over the earth [2] so I swore two oaths (Malbim) that I will not be angry with you nor rebuke you because of your sin to exile you (Malbim). 10 For the mountains may depart [H] and the hills be removed [even though the mountains and hills are things that exist forever on earth, sometimes they depart and move and lean downward because of an earthquake etc. even though the merit of the patriarchs and matriarchs ended (Rashi, & Y.M.)], and My kindness from you shall not depart and My covenant of peace shall not be removed [they will not move from their place, and My guarantee will not depart from you forever (Radak)], says Hashem who has compassion on you.

Insights and Notes

A. "Sing, O barren woman" – It is written "Arise, sing in the night", this singing is only by way of praise; but whenever Israel perform the will of their Father in heaven, even the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself comes and praises His great name before them, as it is said, "Sing, O barren woman, who has not borne; break forth into singing and cry aloud...", and it says (Yirmiyahu 31), "And they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, etc." Therefore, I would say that a person is obligated to bless, praise, glorify, exalt, and sanctify the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, for everything that comes upon him, whether good or bad. (Tanna Debei Eliyahu Rabbah – Chapter 18).

B. Acronym A-H-Y-H, (from the end letters) as the Sages said: "I will be with them in other troubles," and see what is written in the book Be'er Yitzchak.

C. And the Radak wrote: "For you will burst out to the right and to the left" – In the manner of "and you shall burst out west and east, north and south." "And your offspring will possess nations" – including east and west. "And desolate cities" – whether from the Land of Israel or from the rest of the lands, Israel will inhabit them. And in Metzudat David on verse 3 "For you will burst out to the right and to the left" – you will overcome the Chaldeans who dwell to your right and to your left.

D. "Behold, a day comes", against whom did they say [this]? They only said [it] against that week in which the Messiah comes, in which he is hidden. And all those generations came, and a deep sleep fell upon them, and he was hidden from them. And when the Holy One, blessed be He, desires him, He shakes the four corners of the world, and comes and promises Israel and says to them: "Redemption has already arrived!" And men, women, and children gather and request great mercy, as it is said (Isaiah 54:7), "For a small moment I abandoned you" (Batei Midrashot Part 1 – Pirkei Hekhalot Rabbati – Chapter 35 Ot 2).

[And see in Sha'ar HaKavanot (Drushei Va'Ya'avor Derush 7) – that it is written 13 times "I will be" [13 times the Gematria value of "I will be" equals 273, Rega,  "moment"] that the "Hei", "Samech", "for a small moment I abandoned you" etc. and so "rebuke/scold the beast of the reeds"].

E. Wrote Rabbi Yaakov Tzemach (Kol BeRamah – Ot 162) "and with great compassion I will gather you": He said, "great compassion" refers to Atik Yomin. Great compassion means absolute, pure mercy without any element of judgment at all, for all of Atik is mercy without judgment, as is known. But Ze'ir Anpin is called "mercy" plain and simple, because there is attached to it a slight delay of judgment. And he gives a reason for this: because da'at has within it right and left, judgment and mercy; whereas Arik is entirely on the right, entirely pure mercy. And behold, from the phrasing "I will gather you," it is necessary that they need pure mercy specifically, for since all the gathering of holy sparks of the soul of Israel that are within the Kelipah (the shell/impurity) in the secret of the Kings that were clarified requires great force and complete kindness, and not plain kindness [of Ze'ir Anpin], for there are right and left in it, and on the left there is a grasp; therefore, with great and pure mercy that is entirely from the right, it is fitting to gather the holiness.

And in the book Emek HaMelech (Gate 16 – Chapter 52) the author wrote: but at any time when the Ancient of Ancients, the White Head, is revealed, the good will [is revealed], great mercies are found in general, [there] is the head of Arich Anpin which includes his 2 friends, and therefore is called the Ancient of Ancients. When his forehead called ra'ava d'ra'avin (will of wills) is revealed, shining upon this nose, the mercies go out to the nose of Ze'ir Anpin, and all the judgments are sweetened with great mercies, and the L-rd  in the fullness of his Yodin goes up to mercy as it is said, "And with great compassion I will gather you."

And in the commentary of the Vilna Gaon (Gra) on Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 11, from Tikkunim Acharonim) he writes: "and with great compassion I will gather you" – from the side of greatness, and it is as written in R"M "and with great compassion I will gather you" Uverachamim Akabtzeich U'Vetachanunim has in the initial letters "Vav", "Aleph", "Vav" in Gematria 13 "Mechilan" of mercy.

