This Shabbat is called Shabbat Nachamu, The Sabbath of Consolation, from the first words of this week’s Haftorah reading, Isaiah 40, “Comfort, oh comfort My people, says your God.”
The Haftarah and Shabbat Nahamu mark a major shift in the Jewish calendar and Jewish sacred time. Tisha b’Av was last Saturday night/Sunday. It is the lowest point in the Jewish year, the moment of the greatest distance between the Jewish people and God.
This Shabbat, with its special reading of Isaiah, marks the beginning of the rebuilding of our relationship with God. Over the next seven weeks, we will move closer together building up to the process of repentance, return and reconnection during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
This week’s Torah portion, Va’etchanan, reinforces this growing sense of connection for it contains the Shema, (Deuteronomy 6:4) the fundamental formulation of monotheism and the Ve’ahavta (Deuteronomy 6:5-9), which commands us to be in relationship with God, with our hearts, our souls and being.
Like any relationship, our relationship with God requires work and attention. The Shema and the Ve’ahavta remind us of the necessity of this work. Our spiritual connection thrives when we work on it.
Va’etchanan – Deuteronomy 3:23 – 7:11, The Parashat Ha Shavua for Shabbat, Saturday, August 17, 2019
August 16, 2019 by Dean Kertesz •
This Shabbat is called Shabbat Nachamu, The Sabbath of Consolation, from the first words of this week’s Haftorah reading, Isaiah 40, “Comfort, oh comfort My people, says your God.”
The Haftarah and Shabbat Nahamu mark a major shift in the Jewish calendar and Jewish sacred time. Tisha b’Av was last Saturday night/Sunday. It is the lowest point in the Jewish year, the moment of the greatest distance between the Jewish people and God.
This Shabbat, with its special reading of Isaiah, marks the beginning of the rebuilding of our relationship with God. Over the next seven weeks, we will move closer together building up to the process of repentance, return and reconnection during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
This week’s Torah portion, Va’etchanan, reinforces this growing sense of connection for it contains the Shema, (Deuteronomy 6:4) the fundamental formulation of monotheism and the Ve’ahavta (Deuteronomy 6:5-9), which commands us to be in relationship with God, with our hearts, our souls and being.
Like any relationship, our relationship with God requires work and attention. The Shema and the Ve’ahavta remind us of the necessity of this work. Our spiritual connection thrives when we work on it.