Va'etchanan
What happens when we are willing to look directly at the cracked, the broken and the painful?
Reflection by Adam Treistman, Israel Community Manager
"Each year brings several Shabbatot that merit special names: Shabbat Teshuva, Shabbat Shira, Shabbat Zachor, Shabbat HaGadol, Shabbat Hazon, and Shabbat Nachamu. This week is Shabbat Nachamu, named after the seven Haftarot of `Nechama,` or `consolation,` after the holiday of Tisha B’Av. The climax of the destruction of the Temple is behind us, and now we can start being with comfort and consolation and the possibility of a positive future.
But one cannot help but ask - the destruction isn't something that just happened and then ended. We live it daily. It’s a reality of every hour of every day. Every Jewish person in the world since that destruction has been affected, to one degree or another, by the absence of the full and direct connection between the people of Israel and their God.
In the face of this, how can we engage in `consolation?` How can prophecies of children playing in the streets of Jerusalem benefit us as long as our spiritual hearts are under a shroud of ashes?
For this, we will look to a principle revealed to us in our meditation practices. When we are able to look directly at the cracked, the broken and the painful, the healing begins to be revealed. Running away from pain only magnifies our suffering, and prevents any processes of recovery. Only when we are willing to face our inner destruction can we begin to engage in nechama, in consolation, and in the redemption that follows.
The Talmud summarizes this principle wonderfully:
'כל המתאבל על ירושלים זוכה ורואה בשמחתה'
(Taanit 30b)
`Everyone who mourns for Jerusalem will merit and see her future joy`
It is the process of encountering pain and grief itself that opens up the transition to joy."