ISAIAH’S HIGHWAY

In his article on the new high-speed railway linking Ben-Gurion Airport and Jerusalem (“Further fulfillment of Herzl’s Utopia,” October 5), writer Gol Kalev chooses to see the project as another step in the realization of Herzl’s utopian dream. A more sublime perspective is to view this exceptional achievement as the fulfillment of the magnificent prophecy contained in Chapter 40 of the Book of Isaiah. In this chapter the prophet describes the return of the children of Israel to Jerusalem after their long exile with the words: “In the desert, clear the way of the Lord; straighten out in the wilderness, a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places a plain.”

One does not have to stretch one’s imagination too far to see how these words well describe the feat of engineering that combines extensive tunneling and magnificent bridges to create an almost level approach to the Holy City.

Isaiah Chapter 40 was chosen by the rabbis as the haftara to be read in synagogues on the Shabbat after Tisha Be’av, the fast day that commemorates the destruction of Jerusalem and the beginning of the dispersion. Its purpose is to provide comfort to the Jewish people by reassuring them that there will come a time when the dispersed nation will return to Zion to reclaim and rebuild their homeland, leading to the coming of the Messiah.

When we see how Isaiah’s image of a highway to Jerusalem has actually been given form and substance, can we not draw comfort that the final redemption is at hand? JUDAH HARSTEIN

Netanya