Take Two

Nachamu, nachamu ami is the beginning of the Haftora for Shabbos Vaeschonan.
This follows the three weeks of “puruniyus” – retribution that culminate on the 9^th of Av on the one hand and the beginning of the seven weeks of “nechoma” – comforting on the other.

The expression “Nachamu, nachanu ami” is somewhat puzzling since it twice mentions the words “be comforted” as if once is not enough. Midrash and other sources address this by indicating that the doubling of these words refers to the two Temples and their destruction, two levels associated with each Temple, the physical and the spiritual, the performance of the commandments, etc. But if we were to follow that logic, the wording should be “Nachanu ami, nachamu ami” as opposed to the just simply “Nachamu, nachamu ami”, i.e. Ami – My people, should also be mentioned twice!

One way to resolve this is to consider the idea that “Nachamu, nachamu ami” is tied to each and every Jew since each one is composed of two entities: body and soul who are often at loggerheads with each other, the body wants to pursue the material angle on existence whereas the soul is obviously tied to things outside the physical realm and therefore views existence completely differently. Yet, paradoxically, the ultimate goal is to harness the power that each of these two entities possess to arrive at a level that’s not achievable by either one on its own. Therefore the posuk states “Nachamu, nachanu ami” to contribute a double portion of comforting to these two powers to help them achieve balance and perfection which would then bring about the fulfillment of Build for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell within you, i.e. the building of a mini-Temple inside every Jew which would lead to the building of the ultimate Third Temple, ASAP.

Listen to This

In chapter Vaeschonan, Moshe Rabbeinu describes the Giving of the Torah and divine Revelation as emanating from a mighty and unceasing voice alluding to the Almighty.

One midrash describes the Voice as consisting of seven voices which in turn were translated into 70 languages, while another explains that this voice is the source of prophecy in all generations.

The Talmud explains that what distinguished the Revelation in particular was the fact that it took place at the highest level and when Hashem referred to Himself as Anochi, that was a reference to “Ono nafshi ksovis ehovis”, literally – I wrote Myself into it and delivered Myself. This indicates that during Revelation, Hashem revealed Himself to each and every Jew.

Every decree ever enacted by the Sages reveals Hashem’s imprimatur which results from that Voice. Moreover, Hashem’s message was translated into seventy languages.

Thus Torah tells us that the Seven Laws of the Sons of Noah are in no way secondary but are an essential component of that Voice from the Sinai. And the fact that the Jewish people is dispersed among the nations and Jews speak the “seventy languages” indicates the importance attached to the words of Torah transmitted in this or that language. This also has the effect of elevating and sanctifying those languages. The potential for all this was instilled at the Sinai.