Lesson on Nachamu Nachamu

Introduction: Several of the commentators express a continuing theme through their פרושים on this Haftara. רדק presents the various verses on the omnipotence of God as a rebuke to the nations of world for their denial of God's ability to fulfill his promise to redeem Israel and extricate them from servitude. The Hirschians (SHR's sons' Julius and Mendel as well as Rabbi Schwab) focus on the גלות as the Jews teaching mission to the nations of the world and humankind's final recognition of and acceptance of this mission. דעת מקרא focuses on the parallels between the Exodus and the Jews final redemption. He emphasizes God’s longing to lead the Jewish People to reunite with the land of Israel.

The Haftara begins the part of the ספר on consolation as the following 25 chapters mostly reflect consolation. The Midrash's introduction to this chapter reflects the loss of Chizkiyahu and his prayers for the future of the Jewish people....God says נַחֲמ֥וּ נַחֲמ֖וּ עַמִּ֑י יֹאמַ֖ר אֱלֹקֵיכֶֽם "You do not need Chizkayahu's prayers for I Myself will comfort you from the ravages of the גלות. (Excerpted and paraphrased from Rabbi Schwab).

נַחֲמ֥וּ נַחֲמ֖וּ עַמִּ֑י -Comfort, oh comfort . This translation of the first two words is problematic but very common. Comfort is a command, it is a transitive verb, but here has no object. Who is comforting whom? Why is the word נַחֲמ֥וּ repeated?

Most people will intuitively read this to mean that God is telling the Jewish People to be Comforted. God is the Comforter and the Jewish People are being comforted. This is a traditional understanding of the text.

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According to the Ibn Ezra, God is commanding the לנביאו או לגדולי העם to comfort His people. Linguistically this fits better since נַחֲמ֥וּ is better translated as comfort them. The double language reflects a demand that it be administered immediately or repeatedly.

What about the prophets? After all the rebuke and prophecies, they deliver to the Jewish people, don't they require comforting? After 39 chapters of rebuke, Isaiah reaches a chapter of consolation.

According to Rashi, God is telling the prophets to comfort themselves and the Jewish people.

Who else should comfort Israel? According to J. Hirsch ".... mankind that caused Israel's grievous suffering through centuries of pain and terror."

Who is to speak דַּבְּר֞וּ? Here too the verse starts with a command. Refer back to the first verse. Whomever is comforting Israel is speaking to יְרֽוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙. The speaker is not speaking directly to יְרֽוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙ but is דַּבְּר֞וּ עַל־לֵ֤ב יְרֽוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙. What does this mean to speak to the heart of יְרֽוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙? According to Ibn Ezra, it always means: "to speak kindly, so as to remove sorrow and regret for things which have already passed; " Surely there is much sorrow to remove from יְרֽוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙. What else could be the heart of Jerusalem? The Jewish People themselves are the very heart of יְרֽוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙. From sorrow to strength comes another פרוש, Mendel Hirsch associate the heart of יְרֽוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙ with a pulsating heart. This heart, יְרֽוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙, will take its place as the spiritual center of the universe nourishing the life stream of Israel and all humanity.

כִּ֤י מָֽלְאָה֙ צְבָאָ֔הּ - Her service is completed. Whose service is completed, Israel. The word צְבָאָ֔הּ means army. But there are two possible ways of seeing army service. To the Hirsch brothers, this is the service of God's army, the nation of priests sent into the desert to teach by example the nations of world how to serve God. This army is gloriously coming home with its mission accomplished. There will be the universal acclamation when Israel returns from its mission.

But there is another type of army and service, the servitude of the long גלות, like the cantonists in the old Russian army, after our long service the sick and the broken will be relieved from the pain of servitude, thankful that it is over.

כִּ֤י מָֽלְאָה֙ צְבָאָ֔הּ - The verse can also be translated as: " Speak tenderly to יְרֽוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙, And declare to her that she will be filled with her hosts". The "she" is יְרֽוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙., its hosts are the Jewish People returning home. Speak kindly to Jerusalem for her children are coming home!

