Parshas V'Eschanan
PARSHAS V’ESCHANAN
14-15 menachem AV 5765
SHABBOS "NACHAMU NACHAMU" TU B'AV
Shalom Uvracha Mi'yerushalayim Ihr Hakodesh!
I hope that everyone of you is well B"H and that next year we will get to actually 'celebrate' the holiday of Tisha B'Av, I hope that your summer will continue to be pleasant and joyous in good health, b'ezrat Hashem. May your bodies and souls be nourished b'simcha and have a wonderful Shabbos. This Shabbos is one of the few Shabbatot that is named after the opening words of the Haftorah portion – nachmu nachmu ami. In honor of this Shabbos we have a collection of some new teachings intermingled with things that we have learned in the past.
Tisha B'av, Shabbos "Nachamu" And Chamisha Asar B'av {the 15th of Av}
The Shabbos that follows Tisha B'Av [the fast of the 9th of Av] is known as Shabbos Nachamu, so named after the opening words of the Haftorah, which begins with the words, “Nachamu Nachamu ami,” “Be consoled, be consoled, My nation.” Isaiah 40. The seventh day following Tisha B'Av we
celebrate "Chamisha Assar B'AV," the fifteenth day of menachem Av. In the Talmud (Massechet Ta'anit 26a) we learn:
Said Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel: There were no Yamim Tovim days in Israel that were more joyous than the 15th of Av and Yom Kippur. For on these days the daughters of Jerusalem would go out dressed in borrowed* white robes and they would dance in the vineyards. And what would they say? "Young man! Lift up your eyes and see what [kind of person] you are choosing to marry. Do not look at [physical] beauty, rather set your eyes upon family [that she comes from and the one that you want to have]. 'Charm is a lie and beauty is vanity; a woman who is in awe of G-d [alternatively, who has a vision of G-d], she is praiseworthy!"
They all wore borrowed robes so that the poor would not be embarrassed! (Ta'anit 31a) [Another possible reason might be so that the men should not know who is and who is not wealthy, for that would likely blind them from 'seeing' the true merit of the women.]
It is interesting to note that according to tradition the night that our Beit Hamikdash was set on fire, the 9th of Av was on Motzei Shabbos, Saturday night. Thus that year the 15th of Av came on the following Shabbos. I was thinking that after the destruction of the temple, many Jews may have thought that it's all over 'chas v'shalom'; that there is nothing left for us to live for, we may have felt utterly rejected. Then came Shabbos, and we realized that Gevalt! We still have Shabbos! That Shabbos
gave us the strength to get married again and to rebuild our families, homes and communities.
The Talmud also teaches that the in our last view of the Beit Hamikdash, we saw the two Cherubim embracing each other. This signified that Hashem never stopped loving us, even in the midst of the destruction of the temple. The Baal Shem Tov taught that it is not only that we are rebuilding after the destruction, but the destruction is part of the rebuilding!
Sanctifying Shabbos and Making Shabbos
In this week's parsha v’eschanan we have the second rendition of the 'Asseret Hadibrot' [literally, the Ten Utterances, otherwise commonly known as the Ten Commandments]. Shabbos is the fourth 'utterance'. Here we find the same mitzvah stated in similar and different ways, that complement one
another, as we say in Lecha Dodi "Shamor v'Zachor b'deebur echad hismianu E-l hameyuchad – "Observe" and "Remember" the one and only G-d caused us to hear in a single utterance." we are
In Shemos 20:8-11 it says:
Zachor Es Yom Hashabbos L'kadsho – Remember The Shabbos Day To Sanctify It. Six days you shall work and perform [complete] all your work. And [but] the seventh day is 'Shabbos' to Hashem your G-d. You shall not do any labor, [neither] you, your son, your daughter, your slave, your maidservant, your beast nor your convert who is within your gates. For Hashem made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all there is in them, and He rested on the seventh day. Therefore Hashem blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.
In Devarim 5: 12,14-15 it says:
Shamor Es Yom Hashabbos L'kadsho - Guard the Shabbos day to Sanctify it as Hashem commanded you. Six days you shall work and perform [complete] all your work. And [but] the seventh day is 'Shabbos' to Hashem your G-d. You shall not do any labor, [neither] you, your son, your daughter, your slave, your maidservant, your ox, your donkey and all your animals, nor your convert who is within your gates, so that your slave and your maidservant shall rest like you. And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Hashem, your G-d, took you out of there with a strong
hand and an extended arm. Therefore, Hashem, your G-d, commanded you to 'make' [celebrate] the Shabbos day.
