Shabbat Nachamu…When Hope Overcomes Doom
By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D.
SAN DIEGO — Well, here we are on this Shabbat Nachamu reminding us that in just seven weeks we’ll be celebrating Rosh Hashana. This “Sabbath of comforting,” from the haftarah in the Book of Isaiah, we read, Nachamu, nachamu ami “Comfort, comfort my people,” and we have the first of the seven haftorot, Sheva deNechamata, of consolation helping us prepare psychologically and spiritually for the holiday of Rosh Hashana.
Inside of this week’s Torah portion, Va’etchanan [Deuteronomy 3:23–7:11], we also read additional comforting passages that provide reassurance that Hashem is quite present in our awareness, in our lives. Moshe retells the story of receiving the Ten Commandments, and Moshe shares the first line of the Shema and the words of the v’ahavta. In the midst of destruction, in the midst of anxiety and fearfulness, in a contemporary society that is increasingly chaotic and divisive, we find consolation and solace knowing that our protector and our source of strength is always with us. We declare our permanent faith in Hashem with the Shema following Tisha B’Av, reasserting our acceptance of his Divine Providence, just as we extol His greatness when we say the Kaddish.
I was struck by the notion that comfort comes to us through both listening, “Hear oh Israel…” and through speaking, through the words of the Prophet Isaiah giving us consolation. The Shema directs us to listen, to focus on our actions and behaviors, while in the words of nachamu, we see the value of Hashem’s spoken language. Indeed, true consolation for others comes in our ability to first hear what another is saying, is searching for. What we don’t say can be as powerful as what we do say at times of particular hardship in life. This is an important lesson deep in this parasha in which we can learn how to provide comfort to others. When we remove barriers and join together in prayer, when we eliminate barricades and support one another, when we are present enough to listen to another, we build community and are not alone. That is nechama.
Interestingly, there are 144 verses altogether in the seven haftarot of comfort, and 143 verses contained in the so-called four portions of admonition in the Torah found in Bechukotai, Ki Tavo, Nitzavim, and Ha’azinu – 144 verses of consolation and 143 of verses of admonition. Thus, we see that our consolation outdoes admonition. If you enjoy numbers, you might appreciate knowing the remez, the hint, that Moses prayed 515 prayers to allow him to cross to the Promised Land (Devarim Rabbah 11:6). This is the same numerical value (gematria) of Va’etchanan, “and I beseeched.” And the Ba’al Haturim also notes that the word Va’etchanan shares the same numerical value with the word shirah, which means song.
Rabbi Yosef Shusterman of Chabad of Beverly Hills shares from the Ohr Somayach web site, a yeshiva in which I had the privilege of learning, in the name of Rabbi Mordechai Perlman, that there are 516 hours between the start of Rosh Hashana and the end of Hoshana Raba – which is the last chance to change a decree which was made on Yom Kippur. In the last year of his life, between Rosh Hashana and Shmini Atzeres, Moshe prayed every hour – 515 times – that Hashem should forgive him and let him cross over the Jordan. Finally Hashem told him not to continue praying. From this we can learn the enormous power of prayer: Hashem told Moshe to stop praying to Him – implying that if Moshe had continued to pray, if he would have prayed the 516th prayer, Hashem would have acceded to his petition.
The Rambam in the Laws of Teshuva 10:3, opens our eyes to recognizing and understanding true love. “What is the proper type of love? One should love God with a great, superior, bold love, until one’s soul is bound with love of God, whereby it consumes completely – as if one was lovesick, whereby his mind is never free from thoughts of a particular woman, he always thinks of her, when sitting or standing, whether he be eating or drinking. More than this should the love of God be for those who love Him, as it says: With all your heart and all your soul…” Despite the many sins the Nation of Israel committed, nevertheless, Hashem purposefully states His unbreakable love for His people, with dedication and commitment. Coming after Tisha B’Av, His message of love is even more powerful and comforting, and hopefully brings us closer in our relationship with Him. The mitzvah to love Hashem, in this parasha, comes at a time when for Moshe, life must have seemed quite unfair. During our most trying times, that’s when it’s most important to declare our love, our belief, in His perfection. Think about the kaddish– there is no mention of death, but only praise for Hashem.
We can surely find emotional comfort in knowing that through this acknowledgement of His love, we can create communities, build mikdash me’at through our behaviors, our mitzvot, despite our distress and anguish. A wonderful mashal, parable, in Masechet Makot, 24a, informs us how we can find nechama, comfort, at a time of hardship – it seems the lesson is “the link is what you think.”
“Rabbi Akiva, together with a small group of other important rabbinic luminaries – Rabbi Gamliel, Rabbi Eleazar, and Rabbi Yehoshua – traveled to Jerusalem to gaze upon the ruins following the Roman conquest of the Holy City.
As the Rabbis began to gaze out over Mount Scopus, they collectively ripped their garments to mourn the destruction they now witnessed first-hand. When they continued on to look at the Temple Mount, they saw a fox wandering in the area that once was the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctum of the Holy Temple.
“Why are you laughing?” – The other sages asked, dumbfounded.
“Why are you crying?”
“For the desecration of the Sanctuary, where foxes wander about.”
“That is why I am laughing. In the prophetic books it is written: “Zion for your sake (shall) be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps” (Micah 3:12). The prediction of Jerusalem’s destruction has been fulfilled. Our prophets also said: “There shall yet old men and old women sit in the broad places of Jerusalem” (Zechariah 8:4). Now that I have seen with my own eyes the destruction prophesized by Uriah, I know for a fact that Zechariah’s vision will one day come true as well…”
“Akiva, you have comforted us, Akiva you have comforted us…”
We can rip our garments, or we can rejoice. We can focus on anguish or we can look up and see beyond. We can be like Rabbi Akiva and reframe life to create positive renewal and healthy emotional reawakening. We are a people of eternal hope as we say in Psalm 137, “Im Eshkacheich Yerushalyim tishkach yemini, I will never forget you O Jerusalem.”
Let us hope, pray, that this Shabbat brings us true nechama and allows us to move forward in peace, love, comfort and health…united as one, fulfilling the prophet Isaiah’s powerfully hopeful vision even in the face of what may appear to be doom, seeing beyond the vista of history to nechama on this Shabbat Nachamu.
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Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D., prepares a weekly D’var Torah for Young Israel of San Diego, where he and his family are members. They are also active members of Congregation Adat Yeshurun. He may be contacted via michael.mantell@sdjewishworld.com