Devarim (Words) Deut. 1
Weekly Torah Section: Devarim Deut. 1:1-3:22, HafTorah Isaiah 1:1-27
This is the last Sabbath before Tish B’Av. It is known as the Sabbath of vision. This comes from the first verse of Isaiah, “the vision of Isaiah, son of Amos.” Isaiah began his ministry in 740, the year King Ussiah died. He prophesied during the reign of four different kings of Israel.
What is Tisha B’Av? It is the day when both the first and second temples were destroyed, first in the year 586 by Nebuchadnezzar and second in the year 70 by Titus. On this day the book of Lamentations is read. This book begins with the same word that we find in Isaiah 1:21. This is one of the reasons that Isaiah is the reading before Tisha B’Av.