Vaetchanan 5771

Rabbi Daniela Szuster

B´nei Israel Congregation,

Costa Rica

Shabbat Nachamu and the Pursuit of Comfort

Again it happened that Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria, Rabbi Joshua and Rabbi Akiva went up to Jerusalem. When they reached Mt. Scopus, they tore their garments. When they reached the Temple Mount, they saw a fox emerging from the place of the Holy of Holies. The others started weeping; Rabbi Akiva laughed.
Said they to him: "Why are you laughing?"
Said he to them: "Why are you weeping?"
Said they to him: "A place [so holy] … now foxes traverse it, and we shouldn't weep?"
Said he to them: "That is why I laugh. For it is written, ‘Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the Temple Mount like the high places of a forest’ (Micha 3:12).  With Zachariah it is written, 'Old men and women shall yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem’ (Zechariah 8:4).”
"… Now that Uriah's prophecy has been fulfilled, it is certain that Zechariah's prophecy will be fulfilled."  (Makot, 24)

It is striking that while the sages were all in the same place, some ripped their garments in a sign of mourning and one rejoiced.  Some clung to the sad reality of the time and one, Rabbi Akiva, was able to see beyond the horizon.  Rabbi Akiva could see that after so much suffering, the time of comfort, of nechamah, would arrive.

This Shabbat, immediately after Tisha B’Av, the day on which we remember the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem, is called Shabbat Nachamu, due to this Shabbat’s corresponding Haftarah, which begins with the words:  Nachamu, nachamu ami, “Comfort, comfort My people.”
 

From this Shabbat to the Shabbat prior to Rosh Hashanah, a seven-week period, a different prophecy from the prophet Isaiah is read on each Shabbat.  This Haftorot cycle is called shiva denechamata, “the seven haftarot of consolation”, which speak of the comfort God will gradually bestow to the people of Israel.  Furthermore, Parashat Va-etchannan is read on Shabbat Nachamu, which begins by saying:  “And I besought the Lord at that time…” (Deut. 3:23).  Moses begged the Lord to have mercy on the people of Israel.
 

The complex question that emerges on this Shabbat Nachamu is how to find comfort after losing a loved one, after experiencing moments of distress and pain. How do you believe that a place in ruins can flourish and be rebuilt?  How do you laugh when you see foxes wandering around the great destroyed Temple?

There is an old Chinese tale about a woman whose only son died. In her grief, she went to the holy man and asked, “What prayers, what magical incantations do you have to bring my son back to life?”
Instead of sending her away or reasoning with her, he said to her, “Fetch me a mustard seed from a home that has never known sorrow. We will use it to drive the sorrow out of your life.” The woman went off at once in search of that magical mustard seed.
She came first to a splendid mansion, knocked at the door, and said, “I am looking for a home that has never known sorrow. Is this such a place? It is very important to me.”  They told her, “You’ve certainly come to the wrong place,” and began to describe all the tragic things that recently had befallen them.
The woman said to herself, “Who is better able to help these poor, unfortunate people than I, who have had misfortunes of my own?” She stayed to comfort them, and then went on in search of a home that had never known sorrow. But wherever she turned, in huts and in palaces, she found one tale after another of sadness and misfortune. Finally, the woman became so involved in helping others cope with their sorrows that she eventually forgot her quest for the magical mustard seed, never understanding that, in truth, she had driven away her suffering.

Somehow, this story teaches us how, with time, we can find comfort for our grief. We can imbue it with meaning and turn it into action, helping our neighbors and giving meaning to our own lives. This woman, by helping others, was able to find consolation for her personal loss. The wound never healed, but the consolation relieved her sorrow.
 

If you pay attention, you see that there are three weeks of mourning and seven of consolation. The pain is strong and intense, but the consolation can be more lasting and comforting. With faith and strength in our hearts, we may be able to follow in Rabbi Akiva’s path: to see rebuilding and rebirth among the ruins. As in this woman’s story, we can search for a way to turn our grief into something meaningful for our lives and the world around us. As is written in the Torah: “The Lord, God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth…” (Ex. 34:6).   
 

May God grant us the way to find the path of Nechama, of consolation, when we need it.  May we not stay anchored in pain and sorrow, but rather close our wounds, finding relief and inner peace.
 

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Daniela Szuster