21 Jul PARASHAT VAETCHANAN: A REASON FOR CONSOLATION

The Shabbat after Tisha B’Ab is
known as “Shabbat Nahamu,”
the “Shabbat of
consolation.” This
name is based on
the famous prophecy which we read as the Haftara on this
Shabbat, which begins with the words,
“Nahamu Nahamu Ami” – “Console, console My nation.”
But why should we be consoled? What
reason is there for comfort? The calamity
which we mourned on Tisha B’Ab has yet
to be resolved. We are still in exile, and the
Bet Ha’mikdash has not yet been rebuilt.
Why are we to feel consolation, just because Tisha B’Ab is over?
One answer to this question comes from
the beginning of the Parasha which our
Sages specifically instituted to be read on
the Shabbat after Tisha B’Ab – Parashat
Vaet’hanan.
This Parasha begins with Moshe’s pleas to
G-d that he be allowed to enter Eretz Yisrael. The Sages teach that Moshe recited
515 prayers, at which point G-d told him
to stop praying. It seems that G-d wanted
Moshe to recite this specific number of
prayers. Why?
One of the tragedies that befell our nation
as a result of the Temple’s destruction is
described in the third chapter of Megilat
Echa: “Sakota Be’anan Lach Me’abor Tefila” – “You covered Yourself with a cloud,
so that prayer cannot pass.” At the time of
the destruction, G-d made an invisible
“cloud” which blocked the heavens from
receiving our prayers.
This was, indeed, a terrible tragedy. Prayer
is not just a means of attaining that which
we need and want. This is far from being
the primary purpose of prayer. The primary purpose of prayer is to connect us to the
Almighty. The Tefillin that we wear is so
named because it is tied and bound to our
bodies. The word “Tefila” means “bind.”
When we pray, we connect to Hashem. We
build a relationship with Him. At the time
of the destruction, G-d decided He no longer wanted a relationship with us, and so
He broke this connection by blocking our
prayers. This marked one of the gravest
tragedies of the destruction.
A number of books teach that Moshe Rabbenu prophetically foresaw this calamity,
and he acted to help us, to restore for us this
ability to connect to G-d through prayer.
The Gematria (numerical value) of the
word “Tefila” is 515. Moshe prayed 515
prayers for our sake, to reaffirm the power
of Tefila when it would be taken from us.
It is in his merit, because of his prayers,
that we were given anew the opportunity
of Tefila which had been taken away at the
time of the destruction. Thanks to Moshe’s
prayers, we are able to maintain our connection to G-d even in the darkest of times.
The prayers at the beginning of Parashat
Vaet’hanan are the greatest possible source
of consolation for us – because they have
assured our continued ability to build a relationship with Hashem, under any and all
circumstances.
Remarkably, this concept relates to the festive day of Tu B’Ab, the 15th of Ab, which
falls less than a week after Tisha B’Ab.
One of the events celebrated on this day,
as the Gemara explains, is “Kalu Meteh
Midbar” – the demise of the generation of
the wilderness was completed. After the
sin of the spies, G-d decreed that the entire
generation would perish over the course of
the next 39 years, and only their children
would enter the Land of Israel. It was on
the 15th of Ab, 39 years later, that Beneh
Yisrael realized that the decree had already
been carried out in full, and now everybody who was alive would be proceeding
into Eretz Yisrael. This was a joyous day,
when the people saw that the punishment
had been completed, and this is one of the
reasons why we celebrate Tu B’Ab.
The Peneh Yehoshua (Rav Yaakob Yehoshua Falk, 1680-1756) writes that it
was on that same day that Moshe Rabbenu
recited his 515 prayers. Upon seeing that
G-d had completed punishing the people
for the sin of the spies, and everyone who
remained would be entering the Land of
Israel, Moshe saw an opportunity to beg
for the privilege of entering the land. G-d
denied his request, but, as we have seen,
these prayers were inestimably valuable, having the effect of restoring for us
the ability to connect to Hashem through
prayer.
Tu B’Ab is thus an exceedingly significant
day – celebrating the restoration of Tefila,
the elimination of the “cloud” which had
blocked our access to G-d in the wake of
the Temple’s destruction, so that we can
once again, even in our state of exile, build
and maintain a beautiful and meaningful
relationship with Hashem.
May we all seize the precious opportunity
we have to connect with Hashem each
day through prayer, and may we succeed in building a close relationship with
our Creator and in bringing His presence
back to Yerushalayim, in the rebuilt Bet
Ha’mikdash, speedily and in our times,
Amen.