82 | SEPTEMBER 22 • 2022 

SPIRIT

Pleading for 
Redemption
T

his week’s haftorah 
includes the famous 
words (also a song 
by veteran Jewish singer Ira 
Heller): “I have set 
watchmen upon your 
walls, Jerusalem; they 
shall never be silent day 
nor night; those who 
remind the Lord, take no 
rest.
” (Isaiah 62:6) 
The Talmud com-
ments: What do these 
watchmen, or angels, as 
Rashi explains, remind 
God about?
The Talmud answers: 
“You will arise and have 
compassion upon Zion; 
for it is time to be gra-
cious to her, for the appointed 
time has come.
” (Psalms 102:14)
The prophet is exhorting us 
and the angels to never cease in 
pleading with God to bring the 
Final Redemption. 
There is a beautiful story 
related by Hirshel Tzig 
about the Chassidic Master 
of Munkacs known as the 
Minchat Elazar.
The great rabbi would take 
out his shofar every day of Elul 
to test its readiness for Rosh 
Hashanah. After he finished, his 
grandson, Tzvi, would ask him 
to sound one more blast. This 
became their daily tradition. 
The custom is that on the 
day before Rosh Hashanah, we 
do not blow the shofar. Various 
reasons are given, but on a basic 
level, we wish to differentiate 
between the shofar blasts that 
are customary (throughout the 
month of Elul) and those that 
are obligatory (on the day of 
Rosh Hashanah). The rabbi’s 
young grandson, however, did 

not appreciate this point and 
passionately insisted on “his” 
one last shofar blast even on 
this day. The rabbi acquiesced 
to his requests. 
On Rosh Hashanah 
morning, the rabbi plead-
ed before God: Yesterday, 
I erred in blowing the 
shofar against the strict 
traditions. But I did it to 
please my grandson who 
was pleading for just one 
shofar blast. Master of 
the Universe, the Jewish 
people are waiting to 
be redeemed. Look at 
all our struggles and 
hardships. Even if it is 
not technically the time 
yet, please sound one shofar 
blast, the Great Shofar Blast of 
Redemption. 
Anticipating the arrival of 
Moshiach is obligatory because 
it shows that we are striving for 
something beyond our current 
reality. What the Messianic 
Era will be like is mysterious 
and subject to dispute, but all 
the rabbis agree that it will 
be a unique time in history. 
Somehow, we are taught, peace 
will miraculously reign amongst 
the nations. 
The sounding of the shofar 
to herald Moshiach’s arrival 
is something to contemplate 
during our time in shul this 
year. We can have in mind how 
awesome it would be to escape 
the current exile and enter a 
new realm. May this coming 
year be sweet and redemptive 
for all of us. 

Rabbi Yaacov Lasson is a chaplain at 

Ascension Providence Hospitals.

TORAH PORTION

Rabbi 
Yaacov 
Lasson

Parshat 

Nitzavim: 

Deuteronomy 

29:9-30:20; 

Isaiah 

61:10-63:9.

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