As the cycle of Torah readings begins anew with Parshat Bereshit, we encounter once more the drama of Creation: light breaking forth from darkness, order emerging from chaos and the Divine word giving shape to existence itself. Yet the Haftorah – taken from Isaiah – adds to our understanding of this cosmic moment, for it reminds us that Creation was not a one-time act, but an ongoing charge: to spread light, justice, and mercy in a world still marred by cruelty and confusion.
Earlier this week, the remaining 20 Israeli living hostages held in Gaza were at last set free. Incredibly, this week’s Haftorah speaks directly to this monumental event. In Isaiah 42:7, the prophet speaks of Israel’s mission “to open the eyes that are blind, to bring prisoners out of confinement and those who sit in darkness out of the dungeon.”
It is a verse of astonishing resonance!
After all, for months the nation held its breath. The images of young men starved and tortured in propaganda videos released by their evil Hamas captors seared the conscience of our people.
We prayed, we marched, we refused to forget. And now, as these precious souls have emerged – frail, shaken, yet alive – the words of Isaiah echo loudly: “to bring out the prisoners from confinement.”
Isaiah’s vision, uttered more than 2,700 years ago, captures not only the physical liberation of the hostages but also the spiritual calling of Israel itself. The prophet describes the Jewish people as “a light to the nations” (42:6), chosen for purpose: to champion truth, to defend the helpless, and to affirm the sanctity of life.
In this sense, the redemption of Israel’s hostages is not merely a national triumph but a reaffirmation of who we are as a people.
The Haftorah of Bereshit thus mirrors the Torah portion’s central theme. Just as God’s first act in Creation was to separate light from darkness, so too must we strive – individually and collectively – to banish the shadows of evil that envelop our world.
Hamas’s barbarism on Oct. 7 was nothing less than a descent into primeval darkness: the chaos of unrestrained hatred, the moral void of those who revel in death. What a sharp and undeniable contrast with the value we attribute to life!
It is no coincidence that Isaiah speaks of opening “eyes that are blind.” For too long, much of the world has refused to see the truth. Many are blind to the suffering of the Jewish people, blind to the cruelty of our enemies, blind to the moral distinction between those who defend life and those who desecrate it. The deal to release the hostages forces the world to confront – however briefly – the reality that Israel faces daily: that our fight is about the triumph of light over darkness, civilization over barbarism.
And yet, Isaiah’s words also contain a promise – a reminder that Divine justice does not slumber. “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness, I will hold you by your hand” (42:6) the prophet declares. In the face of anguish and uncertainty, we are not alone.
The same God who set the stars in their courses and called light into being watches over His people still.
And one day soon, we are told, all of mankind will “sing a new song to God, praise from the ends of the earth” (42:10). Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, 1040-1105) explains this verse to mean that the Creator is declaring: “By necessity, when they see My mighty deeds for Israel, all the heathen nations will admit that I am God.”
In the end, Bereshit’s message and Isaiah’s vision together remind us that the struggle between light and darkness did not end with Creation – it continues in our own time, in the moral choices of nations and individuals alike. The release of the Israeli hostages is a flicker of that Divine light piercing the gloom, a testament that even in an age of cruelty, redemption is possible.
But it also compels us to rededicate ourselves to Israel’s timeless mission: to stand resolutely and unflinchingly for life, justice and truth, confident in the knowledge that with God’s help, we will prevail.