This week’s haftorah is the first of the Shivah D’nechemta – the seven haftoros of consolation. After Tishah B’Av, which commemorates the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, Hashem embraces His children, enveloping them in love and hope. This haftorah captures the emotion of a loving parent who, after having been forced to punish his child, picks him up and kisses away the pain of distance and separation.
Although he had originally predicted the churban, here Yeshayahu HaNavi prophesied the triumphant resurrection of Yerushalayim. The exiles will return, and the very hills of Yerushalayim will testify to the eternity of Hashem, and His chosen people. However, our ultimate Redemption will be far more than just a return to the land of Eretz Yisroel. It will herald the dawn of a new era for our nation, a time when we will righteously ascend to our rightful status among the nations.
I once saw that R’ Shimon Schwab zt’l writes that the double expression of “nachamu” refers to both the end of the first golus, Golus Bavel, which lasted 70 years, and also to the end of the second golus initiated by Rome, known as Golus Edom. This prolonged exile has lasted 1,952 years, and it is our fervent hope that it will be over at any moment! So, when we read the words Nachamu nachamu ami, we feel comforted, because the navi is truly speaking to us – today.
In a similar vein, R’ Shamshon Rafael Hirsch zt’l explains that there are actually two types of consolation, and that they are found in the first two pesukim of this haftorah. With the first pasuk, Nachamu nachamu ami, the navi addresses our intellect, as these words speak volumes about the perfect justice of Hashem. When Moshiach arrives, it will be perfectly clear that everything that has happened to our small and battered nation both collectively (the first nachamu) and individually (the second nachamu) was good and necessary for the master plan of the world.
The second pasuk: Dabru al lev Yerushalayim – Speak to the heart of Yerushalayim – is describing the way Moshiach and the leaders of the Jewish people will speak to the heart of Klal Yisroel. They will address and soothe the frail emotions of a people who suffered so terribly through the bitter years of exile. Lastly, adds Rav Hirsch, the word “lev” is written in the singular because a prerequisite for Moshiach’s arrival is for all of Klal Yisroel to be once again k’ish echad b’lev echad – like one man with one heart.
Which brings us smoothly to today’s tune.
In previous years we have highlighted a couple of world-famous compositions by the late great Ba’al Menagen and Ba’al Tefillah, HaRav Hertzel Schechter zt’l. Each of his niggunim is its own musical peirush – perfectly capturing the spirit and meaning of the words being sung.
Well, it comes as little surprise, then, that the same can be said regarding the music of his offspring. Nachamu was composed by R’ Shragie Schechter, a maggid shiur in Yerushalayim’s Yeshivas Toras Simcha, and youngest son of Rav Hertzel. This was actually his very first full composition, written when he was just 12 years old.
R’ Shragie Says:
It was Shabbos Nachamu. I was leaning on the chazzan’s amud in Rav Chatzkel Horowitz’s shul, in Monsey, NY. As they were leining the haftorah, the beautiful words of consolation leaped out at me, and this entrancing tune just filled my mind.
At the time, I remember being very taken by Duddy Rosenberg’s “ויתן לך” from London’s Tenth Anniversary record, and purposely tried to imitate the song’s unique melodic style. The result was a song that I hope Klal Yisroel has enjoyed, and through which some semblance of comfort has been found.
In 1985, when R’ Hertzel was choosing the songs that were to be sung on his Achdus album, he insisted that his son’s newly-minted niggun be included as well. Producer Sheya Mendlowitz listened to the song and agreed, thereby ensuring its melody be heard throughout the world until the day its words will at last come true.
This Shabbos, when we once again hear these familiar, prophetic phrases, we can be comforted with the knowledge that this arduous exile will eventually end, and that when it does, the promise of achdus and nechamah will finally be fulfilled.
Wishing you a very soothing Shabbos Nachamu!
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