Rabbi Howard Morrison

Shabbat Nachamu, the Sabbath of comfort, is one of a handful of Sabbaths with a special designation. Usually the title emanates from the haftarah or when we read a maftir from a second Torah scroll. Consider  the names of Shabbat Shuva, Shekalim, Zachor, Parah, Ha'Chodesh, Ha'Gadol, and Chazon last week.

Now consider the challenge and opportunity found in today's theme of comfort.

From Isaiah chapter forty, imagine if you had experienced the period surrounding and including the destruction of the First Temple of Jerusalem in 586BCE. All was lost. The Babylonians had conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the holy Temple. Much of Jewry had been exiled to Babylonia. How would you have responded to Isaiah's call to God, "Nachamu Nachamu Ami - Comfort, comfort my people?"

Would you have taken these words seriously? Or would you have been in despair? Sarcastic at the very least? For those who believed, some fifty years after the Exile, Jews returned to Israel and began to pave the way toward a Second Temple period.

Fast forward several hundred years later. Imagine if you had experienced the period surrounding and including the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem in 70CE. All was lost. The Romans had conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the holy Temple. Much of Jewry had been exiled to Babylonia and beyond. How would you have responded to the Prophetic words, "Nachamu Nachamu Ami - Comfort, comfort My people?"

Would you have taken these words seriously? Or would you have been in despair? Sarcastic at the very least? For those who believed, just decades later, Sages living in Yavneh began to sow the seeds of the Mishna and Talmud. Judaism was reimagined and reinvigorated. Judaism could and would endure without a holy Temple and anywhere in the world.

Fast forward to the Spring of 1945. Eastern European Jewry had been slaughtered in under a decade. Six million Jewish lives had been lost. How would you have responded to the Prophetic words, "Nachamu Nachamu Ami - Comfort, comfort my people? 

Would you have taken these words seriously? Or would you have been in despair? Sarcastic at the very least? For those who believed, the State of Israel was born three years later. Soon, Jewish life thrived in Israel, North America and other parts of the globe.

Fast forward to October 7, 2023, Simchat Torah in Israel, One of the happiest days on the Jewish calendar. The unthinkable happened - 1200 lives lost on a single day, babies burned in ovens, women raped and murdered, safe houses turned into places of horror and brutality, hundreds taken hostage. 

In ten and a half months since, Israeli lives are lost and displaced in Southern and Northern Israel, the lives of Jews and non-Jews. Twelve Druze children were murdered on a single day playing on a soccer field. Young Israelis, Jews and non-Jews, serving in the IDF, who have made the ultimate sacrifice; Jews around the world who have suffered from unprecedented surges in acts of anti-Semitism with little or no support from local government, our growing concerns regarding Iran, Hezbollah, and the list goes on.

How would you respond to today's Prophetic words, "Nachamu Nachamu Ami - Comfort, comfort My people?"

Would you take these words seriously? Or would you be in despair? Sarcastic at the very least?

History has taught us to believe in these words, time and time again. It is challenging to believe that a season of comfort and renewal will come when we are in the midst of a perilous time.  But believe and work toward that belief are vital.

Nachamu Nachamu Ami - Comfort, comfort My people!

Amen!

Rabbi Howard Morrison