14 Aug WHAT’S THE BIG COMFORT OF SHABBOS NACHAMU?

Shabbos Nachamu
is a perplexing time.
Everyone is heaving a
sigh of relief after the
intensity of mourning,
saying elaborate, tragic
sequences of Kinos,
and gritty fasting. Once
again, we indulge in the
merriment of music, meat and wine, and feel a
new sense of relief and comfort. But, what has
really changed? Our Temple is still in ruins –
a golden mosque perched in its place. Eretz
Yisroel is under siege and Moshiach is still
nowhere in sight.
I believe the nechama, the comfort, is that
we have changed as a result of our efforts
during the Three Weeks and the Nine Days,
of learning how to be more careful with sinas
chinam, baseless hatred, and lashon hara, evil
slander. We have become more sensitized of
the importance of regularly hoping for the
Moshiach’s coming and the rebuilding of the
Temple. With this newfound strength, we
feel a buoyant surge of hope that the geula,
redemption, is soon to come.
I would like to zoom in again on a specific
aspect that we spoke about last week: the
subject of lashon hara. Dovid HaMelech says
in Tehillim, “L’chu vanim shim’u li, yiras
Hashem alamed’chem – Listen to me my
children, let me teach you awareness of Heaven
(of Hashem).” Let’s pause a moment. With

this intro, what do we think Dovid HaMelech
is going to discuss? One would imagine the
subject would be prayer, which is a way to
directly connect with Heaven. Alternatively,
we might consider that Dovid is referring to the
saying of a hundred blessing daily, which leads
to the fear of G-d. As the verse says, “Mah
Hashem Elokecha sho’el mei’imach ki im
liyirah – What does Hashem ask but that you
should fear Him,” (The Gemora in Menachos
elucidates, “Al tikre mah, ela mei’ah – Don’t
read it what, but rather a hundred.” These are
the hundred blessings we say every day which
cause us to be aware of Hashem.) Or perhaps
Dovid could be referencing the study of nature,
for that is a sure way to become aware of
Hashem. Who else put the sun precisely 93
million miles away, calibrated to give perfect
light, without squinting, throughout the globe?
But, Dovid HaMelech, when teaching us
about yiras Hashem chooses to talk about
something else entirely. As the next verse
says, “Mi ha’ish hechafeitz chaim, oheiv
yamim liros tov? N’tzor lishoncha meirah,
u’s’fasecha midabeir mirmah – Who is the
man that desires life, to see good? Guard
your tongue from speaking evil and your lips
from speaking deceit.” This is puzzling. Why,
when introducing the subject of awareness of
Hashem, does Dovid HaMelech zoom in on
lashon hara? The Chofetz Chaim, zt”l, zy”a,
is bothered by this question. He answers that
there is no sin in the entire Torah that contains

as many negative prohibitions, positive
commandments, and curses, as the crime of
lashon hara. Therefore, a G-d fearing person
has to pay attention to it first. He adds that
it is a sin that is lurking around us 24/7. As
the posuk in Michah warns us, “Mishocheves
cheikecha shmor pischei picha – From the one
who sleeps in your bosom (your spouse) guard
the openings of your mouth.”
I would like to add some other thoughts on
this question. When one thinks about fear of
Hashem, one reflects upon avoiding sin. The
very first sin that brought death to all mankind
was the lashon hara spoken by the snake. And
therefore, we think first how to avoid this
particular crime. Furthermore, we know that
the essence of man is our power of speech for
the Torah says that man was created l’nefash
chayah, a spirit of life, and the Targum interprets
this as l’ruach mimalelah, a spirit that speaks.
As such, a G-d fearing person wants to succeed
with his speech by succeeding at avoiding the
grievous crime of lashon hara.
The Gemora in Sanhedrin comes to the
conclusion that, “Adam l’amal peh nivrah – A
man was created primarily for the toil of one’s
mouth.” In other words, the greatest arena
for achievement in this world is through the
mouth. Thus, a G-d fearing person starts off
their campaign of yiras shamayim by purging
from their mouth any shred of lashon hara.
Finally, the G-d fearing person is scared of
the mekatreig, the satan in Heaven which will

prosecute us for our many sins. The Chofetz
Chaim informs us that the satan only has the
power to prosecute us if we speak badly about
others. Therefore, G-d fearng people will
avoid – like the plague – speaking negatively
about someone else so that the satan will be
unable to speak poorly about us.
With this new ammunition, we can indeed
look forward on this Shabbos Nachamu to the
coming of Moshiach tzidkeinu and shalom al
Yisroel world over, speedily in our days.