כִּ֥י נִרְצָ֖ה עֲוֺנָ֑הּ - Her sin has been atoned for, as per S.R. Hirsch, רצון means satisfaction. The debt is satisfied.

כִּ֤י לָקְחָה֙ מִיַּ֣ד ה' כִּפְלַ֖יִם בְּכָל־חַטֹּאתֶֽיהָ - Why do we take double from God for all our sins? Our sins and for following in the sins of our fathers or we have been punished more than any other nation or we were punished by the exile of אדום and בבל with our Temples being destroyed twice. M. Hirsch interprets this as indicating that double the reward will be won from the hand of God. דעת מקרא explains this through a משל, a thief must pay double for his theft and if he has no money he is sold into slavery. We stole (presumably through our misuse of the land) and were sold into slavery, therefore we are obligated to pay double. I'm not sure if the understanding is that we actually paid double or were only obligated to do so and our debt has been satisfied whether we completed payment or not.

What is the ק֣וֹל קוֹרֵ֔א? Is it a direct prophecy to the prophet in the present or a voice heard in the future by all Israel?

Are we going into the desert or are we coming out? If one translates the verse ק֣וֹל קוֹרֵ֔א בַּמִּדְבָּ֕ר פַּנּ֖וּ דֶּ֣רֶךְ ה' יַשְּׁרוּ֙ בָּעֲרָבָ֔ה מְסִלָּ֖ה לֵאלֹקֵֽינוּ׃ as :" A voice rings out: “Clear in the desert a road for the LORD! Level in the wilderness A highway for our God! we are coming out of the desert. As per דעת מקרא: We are coming out! This is parallel to leaving Egypt. Clear the path, so the King and His hosts can go to the land He desires. God was exiled with the Jews and is longing to return with them!

The Hirschian understanding (includes SHR in The Nineteen Letters ) is forced, we are being called into exile to fulfill our mission: "A voice rings out: Into the desert. Clear a road for the Lord" . This is an intermediate command. You will be comforted, but now you must go into the desert of exile. A desolate place not receptive to godliness. Even still you are required to clear a path for God.

כָּל־גֶּיא֙ יִנָּשֵׂ֔א וְכָל־הַ֥ר וְגִבְעָ֖ה יִשְׁפָּ֑לוּ וְהָיָ֤ה הֶֽעָקֹב֙ לְמִישׁ֔וֹר וְהָרְכָסִ֖ים לְבִקְעָֽה׃ -This verse can be a description of what physical changes we need to take place to make a path in the desert. רדק sees this as a figurative description, the road will be easier to traverse as if all these physical changes were made.

As per the Hirschian tradition (both brothers Hirsch and Rabbi Schwab) completing the goal to return to Zion requires a change in man's social and mental attitude. Those looked down upon will be elevated. Those elevated will be looked down up.

As per דעת מקרא, this massive transformation is not only to make a path for return but will make the wilderness tamed and habitable for Israel returning to its home.

What is the ק֚וֹל ? According to Julius Hirsch it is: “The voice that raises the call בַּמִּדְבָּ֕ר instructs the prophet to proclaim God's Word to Israel and mankind." According to the רדק it represents the command to speak which is juxtaposed to קְרָ֔א which represents the actual speech.

What has וְכָל־חַסְדּ֖וֹ got to do with a reference to man's mortality (Iכָּל־הַבָּשָׂ֣ר חָצִ֔יר וְכָל־חַסְדּ֖וֹ כְּצִ֥יץ הַשָּׂדֶֽה)? According to Rabbi Schwab: "No matter how beautiful man's כָל־חַסְדּ֖וֹ goodness and promises of a better world are at bottom, man is still only a flower". This is the opposite of God's goodness and promises which are Eternal. Julius Hirsch sees this in the context of the limitations of non-religious man's lovingkindess: " חָצִ֔יר and צִ֥יץ metaphors for acts of lovingkindness that flow from an inborn sense of compassion or prompted by a momentary surge of sympathy. This differs from ... selfless love and devotion to the welfare of one's fellow man ... under the dictates of Divine Will . רדק focuses on the moral failings of Israel's enemies for all nations that come with Gog and Magog against Jerusalem will be cut down like grass. Even their goodness will amount to nothing for the evil they have done to Israel.

