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The Formula to Achieve Contentment
This Shabat is Shabat Nachamu, the Shabat that begins for us
a cycle of comfort and consolation after the weeks of sadness and mourning over
the past tragedies of the Jewish people. These next seven weeks of healing
comfort will lead us into the bright, new year
that awaits us. In this week’s parsha there is to be found, so to speak,
the short course and synopsis of all of Judaism – the Ten Commandments,
the Shema and the explanation of the Exodus from Egypt to be given to the
wise son.
In a general sense, the entire structure of Torah and Jewish
life is encapsulated for us in the parsha of the week. Since this Shabat is
invariably also Shabat Nachamu, it is not difficult to see that the Torah is
teaching us that comfort and consolation are spiritual values and attainments
and not necessarily dependent upon material wealth or worldly success.
Our society, so rich in material goods and advanced
technology, suffers greatly from all
sorts of mental and social dysfunction. Depression is the “black dog”
(Churchill’s words for his recurring bouts of depression) that affects over a
third of the citizens of the Western world! True comfort and serenity within
human beings are difficult to achieve and most precarious to maintain.
The Torah in this week’s parsha, in order to help and guide
us, gives us a formula to achieve this elusive goal of contentment. And, it
lies within the parameters of those three principles of Jewish faith outlined
in the parsha of the week.
The Ten Commandments create for us a structure of belief and
morality that every individual can
aspire and ascribe to, no matter how decadent the society in which one finds
oneself enmeshed in. The moral strictures that protect life, property and
person are the basic rules of Jewish faith and life. The dysfunction between parents and children, a 24/7
commercial world, accepted robbery and corruption as a social
norm, daily murders and a completely sexually dissolute society – how can one
avoid being depressed in such a milieu?
All of civilization teeters on the fulcrum of those Ten
Commandments. They point the way out of the social morass that sucks us down to
destruction. The Shema is the vehicle of connection of our soul with the
Creator Who fashioned us and gave us life. The belief in the one and universal
G-d Who rules and is omniscient and omnipotent is the greatest gift of the Jews to the human race. It gives us
discipline and security, purity and nobility, the whiff of immortality and the security in
knowing that life is never in vain.
And finally, the understanding of the uniqueness of Israel in
G-d’s scheme of things, as represented in the story of the Exodus from Egypt,
gives structure and perspective to our national and personal lives. But it
takes wisdom and knowledge – a wise son – to appreciate and treasure this
memory of the distant past. Memory alone can also give us a sense of comfort
and well-being and contribute towards the consolation and contentment we so
ardently seek.
Shabat shalom
Rabbi Berel Wein
Rabbi Berel Wein- Jewish historian,
author and international lecturer offers a complete selection of CDs,
audio tapes, video tapes, DVDs, and books on Jewish history at www.rabbiwein.com
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Rebuilding is a Process
The Shabbat immediately after the sad fast day of 9 Av is called
Shabbat Nachamu – the Shabbat of comfort and consolation. This Shabbat draws
its name from the first two words of the prophet Yeshayahu, and this series of
prophetic readings continues for seven weeks with a message of hope and contentment.
The prophetic readings leading up to the ninth of Av were
only three in number, but the message of consolation is more than twice that in
number. The prophet himself notes that the comforting message will be granted
in a double manner (Nachamu Nachamu), and we receive seven weeks of comfort to
counterbalance the three-week messages of doom and destruction.
We are all
aware that there are many varied and valid reasons and motives for Jewish
customs and traditions. All of these customs regarding the readings of these
specific Haftorot and the reasons for them should not be treated lightly, and
one should not dismiss them in a
cavalier fashion simply because it may no longer seem to be appropriate to the situation.
Human life and behavior are too complex to attribute it to
just one motive and reason. This is true
regarding all details and aspects of Jewish tradition as well. There are
ample examples in past and present
Jewish society, how the abandonment of certain customs that modernists felt to
be anachronistic eventually led to violations of explicit Torah commandments
and values themselves. Judaism should never be observed and viewed in a
simplistic, superficial manner. It is too grand for such treatment.
There is a profound and important lesson to be derived from
the fact that the prophecies of destruction required only three weeks of public
reading while the prophecies of hope and consolation mandated a seven-week
period of time on the Jewish calendar. Destruction requires far less time and
effort to achieve its sad and nefarious goal. When the end comes, it does so with inevitably and swiftness.
Great empires and powerful countries can exist for centuries but are consigned
into the dustbin of history in only a few decades or even a few years. It is so
much faster and easier to slide down than to attempt to rise and rebuild and
struggle forward.
Rebuilding is a process, and it is never
accomplished in an instantaneous and easy
manner. There are many ups and downs that rebuilding will engender,
disappointments, frustrations and even reversals. It will take much more time
for the effort to comfort the Jewish people in its continuing effort to rebuild
itself anew in its ancient homeland currently. The Jewish world was almost
destroyed in a few years in the past century. It will take time to rebuild it.
It is a continuing process along a very bumpy
road.
We should be comforted realizing that the process has begun
and is underway. There are many weeks and years ahead of us, as we continue our
quest to be comforted. But we are already blessed with the knowledge that we
have reached the season of comfort and consolation.
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Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Berel Wein
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