In Isaiah 10:20-23 who are referred to as the remnant of Israel and the escaped of the House of Jacob referenced by Hashem? Are the remnant referenced to as only some of the Jewish people?
Why would Hashem not want all of the Jewish people to return to His Torah and Eretz Yisroel? Had the majority of the Hebrew people done something evil or contrary to Hashem and His Torah?
Welcome Arnold and it's a good question with many possible responses.
Traditional Jewish teaching is that the Prophets of the Tanach are prophecies that relate to each and every generation. So how the words apply to a given generation, hundreds or thousands of years ago, would be different from our lifetime.
But in the current context, if you look from the beginning of the chapter, it appears to be addressing the Holocaust and the massacre of the Jewish people by the Nazis. The remnant are those who physically survive that process.
In various Jewish writings, like Sefer Avkat Rochel of Rabbeinu Makir ben Abba Mori, book 1, sign 1-4, it refers to this time period, which is the beginning of the process of the final redemption as the Pekidah which is alluded to in Isaiah 10:3 and also 10:12. For whatever reason (something we cannot truly understand), G-d's wisdom decreed that it would begin in this way.
There are some who wish to relate this to the Jewish concept of Reward and Punishment for the nation of Israel, but there is another traditional view in Judaism that this decree, which seems to be directed toward the Jewish people, transcends that system and is simply something G-d required according to His wisdom, which is not like our wisdom, as part of the final redemption. That it is really more of an assessment of how the nations of the world relate to the Jewish people, who G-d loves and cherishes, not a measure of the merit of the Jewish people themselves. This association to the re-establishment of the Monarchy of the House of David is alluded to in Isaiah 10:5 and also 10:24 which mentions the rod and staff, which are symbols of the Monarchy of the House of King David.
This time period is also referred to in the Talmud and other places as the Heels of Moshiach, and is a period when the Jewish people suffer greatly.
Concerning your last question, G-d wants all the Jewish people, in every generation, to return to His Torah and to the land which is an allusion to His will. And in fact, that is also G-d's promise through his Prophets. That every Jew will be included in the final redemption because like it says in Isaiah 60:21, they are all righteous in G-d's eyes. And this relates to our belief in the ultimate resurrection of the dead. Not a single Jew will ultimately be left out or forgotten like is found in Tanna D'vei Eliyahu and Pesikta Rabbati and elsewhere discussing when Moshiach ben David accepts his mission from G-d to bring about the final redemption.
Yeshayahu is talking about the Jews that are left over from the destruction that he prophesies will come, as he says in (10:1-3):
ה֥וֹי הַחֹֽקְקִ֖ים חִקְקֵי־אָ֑וֶן וּֽמְכַתְּבִ֥ים עָמָ֖ל כִּתֵּֽבוּ׃ לְהַטּ֤וֹת מִדִּין֙ דַּלִּ֔ים וְלִגְזֹ֕ל מִשְׁפַּ֖ט עֲנִיֵּ֣י עַמִּ֑י לִהְי֤וֹת אַלְמָנוֹת֙ שְׁלָלָ֔ם וְאֶת־יְתוֹמִ֖ים יָבֹֽזּוּ׃ וּמַֽה־תַּעֲשׂוּ֙ לְי֣וֹם פְּקֻדָּ֔ה וּלְשׁוֹאָ֖ה מִמֶּרְחָ֣ק תָּב֑וֹא עַל־מִי֙ תָּנ֣וּסוּ לְעֶזְרָ֔ה וְאָ֥נָה תַעַזְב֖וּ כְּבוֹדְכֶֽם׃ בִּלְתִּ֤י כָרַע֙ תַּ֣חַת אַסִּ֔יר וְתַ֥חַת הֲרוּגִ֖ים יִפֹּ֑לוּ בְּכָל־זֹאת֙ לֹא־שָׁ֣ב אַפּ֔וֹ וְע֖וֹד יָד֥וֹ נְטוּיָֽה׃ (ס)
Ha! Those who write out evil writs And compose iniquitous documents, To subvert the cause of the poor, To rob of their rights the needy of My people; That widows may be their spoil, And fatherless children their booty! What will you do on the day of punishment, When the calamity comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help, And how will you save your carcasses From collapsing under [fellow] prisoners, From falling beneath the slain? Yet His anger has not turned back, And his arm is outstretched still.
(Sefaria’s translation)
Yeshayahu is saying that the few that survive that destruction will come back to Israel.
You affirm “That every Jew will be included in the final redemption because like it says in Isaiah 60:21, they are all righteous in G-d's eyes.
– Arnold Wolf Sep 26 '19 at 11:53וְאִ֨ם־בְּזֹ֔את לֹ֥א תִשְׁמְע֖וּ לִ֑י וַהֲלַכְתֶּ֥ם עִמִּ֖י בְּקֶֽרִי׃ But if, despite this, you disobey Me and remain hostile to Me, לַכְתִּ֥י עִמָּכֶ֖ם בַּחֲמַת־קֶ֑רִי וְיִסַּרְתִּ֤י אֶתְכֶם֙ אַף־אָ֔נִי שֶׁ֖בַע עַל־חַטֹּאתֵיכֶם׃ I will act against you in wrathful hostility; I, for My part, will discipline you sevenfold for your sins. – Arnold Wolf Sep 26 '19 at 12:00
You are correct in that we cannot truly understand His reasons for that small remnant at the final redemption but He does as stated in Isaiah 10:20-23. I assume it will be those who follow the Torah of Hashem and throw off the inane laws and rules laid down by the majority votes of men. Examples of Talmudic Oral Laws given to Moshe for future generations.
– Arnold Wolf Sep 26 '19 at 12:02I was speaking of the holocausts, mass tragedies, and devastations throughout the two thousand + years since the Oral Laws were first written. Philistines Assyrian Empire Babylonian Empire Person Empire Greek Empire Roman Empire Byzantine Empire Crusaders Spanish Empire Nazi Germany Soviet Union Iran
– Arnold Wolf Sep 26 '19 at 12:04But in the current context, if you look from the beginning of the chapter, it appears to be addressing the Holocaust and the massacre of the Jewish people by the Nazis. The remnant are those who physically survive that process.
– Arnold Wolf Sep 26 '19 at 12:06