Overview

The haftarah for the morning of Yom Kippur begins with a number of themes:

After underscoring the ideas above, Isaiah tells of the instruction he received from G‑d to rebuke the people. He was to relentlessly and forcefully to carry out this mission. The admonishment was directed at the rampant problem of spiritual double standards. On the one hand, there seemed to be an interest in the right thing to do. The various rituals of penitence were also adhered to. But all this penetrated only superficially. People remained selfish, deceitful and oppressive.

Fasting was—and remains—a primary means of penitence. Arrogance and indulgence are precipitators of sin, and fasting throws a wrench into such self-confidence. The fast, however, must be viewed as a means. Mere abstinence without an objective is not at all what this is about. The people were observing fasts, and left out none of the trappings: sackcloth, ashes, and a poor and bowed head. But the prophet booms, “do you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the L‑rd?”

What was doing with the poor? Were the hungry being fed? Were the naked being clothed? Was justice being meted out? Were people helping family members, or ignoring them? Were Jewish slaves being released, as the Torah demands, or were they being kept in slavery? Why was there quarreling, finger-pointing and hate speech?

This is what a fast needed to be about. Gaining the correct perspective and acting upon it would bring endless good and blessing to all those who did—in both this world and the next. G‑d would answer the prayers of the people. Even if all around them things would be dark, for them it would be as bright as midday. History would record positively those who restored a broken society and built the ruins of the world.

Finally, the prophet speaks about Shabbat observance. The verse carries many of the foundational ideas from which the sages extrapolate the laws regarding the spirit of Shabbat. The delight in Shabbat meals, the honor given to it with special Shabbat finery, refraining from un-Shabbat-like conversation and actions—all these and more are contained in this verse. It seems that that the prophet is continuing his theme: it is not enough that Shabbat be kept; there is a spirit and atmosphere about it that is crucial to the whole idea.

The haftarah finishes with a description of the incredible spiritual elevation that a Jew is given as a result of proper Shabbat observance.