torah comentary on Shabbat Nachamu/the Shabbat of Comfort

This week, it already feels like so much!  Tisha B'Av is Wednesday, and then we begin our ascent through 7 Shabbatot of consolation that are known by special names; this one coming up is known as Shabbat Nachamu/the Shabbat of Comfort.  We need so much comfort right now: the crisis in Israel, the planetary crisis, and our own personal journey through the debris of our lives, both healthy and otherwise, calls out for a little relief.

In our week's Torah portion, Va'etchanan, we find the 10 commandments version 2.0, which are very much expanded since the first time they were downloaded at Sinai; and we are offered the invitation to LISTEN/HEAR: 

שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהֹוָ֥ה ׀ אֶחָֽד׃

Hear, O Israel! יהוה is our God, יהוה alone.  (Deut. 6:4)

There are so many ways to translate this iconic, cosmic invitation to be witness to the unity/oneness/wholeness of all there is, was, and will be.  But there is something else in our parasha that grabs my attention this week. I will paste it here in its entirety, because it holds a potent message for today. (Here's the Hebrew text). 

We learn in Deuteronomy 4:5-9:

 See, I have imparted to you laws and rules, as my God יהוה has commanded me, for you to abide by in the land that you are about to enter and occupy.  Observe them faithfully, for that will be proof of your wisdom and discernment (וּבִ֣ינַתְכֶ֔ם) to other peoples, who on hearing of all these laws will say, “Surely, that great nation is a wise and discerning people.” For what great nation is there that has a god so close at hand as is our God יהוה whenever we call? Or what great nation has laws and rules as perfect as all this Teaching that I set before you this day? But take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously, so that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes and so that they do not fade from your mind as long as you live. And make them known to your children and to your children’s children...

With the mirror of what is going on in Israel today, it is clear that we can inhabit ANY land insofar as we 'watch ourselves scrupulously' so that we not forget what it is like to live with corruption, greed and a flagrant disregard for the will of the people. We do not need to single out Israel for this; many nations, including the U.S., have of late shown a tendency to ignore the people's wills and move to grab the power of discernment/וּבִ֣ינַתְכֶ֔ם away from the foundation of our laws that were designed to bring about justice in our world.  

In the Kabbalah, the mystical tradition of Judaism, the word for discernment in our text, Binah, is associated with the feminine energy of life, and pours forward that quality of deep understanding, absorbing the power of its partner, wisdom (chokmah) and transforming it into a path forward that reveals the 'betweeness' of all of life. What is the glue that holds the whole system together? It's the adhesion of the values that hold everything together: justice, wisdom, ecological sanity, etc.

This week, as we embrace the deep dive into despair, we are emboldened by the call of Binah to get out the glue and begin to apply it to the broken places in our world.  To discern is to clear away the veils that obscure honest appraisal of what is going on in order that we can begin to repair the damage.  May we all be anointed as holy glue sticks!

--- Rabbi J

D'var Torah: Rabbi Seth Daniel Riemer

Moses, owning up to his mistakes, recalls how he beseeched God for clemency and permission to enter the Promised Land, but was rebuffed and told to train his successor, Joshua, for leadership.  A catalog of God-affirming messages follows:  instructions to obey to the letter His righteous, perfect teachings; recounting of the awesome, spectacular Sinai experience (and reiteration of Ten Sayings/Commandments God uttered there); warning to the new generation against repeating their parents’ sins and of dire punishment in store for those who violate the Law – but also a comforting reminder that, having performed miracles for and conferred unique blessings on the Chosen People, He will not break His covenant with them.  Moses continues, in the same vein, to point out, in the divine nature, a curious mixture of merciful love and strict judgment:  naming cities of refuge God has ordained for people who commit manslaughter by accident, stressing that permission to remain in the Promised Land depends on Israel’s loyal gratitude toward and unstinting love for God, reciting the “Shema,” and railing against intermarriage with idol-worshippers.