Seeking Those Who Do Not Know Us

On Keter Melukha

Marc Hersch, JTS Rabbinical Student (Class of 2026)

וידרשוך עמים לא ידעוך
“Nations that knew You not will seek You” (Mahzor Lev Shalem, 150)

The line of the piyyut Veyetayu, known colloquially as Keter Melukha by its refrain, has puzzled me over time for the sheer breadth that it captures. How can people without prior knowledge both find our God and declare their loyalty that easily? And especially this year, how are we to embrace this vision when the war in Gaza and global antisemitism rage? While living in Jerusalem this past school year, I watched my hope for the kind of peace described in this piyyut become diluted with fear, at some times more than others. I felt that my fellow Jews and I shared more angst than joy in these past few months.

The source of this line is the prophet Isaiah, who proclaims, “So you shall summon a nation you did not know” (Isa. 55:5). I cannot help but identify here with the people’s struggle to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy, as much then as now. Rashi provides much-needed clarification through added context. Rashi highlights the act of summoning: God brought us into relationship and dialogue. Now the people first must affirm their faith “to the name of the Lord that is summoned upon you” (Rashi, ad loc). The act of summoning is the necessary link between Rashi and Isaiah, between then and now. Rashi shows that God has summoned the people Israel, and now Isaiah asks Israel to summon others. God brought us into relationship and dialogue. Now, says Isaiah, is the time for us to do the same.

It is difficult to live up to the vision of dialogue when, at the time of this writing, we have marked more than 300 days of war and captivity for more than 100 individuals. As if to give us hope, Isaiah precedes this vision with a reminder of the covenant that God made with David, who was born on Tishah Be’av. Although born on the saddest day of the Jewish calendar, David would ultimately represent the lasting bond between God and the Jewish people. “Do not give up,” says Isaiah (Isa. 55:3). “Remember how God called you in,” says Rashi. “Use this year for good,” says the piyyut.

May these Yamim Nora’im give us the strength to work for peace for the people we know and don’t know. Shanah Tovah!

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