|
From the Rabbi:
This Shabbat, the one immediately following Tisha B'Av, commonly called Shabbat Nachamu, (like so many others) is named for the opening line of the haftara. (Isaiah 40:1) "Nachamu Nachamu Ami". Sooth Sooth my people, says Your God. Speak to the Heart of Jerusalem and call out to Her"...
We often think about 'soothing' or 'comforting' someone as easing their suffering. Somehow, helping their situation, making things better. While in practice, that may in fact happen, comforting mourners really does help improve their situation, nechama as a word doesn't really mean comforting or soothing. It's closer to "catharsis", "having a change of heart" or "seeing things differently".
For example on every fast we read about how God changed his mind and decided not to destroy Am Yisrael after the golden calf. (Ex. 32:14) וַיִּנָּ֖חֶם ה' עַל־הָ֣רָעָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבֶּ֖ר לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת לְעַמּֽוֹ׃
And the LORD relented from the punishment He had planned to bring upon His people. Similarly, before the flood we see the same word used in the other direction, to describe God regretting having ever made Man. (Gen. 6:6) וַיִּנָּ֣חֶם ה' כִּֽי־עָשָׂ֥ה אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ וַיִּתְעַצֵּ֖ב אֶל־לִבּֽוֹ׃
And the LORD regretted that He had made man on earth, and His heart was saddened.
We can see from these examples that nechama isn't about changing outward parameters or circumstances. It's not about making things any different than they presently are. It's an entirely internal shift in attitude, perspective and feeling. Feeling differently about something without it having changed. But after nechama, we react to things differently. The most prevalent use of the word is around death. Can we bring back the deceased? So, when we comfort a mourner, were not trying to change the reality, we're assisting the mourners to go through a cathartic process through the stages of grief: denial, anger acceptance etc.
Nowhere is this shift of heart without shifting reality more apparent than the stark contrast between Megillat Eicha and Parshat VaEtchanan regarding loneliness. Eicha begins by bewailing 'How could SHE be sitting alone'. This is Jerusalem, The Shechina, Hashem's presence sitting alone, feeling abandoned, neglected, eating Her children and nobody there to 'comfort Her'. She is Alone. That's what Tisha B'av is all about. We don't greet one another. We don't even learn Torah. We may gather as a community, but the feeling is one of existential isolation and only accentuates our loneliness.
In Parshat VaEtchanan, the language of Hashem being alone hits a bit different. (Deut. 4:35) אַתָּה֙ הׇרְאֵ֣תָ לָדַ֔עַת כִּ֥י ה' ה֣וּא הָאֱלֹקים אֵ֥ין ע֖וֹד מִלְּבַדּֽוֹ׃
You have been shown and you know that the LORD alone is God; there is nothing else. That's a different kind of alone! Not one saturated with shame, pain and sorrow. An alone-ness which bespeaks wholeness, all-ness, integrity and completion. There is no other. There cannot be. Utterly Unique, Sacred, ONE. Alone because He's all there is, and everything which is, exists only within Him. An aloneness which inspires us to reverence, allegiance, participation and of course, love. What a radical shift from the sorrow, pity and grief that "alone" carried only a week ago. That shift in perspective, attitude and affective posture, that's nechama!
So too are we called upon by God through Isaiah to engage in this process of 'comforting' catharsis as a people. Nachamu Nachamu Ami. Go through this change of heart together, help each other shift. But not just for yourselves. Speak to the Heart of Jerusalem, call to her, tell her its not about punishment. She may still be alone, but it's not about neglect, abandonment or widowhood. Hers is a different kind of aloneness. An aloneness that reflects God's Unity. God is One, eternally alone. So too, there is no other Jerusalem and there never will be. She is a city entirely alone in sanctity, dignity and Heart. She is THE central focus point of all the hopes of God, Humanity and all the Earth. There is only One Jerusalem.
Indeed we pray to see Her rebuilt, full of joy and risen to Her great destiny. But even our our grief and pain there is the reverence, the hope and the focus on Her and Her alone. Not Babylon, Shushan, Athens, Rome, Baghdad, Berlin, New York... They're not even cheap knock-offs. Like idols before Hashem, not even in the same category. It's not that Jerusalem is the 'best' city. The nicest, most comfortable, cleanest most pleasant place on Earth. No, she's the very heart of the World. She's the place that holds all the pain and suffering. And all the joy. All the sorrow and all the hope. All the everything, because She Alone is God's city.
Is it any wonder that the whole world is obsessed with Israel? Like Her or hate Her, everyone is focused there and with feelings unlike toward any other place. So the question is about our attitude. Are we coming to scorn the suffering widow? Perhaps to comfort her, or as we approach Tu B'av are we maybe there to rejoice with Her and prepare her for the Chuppah? When we Daven towards Jerusalem, we're not just 'pledging allegiance to flag of...' No, we're speaking to the Heart of Jerusalem; Calling to Her. Logging in to the Sacred Heart of all existence. Tell Her she's the One. The only one. Rejoice in Her alone. Not because she's built. Because She Is.
Shabbat Shalom
Reb Shlomo
| 
