09 Aug FROM MOURNING TO MORNING
“Nachamu, Nachamu Ami – Be comforted, be comforted My people.”
(Yeshayahu 40:1, Haftorah for Parshas Nachamu)
The Nine Days and Tisha B’Av are behind us. Was it only a week ago that we were mourning?
How quickly we transition from sadness and mourning to joy and celebration. From Shabbos Chazon to Shabbos Nachamu.
HaShem, with His infinite kindness, grants us the gift of nechamah – consolation. How speedily HaShem wants to bring healing to His beloved people. Like a mother who just wants to kiss her child’s boo-boos away, or a father, that can’t bear to see his child suffer, HaShem, our Father in Heaven can’t bear to watch His beloved children in pain.
After the darkness, there is sunshine. After the hurt and anguish, there is comfort and consolation.
In Megillas Eichah which we read on Tisha B’Av, there is a double language for the words of weeping. “Bocho, Tivkeh.” Bocho – to cry, Tivkeh – a strong and bitter cry.” (Eichah 1:2) The loss of the Holy Temples was so great, the pain of the people so intense, that weeping is mentioned twice. Bocho, Tivkeh.
We conclude the reading of Eichah with a request to HaShem. “Hashiveinu HaShem eilechah, v’nashuvah, Bring us back to You, HaShem, and we will return.” (Eichah 5:21) Our hearts yearn to come close to HaShem.
Shabbos is our opportunity to come home. Within the word Shabbos, is the word shov – shin, bais – meaning to return.
Boh Shabbos, Boh menucha. When Shabbos arrives, peace arrives. Comes Shabbos Nachamu, and with it arrives an end to the pain. Yeshayahu tells us, Nachamu, Nachamu, be consoled, be consoled. For just as bocho tivkeh, the crying and weeping is mentioned twice, so too is the comfort and consolation equally great. Nachamu, Nachamu Ami – Be comforted, be comforted My people.
Yeshayahu’s words of consolation were not just for the people of his generation. They are words of comfort for all times. “Comfort, Comfort My people says your G-d.” “Says” is written, and not “said”, for the comfort is for all future generations.
Nachamu, Nachamu – consolation in this world, consolation in the World to Come. Nachamu, Nachamu, consolation for the destruction of the First Temple, consolation for the destruction of the Second Temple. Nachamu, Nachamu, a powerful consolation to end all suffering, for all times.
Shabbos Nachamu is like a burst of sunshine in our lives. The dawn of a new beginning. From mourning to morning.
There are those amongst us who bring that burst of sunshine into our world.
For the past thirty years, our family has been spending our summers upstate with a wonderful group of people. Summer Shabbosim can be long, and Shabbos parties for the children are a way to help create a special Shabbos spirit.
Baruch and Suzie Singer, two very special members of our upstate community, understand this. When their son, Yitzchok Aaron (Yitzi), was just a toddler, they made a Shabbos party on their porch for him and his friends. They did this not only to give their son a good time, but they saw this experience as a teaching moment to imbue their son with a love of giving and sharing, of doing chesed.
Kids are blessed with the art of sniffing out nosh and other goodies. Their noses just lead them to the treats. It didn’t take long for a large group of children to find their way and gather in front of the Singer porch. The Singers warmly welcomed them, and their small intimate Shabbos party quickly grew and grew from Shabbos to Shabbos. Soon, the party outgrew their porch.
The Singers took the Shabbos party to the next level, and moved it to our development’s shul. All of the children from our seventy-plus families were invited to join. Every Friday, the Singers shopped for the assorted goodies that would be distributed that Shabbos, and they themselves packed the nosh bags for the children’s Shabbos party.
When I asked Baruch what inspires him to continue this by-now almost two-decade old tradition, he said, “I am motivated by the opportunity to strengthen the connection between the children and Shabbos. It is such a pleasure to see the eyes of these beautiful boys and girls light up as they enjoy Shabbos in a fun, yet Torah environment.”
It is the story of the Shabbos party that grew and grew — and is still growing. It started small, but now, over eighteen years later, little Yitzi is a young adult, and the Shabbos parties have become a part of the official Shabbos schedule. Every Shabbos afternoon, at about 2:15, it is quite a sight to watch as a hundred (sometimes even more)) children of all ages follow R’ Baruch Singer and his boxes filled with nosh bags. They quickly find their seats, enjoying not only the treats, but the inspiring d’var Torah and stories, singing and time together.
As an added gesture of their love for all the children, on the Sunday following every Shabbos Nachamu, Baruch and Suzie bring in an entertaining Torah show, and a fully stocked ice cream truck, distributing ice cream, slush and other frozen treats to all the children – and even to many of the mommies and tattys. This year, because we are nearing the conclusion of the Shemittah year in Eretz Yisroel, the ice cream fun will be combined with an inspiring presentation teaching the children about the special mitzvah of Shemittah.
It is a story of chesed. A story of a couple who through their kindness, are amongst the bricklayers of the Bayis Shlishi, the third and final Bais HaMikdosh.
When we join together as one, we become a nation that cares and feels ahavah, love towards one another. A people that with HaShem’s help, will merit to see the fulfillment of the words of the navi Yeshayahu, “Nachamu, nachamu, ami, Be comforted, be comforted My people.”
May the blessings of Shabbos Nachamu bring comfort and consolation to us all.