 |  | On Shabbat Nachamu, the Shabbat of Comfort, we read the words of the Prophet, “‘Comfort, Comfort My people,’ says your God” (Yeshayahu 40:1). What is the nature of the comfort we are supposed to experience just after Tisha b’Av – the day on which we reflect upon and make connections with the most tragic aspects of Jewish history? According to the Kedushat Levi, “At the time when God will comfort us, may it come speedily in our days, we will remember all of the sufferings that befell us, in order that we should feel a double sense of comfort.” In other words, the first comfort we will feel is the comfort of being redeemed and delivered from the brokenness and tribulations of this world and being brought into the blissful embrace of a perfected state of being with the coming of the Messiah. The first comfort is the immediate, positive response to being saved from imminent danger – it is a sigh of relief – a breath of fresh air. The second comfort, however, is the feeling we will experience once the “dust has settled,” when we can look back, see and take stock of all of the heartbreak, bloodshed, tears and loss we have experienced as a people throughout our long and storied history. This second comfort is the comfort of knowing that though we as a people have suffered greatly, endured unspeakable evils and bore the wrath of nations, kings and despots, we yet live. The second comfort is the kind of comfort Moshe Rebbeinu felt when he first met God at the Burning Bush.
Back in Parshat Shemot, we learn that for an entire week Moshe argued with God at the Burning Bush, and gave Him every reason why he could not be the agent of redemption for the Jewish people. Finally, the Torah tells us Moshe capitulates and says, “I beseech You, O Lord, send whomever You want to send” (Shemot 4:13). Rav J.J. Schacter notes that one hears Moshe’s words and wonders at his total lack of Bein Adam l’Makom, at his total irreverence for God, saying, “Go ahead! Just send whoever You want!” At the same time, one wonders at his total lack of Bein Adam l’Chaveiro, his total disregard for the plight of his own people! What do you mean, “Send whoever You want?” It’s a chutzpah! However, in one of his Tisha b’Av discourses, Rav Joseph Soloveitchik explains that the reason why Moshe was protesting so vigorously against his mission was because he saw, in a prophetic vision, a glimpse of Jewish history. While he saw that indeed, the Jewish people would be saved from Egypt and enter the Land of Israel, he also saw the building of the Temple and its destruction. He saw the rebuilding of the Temple and its repeated destruction, along with all of the suffering, death and exile that would come in its wake. Moshe saw the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the pogroms and the Holocaust. Moshe saw all of these horrific, unspeakable things happen to the very people he was charged to save, and so he thought it would be better not to save them than cause them such harm in the future. Moshe’s vision compelled him to dissociate himself from the redemption from Egypt, because he knew that the salvation he would help bring would only be temporary, and would be followed by many, many more years of exile, oppression, death, persecution and hatred. Yet, after Moshe saw all of these terrible things, he turned to God, tears streaming down his cheeks, and cried, “Send whomever You want to send.” Why? According to the Pirkei d'Rebbe Eliezer, these words were not uttered in an irreverent or unfeeling tone. Rather, Moshe was telling God, “Send the man You will send in the future, as it says, ‘Behold, I will send Eliyahu the Prophet.’” That is to say, Moshe would only agree to go on his mission if he knew that in the end, Eliyahu would come. Only if Moshe could see that ultimately, the Jewish people would be redeemed for all time, that the Messiah would come, that the restoration of the Temple and the Land of Israel would endure, and that peace, goodness, security and freedom would rest upon the Jewish people forever, would he agree to help save them from Egypt.
This is the second comfort we feel – the comfort of knowing that nothing is meaningless, nothing is arbitrary and that through it all, the promise of God’s redemption has always been true, and that Jewish history has been designed for a purpose. In this way, we are filled with both a profound sense of loss and sorrow for the tragedies our people have endured, but also a strange sense of gratitude that our redemption has finally come, and that every Jewish soul lost to the predations of our enemies has not been in vain.
This Shabbat Nachamu, let us contemplate the long journey the Jewish people have been on and continue to travel. Let us consider what it means to be comforted from the afflictions of our present moment, and also, from the totality of Jewish suffering in the past. The two comforts Yeshayahu calls us to feel this Shabbat represent both the relief from our struggles today, and also, to reflect upon the struggles and trials of the past, knowing that God’s promises were, are and will forever be true. May we merit to feel God’s comfort and redeeming Hand now, and may we also merit to feel God’s comfort over what we as a people have endured. There are two comforts described this Shabbat. Let us seek to experience them both.
Shabbat Shalom!
-Rabbi Dan
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