Shabbat Shalom ~ Va Etchanan 2024

Dear WJC Family,

This week we went through a major transition in the Jewish calendar. On Tuesday, we commemorated the worst day of the year, the 9th of Av. The day is so terrible that it is known simply by the date Tisha B’Av, and everyone knows what you are talking about, like 9/11 or 10/7, but thousands of years old. On Tisha B’Av, we commemorate the catastrophic losses of both the First and Second Temple, both of which were destroyed on this date, though hundreds of years apart.  In our history, over the millennia we have heaped on the sadness, commemorating other losses and destruction—The Crusades, The Spanish Inquisition, expulsion from so many more countries, pogroms, and of course, the Shoah.

Yet, almost as soon as the 9th and 10th of Av pass (the 10th maintains a lingering sadness as the Temple burned and smoldered) we turn to comfort. This Shabbat is known as Shabbat Nachamu, the Shabbat of comfort. Leading up to Tisha B’Av we read the three haftarot (prophetic readings on Shabbat) of admonition and the chanting of the terrifying Megillat Eicha, Book of Lamentations. Now, on Shabbat Nachamu we read the hopeful words of Isaiah, “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and declare to her that her term of service is over, that her iniquity is expiated; for she has received at GOD’s hand double for all her sins.” Nachamu is the first of seven hafatarot of comfort that link Tisha B’Av to Rosh HaShanah. This Shabbat embraces the hopeful message that even from the worst disasters, redemption can blossom. It is a message that we can all use these days.

It is tempting to allow everyday to be October 7th. In fact, it is hard to move forward from there at all with hostages still being held by Hamas, Antisemitism surging in so many places, and Israelis continuing to live under threat of attacks. I am reminded of standing in Kibbutz Nirim in January and seeing the Sukkot still standing from October – those folks had literally been unable to move on from Sukkot, trapped in temporary shelters still. How can we move on? We cannot.

And yet, without moving on, we must still move forward. Just as the rabbis who were our forebears at the time of the destruction built a beautiful new version of Judaism based on prayer, celebration of sacred times, communal life, and learning, so too, as this Shabbat of comfort approaches, it is incumbent upon us to find comforting, hopeful, and even joyful ways forward. This moment in our calendar is a reminder that time and again the Jewish people have found ourselves in moments like this. The choice before us: let the moment define us or let our response shape the moment?

As the new Jewish year approaches, we are doing everything we can to help make the latter the reality. We are excited to celebrate, learn, pray, and gather as we always have and in new appropriate and inspiring ways. In the words of Isaiah, “Nachamu, Nachamu ami – Comfort, Comfort my people…” Join us as we seek the paths to find comfort, pride, joy, strength, and healing in our tradition, a tradition rising to challenges like this moment time and again throughout our history. I look forward to finding our way forward together.

See you in shul,