The holy Shabbos is a great and awesome gift that we received from Hashem. In the Talmud we learn [Shabbos 10a]: Hashem said, "I have a fine gift in My treasure house, it is called Shabbos."
We are taught that we ought to make much effort to receive this precious gift with intense love and joy. By doing so we will merit to do tshuvah, somehow; even one who has difficulty in doing complete and lasting tshuvah will eventually merit "the day that is completely Shabbos."
The roots of 'Shabbat' and 'tshuvah', though not exactly the same, are similar – both share the letters 'shin' and 'bet', and thus allude to the relationship between 'Shabbos' and 'tshuvah'. 'Shabbos' basically means to sit, to stop or cease, in other words we stop working on Shabbos, it also implies returning to the state of being. All week long we're doing, on Shabbos we're being. 'Tshuvah' means returning – as in returning to Hashem, returning to the home of your soul, returning to being who you really are.
As we all know, we all find it necessary to do tshuvah many many times, over and over again, for it is very difficult to attain a true and lasting tshuvah – "the day that is completely Shabbos." This is no surprise and we are all aware of this.
The Rabbis taught that "the wicked are full of regret." Reb Nachman z"l explains that even the wicked regret their wrongdoings and are aroused to do tshuvah, but each day the yetzer hara comes back at them with greater and renewed force, trapping them again and again, and therefore they "are full of regret," seemingly trapped in a cycle of wrongdoing, regretting, wrongdoing and regretting again. Were it not for Hashem providing us with help we would never be successful in our tshuvah, even
temporarily. [Kiddushin 30b.]
Shabbos is the main source, the headquarters of this holy supportive strength to help us overcome our internal struggles successfully. We need to draw the holiness of Shabbos into our very depths of being each day of the week. "Remember the Shabbos day to sanctify it," as explained in the Talmud, commands us to "remember it each day of the week." This is why we do not have any names for any of the weekdays; instead we refer to each day as it relates to Shabbos; "today is the first day of the Shabbos", "today is the 2nd day of the Shabbos" etc.. . [See Likutei Halachos, OrachChayim, Chap. 29.]
Reb Shlomo z"l explained: Shabbos is "Shabbat Shalom umevorach," the day that is blessed. Reb Nachman taught that there are two kinds of energy [so to speak] in the world, the energy of force or coercion and the energy of blessing. G-d did not force the world into being, He blessed it into being. Concerning Shabbos it says "He blessed the seventh day and He sanctified it." Blessing reaches much deeper than coercion. The Tzadikkim do not force, they bless.
Blessings are received. Blessings need to enter into the depths of our beings, in order for them to have an effect. We need humility and yearning to enable this come about. Humility also implies openness, sensitivity and the recognition that we need to receive a blessing. Yearning implies desire, the desire to be blessed, the desire to improve our conditions of life and being.
**Humility.** Once a man came to the 'frierdiger Rebbe' of Lubavitch Reb Yosef Yitzchak z"l asking for a blessing. The Rebbe told him that a blessing is like rain. If the rain is taken in by the earth then it
helps things grow. But if the rain falls on concrete, it doesn't contribute to growth. The man understood what the Rebbe was telling him. He then asked the Rebbe to at least bless him that the concrete surrounding his heart should crack.
**Yearning.** In this week's Torah reading of the Ten Commandments, Shabbos is related to Yetziat Mitzrayim. As it says, "And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Hashem, your G-d, took you out of there with a strong hand and an extended arm. Therefore, Hashem, your G-d, commanded you to 'make' [celebrate] the Shabbos day." Devarim 5:14-15. Like the slave who yearns to be free we need to yearn for Shabbos, for the holiness and blessing of Shabbos.
**Shabbos and Yetziat Mitzrayim are both about freedom.** Freedom from slavery in Egypt, freedom from being enslaved to the mundane aspects of life in this world, freedom from being enslaved to our nefesh habahamias-our animal soul.