F. In the Zohar (Part II page 120/a) Pesach D'ro'a Yemina (the Right Arm), to fulfill in it (Micah 7:15) "As in the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt I will show him wonders," and this is, in Nisan they were redeemed and in Nisan they are destined to be redeemed, to fulfill in them (Yishayahu 54:8) "and with everlasting kindness I have loved you said your Redeemer, Hashem." [And afterwards they took all of them from Gevurah, Dmanyei, Messiah son of Ephraim, to take vengeance on his enemies, for he needs to cleanse on account that they of Israel are on the right, and afterwards to burn straw on the left, this is what is written (Ovadiah 1:18) "and the house of Yaakov shall be a fire and the house of Yoseph a flame and the house of Eisav for stubble, and they shall kindle in them and devour them"].

G. And there is one who asks, why were the waters of the Flood named after Noah? For behold, the Flood did not come through the sin of Noah, for he was a righteous and blameless man! And the Holy Zohar says regarding this: that the Flood was named after Noah because he did not pray for his generation. And it is possible to bring support for this from the words of the Gemara (Shabbat 54b): "The cow of Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah used to go out with a strap between its horns against the will of the Sages," and the Gemara asks, was it his cow? For it was his neighbor's cow, but because he did not protest against her, it was called by his name.

And one can say furthermore that he ought to have gone and influenced them, and as brought in Be'er HaChasidut in the name of Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, who wrote on this: from here is a guidance for every Jew, that even if he is a righteous and blameless man he should not isolate himself within his four cubits, for the matter is an a fortiori argument: what Noah, who was before the giving of the Torah, thus was said about him, Jews after the giving of the Torah—how much more so, for they are companions and responsible for one another. A Jew is not permitted to say: "I have saved my own soul," but rather he is obligated to protect and save others. And this is not our business whether a person will succeed in influencing others or not; we must do what is imposed upon us, and in general, everything a person does makes an impression in its place and time, and it is forbidden for a person to despair.

Furthermore, commentators wrote that the reason was rooted in the conduct of Noah, that he erred in that he did not pray for the people of his generation and did not save them. And therefore, to rectify this flaw, Noah was reincarnated in Moshe our Teacher, and through Moshe praying for Israel in the sin of the Golden Calf, and he sacrificed his life to save them and said "erase me", which is the letters "waters of Noah" (Mei Noach), he rectified the flaw of Noah. And so "erase me please" (machani na) are the letters Mem, Nun, Chet  & Aleph, Nun, Yod (which can be read (From Noah, I am).

And behold, in both of these cases, there were judgments in the world that threatened to destroy the operating souls. In the Flood, all the inhabitants of the world, and in the sin of the Golden Calf, the nation of Israel, but Moshe prayed for the nation of Israel before this decree went into effect and was willing for his name to be erased from the Torah for the sake of the nation of Israel, whereas Noah, at the time he left the ark and saw the terrible destruction, began to cry and said: Master of the Universe, You are called Merciful, You ought to have had mercy on Your creatures. The Holy One, blessed be He, answered him: Foolish shepherd—now you say this, at the time I said to you "for I have seen you righteous before Me" I told you this so that you would ask for mercy upon the world. Moshe our Teacher, in contrast to him, stood in prayer before Hashem, blessed be He, and sacrificed his life for the nation of Israel, and said "erase me please from Your book which You have written", and through this he rectified the sin of Noah and therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, you will not be like Noah, you will build a Tabernacle that will illuminate the whole world, that will connect all the souls anew. For in the Tabernacle everyone brought his portion, his offering, and Moshe our Teacher connected everything and made everything one Tabernacle. The Ark of Noah saved outstanding individuals from the Flood, in contrast to the Tabernacle, in which everyone is a partner, and it gives strength that there will be no Flood at all.

H. Rabbi Yudan in the name of Rabbi Berechiah said: If you have seen the merit of the fathers that collapsed for you and the merit of the mothers that collapsed for you, go and attach yourself to loving-kindnesses, as it is written (ibid. 54) "For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed"—mountains, these are the fathers, and hills, these are the mothers; and afterwards, "and My kindness from you shall not depart." Said Rabbi Acha, forever the merit of the fathers endures for eternity, as we mention and say (Deuteronomy 4): "For Hashem your L-rd is a merciful G-d; He will not fail you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers etc." (Midrash Rabbah Vayikra – Parasha 36, Section 6).