"Iran Fires Long-Range Ballistic Missiles Toward US & UK Diego Garcia Base, Threatens Tourist Sites Worldwide Amid War Escalation"

Breaking news as I am writing this (Sunday 22 March 2026 | 4 Nisan 5786):

This week the Haftarah portion for Parashat Tzav is a special one because Shabbat Tzav this week is Shabbat haGadol - the Shabbat immediately preceding the start of Passover. The Haftarah is Malachi 3:4-24 (which is the very end of the entirety of Prophets in Tanakh). These prophetic verses speak of disruptions in the offerings of sacrifices in the Temple, alienation from order, and the potential for reconciliation. A contemporary lens through which to understand "korbanot" ("sacrifices") is that these are offerings that bring us closer to God, to the Divine, to the fundamental order of the universe and - I suggest - of our human society as well.

From Michael Fishbane's book: The JPS Bible Commentary - Haftarot:
"Overall, the theme of restoration predominates in the haftarah: the restoration of acceptable offerings in the Temple (Mal. 3:4), the repair of the covenant through repentance (v.7), the renewal of trust in divine justice (v. 18), and the reconciliation of parents and children to God and each other (v. 24). A deep sense of estrangement or disharmony thus pervades the present order of things: providence has perverted the people's soul and led them to callous indifference in the moral and cultic realms." (p. 362)

A deep sense of estrangement or disharmony ... callous indifference in the moral realm... this rings very true, to my ear, about this very moment.

This is a pressing question at this moment in history, when disruptions and distortions of morality and ethics prevail, locally, nationally, internationally.

How can we turn back to our most deeply held values? How can we rediscover our moral compasses, recalibrate our ethical equilibrium?

Revering God's name... a paraphrase: internalizing, following, the most fundamental mitzvot and ethical precepts - such as honoring life, welcoming the stranger, returning lost objects. For those who thus honor an ethical order, "a sun of righteousness shall rise to bring healing".

The word here translated as "shall rise" - וְזָרְחָ֨ה - is from the verbal root (shoresh) √זָרַח - to rise, come forth / come out, break out, arise, rise up, appear.

Musing on the associated meanings of this verbal root, it seems that what is breaking forth is a force of nature: the sun; a plant springing up; a fetus breaking forth from the womb; leprosy breaking out on the skin.

A powerful idea: When I revere God's name, when I contemplate, and study, and honor, and reconnect with the most fundamental of ethical principles, then there is a righteousness that bursts forth like the rays of the sun.

What would this look like today? How can we "revere God's name"... act based on the most fundamental moral principles - the valuing of life; the welcoming of strangers; honor and compassion. How shall we turn back from the ugly, dehumanizing morally devoid actions that are currently pervading our world?

Can we be like rays of shining righteousness, bursting through the clouds, shining our light?

This is a question that each of us must answer for ourselves. May we do so with courage and humility and love.