by Rabbi Neil Gillman
professor of Jewish philosophy at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and author of The Death of Death: Resurrection and Immortality in Jewish Thought and The Way Into Encountering God in Judaism.

Twice in Tanach, we are permitted to eavesdrop as the angels sing God’s praises. The first is in chapter six of Isaiah, in which the prophet beholds the Lord “seated on a high and lofty throne surrounded by seraphim who call, one to the other, ‘Holy, holy, holy! The Lord of Hosts! His presence [or glory, or majesty] fills all the earth.’”

The second is chapter three of Ezekiel, verse 12, in which the prophet feels himself carried away and hears “a great roaring sound, ‘Blessed is the presence [or glory, or majesty] of the Lord, in his place.’” That chorus is understood to be sung by the angels.

The Isaiah passage is in the haftara for parshat Yitro, the Torah portion that records the revelation of Torah at Sinai. The Ezekiel passage is added to the first chapter, which we will recite as the haftara for the upcoming first day of Shavuot. Once again, the Torah reading for this festival day is the Sinai revelation from parshat Yitro.

That these two chapters were selected as the haftarot for the identical Torah reading suggests that from antiquity, they were viewed as sounding the identical theme. Very rarely in Torah are human beings granted even an elusive glimpse of God. Both of these texts, both a call to prophecy, describe such an experience. Both record a vision of the heavenly court and the chant of the angelic choir. Both were then understood to serve as a commentary to the Sinai revelation where all of Israel experienced God’s presence.

But more narrowly, the two specific verses with the two angelic hymns were later extracted from their biblical contexts and introduced into the daily liturgy; to this day, they are recited a number of times. The most prominent of these placements is in the Kedusha benediction that is incorporated into the Amida.

The liturgy has us recite: “We sanctify your name in this world, just as they sanctify it in the heavens above, as it is written by your prophet, ‘One calls to the other and says, ‘Holy, holy, holy! The Lord of Hosts! His presence fills the earth’” (from Isaiah). And then, “Those facing them say, ‘Blessed is the presence of the Lord in his place’” (from Ezekiel).

Read this passage closely and the text belies the everyday, rote-like quality that the words assume when we recite them again and again in our daily worship. What is happening here is simply extraordinary! The liturgy transports us into the heavenly court, where we participate in the angels’ worship. We do what the angels do. We sing what the angels sing. No small matter this.

The ancients understood very well that these prophetic texts are a gift. They report the ultimate mystical experience, nothing less than a vision of God. They return to these texts again and again, mining them for hints that might illuminate their own mystical quests. But on Shabbat Yitro and again on Shavuot, these two haftarot are commentaries to the Torah reading. We should then read chapters 19 and 20 of Shemot, the Sinai narrative, in the light of Isaiah’s and Ezekiel’s visions.

To me, this suggests that it is totally contra-productive to read this narrative as a straightforward historical or theological statement. It is hardly that. I recall Professor Arthur Green, the eminent authority on Hasidism, suggesting that the author of this text seems to be telling us (here I paraphrase), “Something very important, something totally transformative took place on that mountain on that day, but I can’t say just what it was. We see it all as if through a cloud. Nothing is clear. Nothing is explicit.” Or as Professor Abraham Joshua Heschel writes, we should read this text as if it were a song.

When I study or teach this text as a theologian, I try, however unsuccessfully, to understand its theological implications. But on Shabbat Yitro and on Shavuot, when it is read as the Torah portion, I rise together with the entire congregation and try to experience that moment as Isaiah and Ezekiel must have felt when they were granted a glimpse of the heavenly court and heard the song of the angels.

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