 The Shiva d’Nechemta – The Seven of Consolation: In this week’s newsletter from The Foundation Stone, entitled, “Who Comforts Whom”, Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, shlit’a, writes: “I picture our prayers and Torah
study during this, the saddest period of the Jewish calendar, as our running into the burning Temple, a place most were forbidden to enter, to save whatever we can from the conflagration. Judaism didn't die with the destruction of Jerusalem. Torah did not die in the crematoria of the Holocaust because we ran into the raging fires to save what we could. We continue to run into the flames to rescue God's treasures. We could have escaped the flames of the Crusades by running in the opposite direction, but we didn't; we ran right back into our synagogues and Houses of Study giving new life to God's priceless possessions, and, I am sure, offered comfort to the Creator, for He too mourned. He too, needed comfort, and we, through our devotion and self-sacrifice, comfort Him.
It was a case of God's ultimate priceless possessions, Us, running back into our synagogues to give new life to what we perceived as His priceless possessions. But unbeknownst to us, by our sacrifice, we were actually “giving new life to God's [most] priceless possessions” – ourselves . . . for by making that sacrifice, we grew internally, immeasurably . . . and we grew closer to God.
What greater comfort could there be to the Creator than the knowledge that his most priceless possessions, his children, are there for Him in His time of need.
Psalms 91 – “Immo anochi b’tzarah - I am with Him in times of trouble.”
That verse is a two way street - He is there for us in times of trouble . . . and, hopefully, we are there for Him.
I have, at times, gone to a house of Shiva to comfort a mourner, only to have the mourner comfort me and the other comforters.
The Shiva d'Nechemta, the seven Shabbasos of Consolation, are undoubtedly, the seven days of Shiva that the Ribono Shel Olam sits for His losses - the loss of his His children's House of Worship, the death of the vast majority of his children, the pain He had to cause us for our sins, and the destruction of His own house, among other losses that we can't begin to fathom.
And all the while that He is sitting Shiva, He is comforting us.
I am reminded of the Poem, “Footprints in the Sand” by Mary Stevenson:
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”
The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”
The Shiva d’Nechemta . . . perhaps it’s time to return the favor.
Copyright © by Harvey (Heshie) Klein, MD
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Subscribe