In order to attain any significant level of freedom, in particular true inner freedom, one has to sincerely yearn for it. The slave must want to be liberated. Rav Steinsaltz taught that there are many levels of freedom. Though not may people can honestly claim to have achieved significant degrees of freedom, nevertheless 'wanting' to be free is also important level of freedom.
**Similarly with Shabbos.** All the Shabbos laws, in particular, the commandment not to perform any labor on Shabbos, are of great importance. But in order to really be connected with Shabbos, we need to, with utmost humility, yearn to receive the 'blessing' and the 'holiness' of Shabbos. We need to yearn to receive the gift of Shabbos – its blessings and holiness. That is why the Friday evening service is called Kabbalat Shabbat- Receiving the Shabbos.
There's a very striking similarity between Shabbos and marriage. The Midrash says that Shabbat came before G-d with a complaint, saying, that each day has its partner: Yom Rishon has Yom Sheini, Yom Shlishi has Yom Revi'i, Yom Chamishi has Yom Shishi, but I, Shabbat am all alone. Then Hashem said to Shabbat: You too have a partner, your partner is the Jewish people.
In Rabbinic Hebrew marriage is called 'kiddushin' - sanctification. In the traditional marriage ceremony the groom says to the bride "harei at mekudeshet lee…"-with this ring you are sanctified to me according to the Law of Moses and Israel." The bride has to willingly allow herself to be married/sanctified, to receive the kiddushin- and thereby enter an exclusive relationship with her husband. It is explained that she nullifies her 'self' to allow her 'self' to be brought into this new exclusive relationship of kiddushin-marriage.
Similarly, at Kabbalat Shabbat there is a marriage taking place between Shabbat and the Jewish people.
Through Kabbalat Shabbat- receiving the Shabbos, we are enter into marriage with the holy Shabbos. Like in a marriage, where the bride is the one to receive the kiddushin, on Shabbat we are the bride and we receive the 'kiddushin' of Shabbos. Like the bride at her wedding, we need to nullify our 'selves' to receive the holiness of Shabbos- to allow the Shabbos to sanctify us, to enter into the marriage with the holiness of Shabbos.
It is interesting that women seem to have a more active role in 'making Shabbos', in particular by lighting the Shabbos candles and thereby bringing the holiness and light of Shabbos into the world. Men don't usually 'do' anything particular to 'make' Shabbos [we'll have to talk about the Kiddush another time] but we do have to nullify our 'selves' to receive Shabbos, to allow Shabbos to sanctify us just as the bride does under the chuppah. This nullification of the 'self' must be complete. We must be ready and desiring to be totally sanctified by Shabbos in order for the union to be complete.
When we truly yearn for Shabbos and we make sincere efforts to welcome the Shabbos queen with intense love and joy, even if only on a small scale, then our tshuvah starts to be real and lasting, for then it reaches us deeper and deeper. Then we come closer to the day that is completely
Shabbos, the day that we will no longer keep on faltering after each step we take.
A parable to help us understand the laws of Shabbos a little bit better, to understand why there are so many things that we are not allowed to do on Shabbos. Suppose someone would write a manual of proper behavior during one's wedding ceremony. Now in this manual you might find the
following rules: a] You may not answer your cell phone in the middle of the wedding ceremony; b] You may not interrupt the wedding ceremony to conduct business; c] Neither may you stop the wedding to fix your car. And we can go on and on with a long list of what one should not do as they are getting
married. Surely we would also find a list of appropriate behavior and meditations. And to be sure there would also be a section of things to do in preparation for the wedding. Can you imagine a bride or groom saying, "I read the manual and there are so many things that I cannot do at my wedding,
I think I won't get married." Surely we realize that all the rules are really intended to 'liberate' us from our daily routine, to help and enable us to focus completely on the marriage that is taking place. This parable does not fully explain the various aspects of Shabbos laws and customs. But it does illustrate one point and that is that Shabbos is a weekly wedding between the Jewish people and Hashem and the laws of Shabbos – what is permissible, what is forbidden and what is desirable – is intended to
'liberate' us from the mundane existence of the week and open the gateway to higher consciousness and holiness. And, just like a wedding wouldn't be a wedding without joy, so too Shabbos must be a delight – at least we should try to make it joyous and be in the 'oneg' delight of Shabbos.