Israel’s defense attorney TB Shabbat 89

 A prophet is God’s messenger. First he has to warn the people of their impending doom if they don’t turn away from their sinful ways. “The prophet is thus the instrument of divine severity, the attribute of divine justice. But messengership is only part of the whole picture. The prophet has another function: he is also independent advocate to the heavenly court which attempts to rescind the evil decree by means of the only instruments at his disposal, prayer and intercession. He is first the messenger of the divine court to the defendant, but his mission boomerangs back to the sender. Now, he is no longer the messenger of the court; he becomes the agent of the defendant, attempting to mitigate the severity of the decree. (Love and Joy: law, language, and religion in ancient Israel, Yochanan Muffs, Page 9) God wants somebody to stand in the breach to defend His people as it is written “And I searched among them for…fence-mender, somebody would stand in the breach against Me on behalf of the land that I not destroy it.” (Ezekiel 22:30).

God searches for such a person to act as Israel’s defense attorney in today’s daf TB Shabbat 89. I don’t know why (except the verse in Isaiah forces the direction of the Midrash) Abraham and Jacob failed so God had to keep on looking until Isaac took up our defense.

“Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “For You are our Father; for Abraham knows us not, and Israel does not acknowledge us; You, Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer, everlasting is Your name” (Isaiah 63:16). In the future that will surely come, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will say to Abraham: Your children have sinned against Me. Abraham will say before Him: Master of the Universe, if so, let them be eradicated to sanctify Your name. God said: I will say it to Jacob. Since he experienced the pain of raising children, perhaps he will ask for mercy on their behalf. He said to Jacob: Your children have sinned. Jacob said before Him: Master of the Universe, if so, let them be eradicated to sanctify Your name. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: There is no reason in elders and no wisdom in youth. Neither Abraham nor Jacob knew how to respond properly. He said to Isaac: Your children have sinned against Me. Isaac said before Him: Master of the Universe, are they my children and not Your children? At Sinai, when they accorded precedence to “We will do” over “We will listen” before You, didn’t You call them, “My son, My firstborn son Israel” (Exodus 4:22)? Now that they have sinned, are they my children and not Your children?  

"And furthermore, how much did they actually sin? How long is a person’s life? Seventy years. Subtract the first twenty years of his life. One is not punished for sins committed then, as in heavenly matters, a person is only punished from age twenty. Fifty years remain for them. Subtract twenty-five years of nights, and twenty-five years remain for them. Subtract twelve and a half years during which one prays and eats and uses the bathroom, and twelve and a half years remain for them. If You can endure them all and forgive the sins committed during those years, excellent. And if not, half of the sins are upon me to bear and half upon You. And if You say that all of them, the sins of all twelve and a half years that remain, are upon me, I sacrificed my soul before You and You should forgive them due to my merit. The Jewish people began to say to Isaac: You are our father. Only Isaac defended the Jewish people as a father would and displayed compassion toward his children. Isaac said to them: Before you praise me, praise the Holy One, Blessed be He. And Isaac points to the Holy One, Blessed be He, before their eyes. Immediately they lifted their eyes to the heavens and say: “You, Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer, everlasting is Your name.” (Sefaria.org translation)

We should be comforted knowing that God loves us, wants to restrain His anger, and forgive us when we sin like a loving parent. Today’s Gemara shows that God keeps on searching for the person who will stand in the breach and defend Israel even if his first two choices pan out.