This essay is based on the works of the
“Kedushas Levi,” Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of
Berditchev, about whom there is no one,
except for the Baal Shem Tov himself,
the founder of Chassidus, who occupies a
place of honor as one who loved Israel
as much as Rabbi Levi, or who was loved
by the people of Israel as much as he.
Shabbos Parashas Va-Eschanan, a Shabbos
of comfort, which follows Tishah-B’Av,
the saddest day of the Jewish year, is a
most appropriate time for a Dvar Torah
in his honor.
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“Nachamu Nachamu Ami yomar Elokeichem.”
“Be comforted be comforted O My People
says your God.” (Yeshayahu 40:1)
When the time comes that HaShem, Blessed
is He, will give us comfort, soon and in
our days, He will remember for us all
the tragedies that passed over us, so
that the comfort will be in “double
measure” (“Eichah Rabasi” 1:6) And that
is the connotation in this verse of the
Name of God “Elokim,” that signifies the
Attribute of Strict Judgment.
Alternatively, we can explain the
expression “Be comforted be
comforted…” as follows:
From the very fact that we are being
comforted by HaShem, May He be Blessed,
this is an additional level of comfort.
By analogy, it is not at all comparable
hearing from an Officer of the Royal
Court words of comfort and love, until
the actual receipt of favor from him.
Whereas it is very different hearing
words of comfort from the King Himself,
“whose will is like a cloud, bearing the
late rain” (Mishlei 16:15), whose
promises are certainties, and when we
hear words of comfort from him, our
hearts rejoice.
“Be comforted be comforted O My People,
says your God.”
When the People of Israel acts in accord
with the Will of God, He is called “Our
God,” for by our actions we demonstrate
that He is our God. And this is the
explanation of the verse, “And God,
our own God, shall bless us” that
is, that the Creator, May He be Blessed,
shall bless us in that He will be called
“our God.” This then is why the
Prophet used the double expression “Be
Comforted! Be Comforted!” And how?
By that which Scripture says “That
You will be called their God!”
“Speak to the heart of Jerusalem…for its
sin is atoned for…” (Yeshayahu 40:2)
The principle is that in the future
time, the body will receive its pleasure
from the Banquet of the Leviathan (Bava
Basra 75a), but the heart will derive
only Spiritual pleasure, which will be
when it hears the good news that its
sins have been wiped away and that it
has an abundance of Mitzvos to its
credit. And this is the meaning of
“for its sin is atoned for,” as our
Sages Z”L have said (Maseches Yoma 86b),
“Great is Repentance, for it causes evil
deeds to be converted to good deeds.”
And “for its sin is atoned for”
goes even further, and says that the
sin becomes the “Ratzon,” the Will of
HaShem; namely, a Mitzvah.
L’Illuy Nishmas beni, Aharon Baruch
Mordechai ben Pinchas Menachem
