“What need have I of all your sacrifices?” says YHWH. “Devote yourselves to justice; aid the wronged, uphold the rights of orphans; defend the cause of the widow” (Isaiah 1:11)

Dr. Ethan Schwartz, who holds a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Harvard University, points out: “What need have I of all your sacrifices?” says YHWH. “Devote yourselves to justice; aid the wronged, uphold the rights of the orphan; defend the cause of the widow” (Isaiah 1:11, 17).

By placing a reminiscence of the Assyrian invasion of Judah right before this rebuke (1:7–8), the opening chapter of Prophet Isaiah sends the message that Judah can survive only when a Jewish society takes care of its most vulnerable members. Prophet Isaiah’s warning is: piety without social justice will someday lead to the destruction of Jerusalem and its Holy Temple.

“Share your bread with the hungry, and the poor that are cast out, into your house. When you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh? Then your light will break forth as a morning, and your healing shall spring forth speedily.” (Isaiah 58:7-10)

And this is what God wants when we fast on Yom Kippur: 3 ’Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you (God) have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. 4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today  and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen  only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast, a day........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)