In the Haftara for Shabbat Nachamu (Yishayahu 40:1-26) we find four voices of comfort. The fourth voice, the voice of Mevaseret Zion, the female bearer of good tidings, is found in verses 9-11: Ascend the high mountain, you who bear tidings to Zion (Mevaseret Zion);...
Dedicated by Naema Sharon in loving memory of her dear friend, Ahava Emunah bat Chava Ehta z”l. May your holy neshama have an aliyah and may all who love and miss you be comforted.On Shabbat Nachamu, the Shabbat of Comfort which immediately follows Tisha...
This Shabbat is Tu B’Av, the fifteenth day of the month of Av as well as Shabbat Nachamu, the Shabbat of consolation.Tu B’Av is celebrated exactly six months after Tu B’Shavat, the fifteenth day of the month of Shvat, the birthday of the trees. Is...
In honor of Jonah Gershman’s aliyaThis Shabbat is Shabbat Nachamu, the Shabbat of Consolation. Who exactly needs to be consoled?In the Midrash Zuta Eicha, we see two different views: The first view is that God comforts Am Yisrael for the loss of their city,...
Now that Tisha B’Av is behind us, stores throughout Israel are selling fancy chocolates, teddy bears and heart shaped gifts that look like they belong to Valentine’s Day. How was Tu B’Av (the 15th of the month of Av) originally celebrated and how was...
In Honor of Sharona Halickman’s 10th Aliya Anniversary!This past Tuesday was the tenth Tisha B’Av in a row that I have commemorated in Jerusalem. Tisha B’Av this year was totally different as it was commemorated during Tsuk Eitan, a war in which...
In this week’s Haftara we read the words from Yishayahu 40:1-2: “Comfort, comfort My people says your God. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her time (of exile) has been fulfilled...” After a difficult day of mourning...
In the Haftorah for Tisha B’Av we read from the book of Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) Chapters 8-9, about why we lost the Land of Israel when the First Beit HaMikdash was destroyed. The reason was that God gave us laws that the Jewish people transgressed. Yirmiyahu,...
Shabbat Nachamu, the Shabbat of comfort is named after the Haftarah reading from the book of Yishayau which begins with the words "Nachamu nachamu ami", "Comfort comfort my people". This Shabbat is the first of the seven weeks of consolation after the destruction of...