Lesson 3: The Biblical Veil — When the Veil Begins to Thin

What this lesson is about

If we use the word “veil,” we should know whether the Tanakh ever uses it. It does — once, powerfully.

The texts

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The veil over all the nations

Yeshayahu 25:7–9

“And He will swallow up on this mountain the face of the covering that covers all the peoples, and the veil that is spread over all the nations. He will swallow up death forever, and Hashem will wipe away tears from every face… And it shall be said on that day: Behold, this is our God; we hoped for Him and He saved us.”

Step by step

Read verses 6–9. Hashem makes a feast for all peoples “on this mountain.” Then He swallows the covering and the veil over the nations, swallows death forever, and wipes away tears — and everyone says, “Behold, this is our God.”
Rashi (English below) explains the Hebrew word lot (“covering”) as a wrapping, like Eliyahu wrapping his face in his cloak (I Kings 19:13).
The Radak (Hebrew below) reads the covering as what the nations were wrapped in until that day — their security and dominion — which Hashem will remove.
Reading A — a veil of mourning. The very next words swallow death and wipe away tears. The same verb describes David covering his face in grief for his son Avshalom (II Shmuel 19:5, shown below).
Reading B — a veil over the eyes. The covering lies over the nations, and the passage ends with everyone pointing: “Behold, this is our God.” Something that blocked seeing is gone.

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The circle-dance of the righteous

Ta’anit 31a

In the future, the Holy One will make a circle-dance of the righteous, with Himself in the center, and each one will point with his finger and say: “Behold, this is our God.”

Step by step

The image. The last passage of tractate Ta’anit takes Isaiah 25:9 and turns it into a picture: a circle, Hashem at the center, every person pointing.
Why a circle? In a circle, everyone is the same distance from the center. No one’s view is blocked by someone in front of them.

Think it through

Can Isaiah 25 honestly support our image, “the veil is thinning”? What does it support — and what does it not?Think about it first — then tap for discussion notes

It supports a future in which a covering over the nations is removed and everyone recognizes Hashem. It does not say the veil thins gradually, and it does not say when. “Thinning” is our image (Our Synthesis), not the prophet’s word — the honest answer is to say so.

Key takeaways

Isaiah 25:7 is the Tanakh’s one “veil over the nations.”
Two readings: a veil of mourning, or a veil over perception.
Ta’anit 31a: a circle where everyone points and says “This is our God.”
“The veil is thinning” is our image — not a classical phrase.

Up next · Lesson 4 · ProphecyHashem Is Already OneEvery one of us has heard this verse — it is the last line of Aleinu, said three times a day, and it is in the haftarah of the first day of Sukkot.

← Lesson 2: An Earth Full of Knowledge, Like Water

The veil over all the nations

The circle-dance of the righteous

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