Thursday, July 18, 2013

Parshat Va'etchanan

Parshat Va'etchanan - Shabbat Nachamu
Av 13, 5673 ~ July 20, 2013
by Sheldon Schaffer
Parashat Va’etchanan is a very rich Torah portion that presents a number of themes for a drash including:  Moses pleading with God one last time to be allowed to enter the Land; a prophesy about eventual exile of the Israelites from the Land; a repetition of the Ten Commandments (with some interesting differences) and the Shema. All of this is very rich material for drashing.  However, this week  is also one of the named Shabbatot -Shabbat Nachamu (the Sabbath of Comfort), and I want to deviate from the usual practice of these mini-Drashot to concentrate on a theme from Shabbat Nachamu that I find to be a fascinating aspect to Judaism.

To understand why a Sabbath of Comfort comes at this time, we just need to look back to last Tuesday - Tisha B’Av. We all recognize that Tisha B’Av is the saddest day of the Jewish calendar.  In the three Shabbatot leading up to Tisha B’Av, the Haftorot are taken from the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah and are Haftorot of affliction or rebuke that prophesy the destruction of the Temple and the exile of the Israelites due to the failure of the people to follow the precepts of the Torah.  After these rebukes and mourning, we enter into seven Shabbatot where the Haftorot provide words of comfort from the prophets.  Shabbat Nachamu is named for the first words of the Haftorah that we read this Shabbos :  “Nachamu, nachamu  ami, omer Elohekhem", Be comforted, be comforted my people, says your God. Here, Isaiah speaks to the people to tell them that although they have been punished doubly for their sins, there will come a time when the exile will end, the future will once again be bright and the people will return to the Land.  The comfort is that God will make the return easy. God will make the road back straight, every valley shall be raised and every mountain and hill shall be made low.  The musically inclined among us will recognize that these words of Isaiah were used by George Fredrick Handle to begin his oratorio The Messiah. 

To me, the juxtaposition in our liturgy of the sadness of Tisha B’Av followed by words of comfort that we read this week brings to mind something that I see often in Jewish thought - the ability in Judaism to move rapidly from extreme sadness to comfort and even to happiness. 

Some other sadness-gladness juxtapositions include one that is closely connected in time to Tisha B’Av.  Just six days after Tisha B’Av, Tu B'Av (the 15th of Av) is considered one of the happiest days in the calendar. In tractate Tanit (30b) Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel states that the two happiest days of the year are Yom Kippur and Tu B'Av.  Many may not consider Yom Kippur to be one of the happiest days of the year. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel bases his statement on the happiness that comes from our teshuvah that results in God’s forgiveness of our transgressions against Him during the past year. Tu B'Av is counted as one of the happiest days because of a number of happy events that tradition says happened on this date. For example, Tu B’Av is counted as the date on which the Jewish people were forgiven for the sin of the spies.   Moreover, it is recounted in the Gemara in Taanit that it was a practice on Tu B’Av that maidens would don identical dress (so as not to embarrass girls who did not have fine garments) and go to dance in the fields where bachelors would pick out prospective brides.  In Israel today, this practice is mirrored in Tu B'Av being similar to Valentine's Day.

Finally, there is another stark juxtaposition between the sad and the happy in our calendar that occurs yearly - the immediate transition from the sadness of Yom HaZikaron to the joy of Yom HaAtz'maut.  A friend of mine was in Israel during these observances this year.  He was in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv the evening of Yom HaZikaron and noted the somberness and respect of the masses of people gathered there.  A large number of the people were 20-30 year-olds. This is a group that is usually tethered to their cell phones and iPods.  He was struck by the fact that not a single cell phone rang nor did any of the people have earphone speakers in their ears.  He returned to Rabin Square the next day to find multiple bands, people dancing in the street and many, many people calling or texting with their smart phones.  He was extremely struck by this dramatic switch from the somber to the joyous.

For me, these examples illustrate the resilience of the Jewish people. Our people have been subject to tragedies for well over two thousand years, yet we are basically a hopeful group who celebrate joy and happiness throughout the year. I think that this one of the geniuses of the Jewish people which has allowed us to survive and move forward.

Finally, on Shabbat Nachamu I would like to thank the Beth Jacob community for the comfort offered to me. I feel blessed to be a part of this remarkable congregation let by very special Rabbis and look forward to continuing to move forward with you with a spirit of hope and resilience.

Gut Shabbos