As Wise School, Aaron Milken Center, and our Center for Youth Engagement prepare to commence and as we prepare to begin a New Jewish Year, our tradition continues to ease us from the pain of Tisha B’Av towards the resolve and commitment required to begin anew. This coming Shabbat features the fourth of seven haftarot of consolation, passages from the prophet Isaiah written to console the exiled Israelites. Towards the end of this week’s haftarah, we discover a poetic promise:

הִתְנַעֲרִ֧י מֵעָפָ֛ר ק֥וּמִי שְּׁבִ֖י יְרוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם הִֽתְפַּתְּחִי֙ מוֹסְרֵ֣י צַוָּארֵ֔ךְ שְׁבִיָּ֖ה בַּת־צִיּֽוֹן׃ כִּי־כֹה֙ אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֔ה חִנָּ֖ם נִמְכַּרְתֶּ֑ם וְלֹ֥א בְכֶ֖סֶף תִּגָּאֵֽלוּ׃

“Shake off the dust, arise, and take your seat, Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, captive daughter of Zion. For thus said the Eternal: You were sold for nothing, and it is not through money that you shall be redeemed.” (Isaiah 52:2-3).

Here the prophet depicts Jerusalem not as a city of hewn stone, but rather, as a captive, bound and covered by the dust of the earth. Today, as we continue to pray for the safe return of our loved ones who remain in captivity, it can be too easy to feel that we, too, are bound, helpless to resolve the enduring hardship faced by the hostages and their families.

However, Isaiah does not say that we must remain bowed down, resigned to suffering. Rather, he directs us to raise our heads, to reclaim dignity, and to trust that our worth has never diminished. “You were sold for nothing,” God says—our suffering was not deserved, nor must it define us. And so too, “it is not through money that you shall be redeemed.” Our salvation lies not in our measurable worth, but in the inestimable worth of Divine love, a love that we strengthen when we hold our heads high and share that love with others.

As we prepare to embark upon a new year, the prophet’s call to rise from the dust invites us to resist despair, to affirm our identity, and to hold onto hope even in the most difficult of times. And it reminds us that, should we persevere in our love and our commitment, our People’s story will not end in captivity, but in redemption.

— Rabbi Josh Knobel