The Greatest Comfort

A thought on Parashas Va'eschanan and Shabbos Nachamu

This week has been a week full of questions, starting with Tisha B’av where we take the day to question Hashem for all the suffering we have endured as a people and continuing into some of the tragedies which took place this past week in the Jewish community. 

Perhaps, it is not coincidental that we celebrate this Shabbos as Shabbos Nachamu with the reading of Parashas Va’escahanan.

The Parashah too is full of questions.

Moshe relates that he begged and pleaded with Hashem to help him understand why he cannot enter Eretz Yisrael. Hashem refused to discuss the matter with Moshe. 

Moshe goes on to encourage the people to keep the mitzvos and to be an inspiration for the nations of the world.  Moshe explains the importance of safeguarding and remembering the most monumental events in our history as a people, Matan Torah and Yetzias Mitzrayim, and the importance of  passing them on to the next generations.

Moshe explains that these monumental events set us apart from the nations of the world and exhibit Hashem's love for us. 

Perhaps what Moshe was saying is that yes, we can ask questions, but we need to accept that sometimes we do not understand. Yet, Hashem loves us. 

This idea is repeated further in the parashah, Moshe said: When, in time to come, your children ask you, “What mean the decrees, laws, and rules that our God has enjoined upon you? you shall say to your children, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and Hashem freed us from Egypt with a mighty hand.’”

Rabbeinu Bachya explains the connection to Yetzias Mitzrayim. We were the lowliest nation, to be enslaved to the Egyptians for eternity, yet Hashem miraculously rescued us, and therefore we owe it to Hashem to do the mitzvos.

The perek then ends off as follows:

וּצְדָקָ֖ה תִּֽהְיֶה־לָּ֑נוּ כִּֽי־נִשְׁמֹ֨ר לַעֲשׂ֜וֹת אֶת־כׇּל־הַמִּצְוָ֣ה הַזֹּ֗את לִפְנֵ֛י ה' אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוָּֽנוּ׃

It will therefore be to our merit before our God to observe faithfully this whole instruction, as [God] has commanded us.”

We see that after all the questions, we must say a Tzidduk HaDin, Hashem is just. We may not understand it all, but we know that Hashem loves us. 

The Parashah ends off with a reminder that we are in fact the chosen nation. We are not chosen because we are the most popular or the wealthiest, we are chosen because Hashem loves us. 

We can ask questions about whatever we want. We can try to understand the workings of the world and realize the genius creativity of our Creator. We can try to unravel and question why we have suffered so much and when it will end. At the same time, we need to understand that sometimes we do not understand. Sometimes we just need to accept that Hashem loves us and this is the greatest comfort we can ever have. 

Dedicated in honor of my son Elchanan Zalman on his fourth birthday.