24 Jul IT’S ABOUT TIME

The Three Weeks. The Nine Days. Tisha
B’Av. Times of mourning, one following
another, each one recalling the increased
pain of our nation. And then, following
Tisha B’Av is Shabbos Nachamu. The
Shabbos of Comfort and Consolation.
How quickly we segue from the darkness
of mourning to the light of morning, the
joy of nachamu.
This week’s haftara opens with the words
“Nachamu, nachamu ami, Be comforted,
be comforted, my people, yomar
Elokeichem, says your G-d.” Chazal
teach that when Yeshayahu said these
words, he was asked if the consolation
was limited to the generation that lived
through the churban, those who witnessed
the destruction of Yerushalayim.
The prophet responded, “I came to
comfort all generations, as it is written
‘yomar – says’ your G-d, and not ‘said’
your G-d.” Nachamu, nachamu, words of
comfort then, words of comfort now.

Nachamu, nachamu, be comforted, be
comforted. Who among us can say that
their life is worry and problem-free? That
they never experienced pain and
suffering? So many shattered dreams and
hopes. So much heartache.
We live in a world where everyone at one
time or another had “something”. A world
where we need nachamu, HaShem’s
comfort and consolation. Within the word
nachamu, we can find the word macha, to
erase. As Yeshayahu writes (25:8)
“U’macha Hashem dima, HaShem will
wipe away all tears, me’al kol panim,
from all faces…”
“Macha” can also be found within the
word “simcha”, happiness. Simcha is
spelled sin-mem-ches-hei. Simcha can
also be read as sheh’macha, meaning to
erase. When HaShem comforts our soul,
we find the strength to continue on and
find simcha in our lives.
The gemara teaches that man should
strive to emulate HaShem’s ways. “Mah
hu rachum, just as HaShem is merciful, af

atah rachum, so too should you be
merciful.” Perhaps one of the messages
from this week’s haftara is that just as
HaShem comforts His people, so too, we
should be a source of comfort and
consolation to others during their time of
need.
I recently spotted a bumper sticker from
the “Thank You HaShem” movement
that said it all. “Be the one to put a smile
on someone’s face today!” Give a kind
and encouraging word, a compassionate
and comforting thought. Daven for
someone with all your heart and soul, and
really feel someone’s pain.
Comforting someone isn’t about the
‘Olympics of Suffering’, it’s not a matter
of ‘can you top this’ in terms of difficulty,
saying “my problem is bigger, or I know
someone who has it even worse”. I
remember my grandmother, Mama a”h,
saying that no one should have tzoris,
problems. It doesn’t lessen one’s pain to
hear that someone else is also suffering.
We are now in the month of Menachem
Av, the Consolation of Av. Av means
father. We daven that the Av, our Father
above bring us the consolation that
only a father can.
This Shabbos, we read parshas
Ve’eschanan. “Ve’eschanan el HaShem,
And (Moshe) pleaded to HaShem.”
Moshe prayed and prayed. The
gematria, the numerical equivalent of
the word v’eschanan is
five-hundred-fifteen, telling us that
Moshe beseeched HaShem
five-hundred-fifteen times to enter
Eretz Yisroel. Moshe always davened
for Bnei Yisroel, turning to HaShem,
asking for the needs of the people. He
placed the needs of the people first and
foremost in his life. Moshe was even
ready to forego having his name written
in the Torah when davening for Bnei
Yisroel’s forgiveness after the tragic
episode of the Golden Calf.
V’eschanan has within it the word
“chinam, for free”. Moshe is davening
– please, let me enter Eretz Yisroel
chinam, for free, even if I’m not
deserving.
Years ago, I taught a group of young
children from homes that were not yet
religious. Not knowing what their
future connection to Jewish learning
would be, I taught the girls about licht
bentschen, candle lighting. They were

only six or seven, but I wanted them to
know that there is a Shabbos, and one day
they will light candles. That with
HaShem’s help, when they will be
mommies, they will light and pray for
their families. A little girl raised her hand
and asked if she could pray for herself. I
couldn’t help but smile, and told her that
of course she can.
Like Moshe who davened for Bnei
Yisroel, we too must turn to HaShem and
daven for our family, daven for our loved
ones, daven for those in need. And, as
Moshe davened for himself, so too must
we daven for ourselves.
Moshe knew that he wouldn’t be entering
Eretz Yisroel, but he kept on davening.
Five-hundred-fifteen times. Rabbi Moshe
di Trani, a sixteenth-century Kabbalist,
teaches that from here we learn the
purpose of prayer. Each and every time
we turn to HaShem, we reaffirm our
belief that He is the one and only who can
answer our tefillos. With each tefilla,
Moshe became closer and closer to
HaShem.
This Shabbos, Shabbos Nachamu,
Shabbos V’eschanan, we should turn to
HaShem and daven. Daven like Moshe.
Storm the gates again and again. Daven
that we should experience a true nechama.
Nachamu, nachamu, a double consolation.
The Midrash tells us that the double
expression of nachamu is meant to
symbolize consolation both in this world
and everlasting consolation in the World
to Come. Consolation for the destruction
of the first Bais HaMikdash, and
consolation for the loss of the second
Bais HaMikdash. Consolation for all the
pain that our nation endured in the past.
Consolation for the pain we are living
with in the present.
Nachamu, nachamu, for our families, for
ourselves. HaShem, it is time for true
comfort. Take us from sadness to joy.
From aveilus to simcha. May all our
tefillos be answered.