- עַ֣ל הַר־גָּבֹ֤הַ -allegorical reference heard as if one ascended a mountain. Go and announce on the highest mountain, so that one's voice is heard from afar (M'D). ציון and ירושלים are the עקר of ישראל ארץ.

עֲלִי־לָךְ֙ - parallel to לך לך, but it is feminine, it is either a reference to:Jerusalem, עדת ישראל, or the symbolism of women waiting for their men to come home as if coming home from war.

מְבַשֶּׂ֣רֶת צִיּ֔וֹן – either those identified above will announce the redemption or the נביא (or נביאים) announce(s) the redemption to ציון.

הָרִ֙ימִי֙ אַל־תִּירָ֔אִי - Afraid of what? That God will not fulfill his promise. He will fulfill his promise. That the cities of Judah will not be receptive? The cities of Judah will be receptive they are all waiting to hear. The reference to Judah is specifically directed towards the Judean exiles. It also in a רמז to the Kings of Judah.

What will be announced on the highest mountain to the cities of Judah הִנֵּ֖ה אֱלֹקֵיכֶֽם׃!"עַ֣ל הַר־גָּבֹ֤הַ, proclaim the Truth loudly, proclaim it forcibly , thou bearer of good tidings to Zion that it is God of Love that ruleth all fates......Zion and Jerusalem are constantly to declare to the cities of Judah, wherever the sons of Judah may be living: .. that this is your God." Mendel Hirsch

מִֽי־מָדַ֨ד Who hath measured, etc. There are some that ask, how is it possible that such a thing. The redemption of the Israelites from their exile. shall happen? The answer is that the same Supreme Being will cause it to pass, who has created the whole universe, who knows the quantity of the water in the sea, as if He had measured it with His hand.(ibn Ezra)

וְשָׁמַ֙יִם֙ בַּזֶּ֣רֶת תִּכֵּ֔ן And meted out heaven with the span. He knows the measure of heaven, which He has stretched out like a curtain; He has created it with His omnipotence, according to His wisdom, as if He had measured it with the span. (ibn Ezra)

אֶת־מִ֤י נוֹעָץ֙ - Whom among the Nations of the world did He consult with? Who among than have the audacity to claim to advise God or tell Him what is right! Who among them advise God like the נביאים, like אברהם of whom when God decided to destroy Sodom, He said המכסה אני מאברהם? Who among them like אברהם כן שלמדו חכמה כמו שעשה לאברהם שנתן לב להכירו מאליו ולהבין בתור' שנא' וישמור משמרתי ? (Rashi)

אברהם was singled out by God because (יט) כִּ֣י יְדַעְתִּ֗יו לְמַעַן֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יְצַוֶּ֜ה אֶת־בָּנָ֤יו וְאֶת־בֵּיתוֹ֙ אַחֲרָ֔יו וְשָֽׁמְרוּ֙ דֶּ֣רֶךְ ה' לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת צְדָקָ֖ה וּמִשְׁפָּ֑ט. From who else would God accept:חָלִ֨לָה לְּךָ֜ מֵעֲשֹׂ֣ת ׀ כַּדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֗ה לְהָמִ֤ית צַדִּיק֙ עִם־רָשָׁ֔ע וְהָיָ֥ה כַצַּדִּ֖יק כָּרָשָׁ֑ע חָלִ֣לָה לָּ֔ךְ הֲשֹׁפֵט֙ כָּל־הָאָ֔רֶץ לֹ֥א יַעֲשֶׂ֖ה מִשְׁפָּֽט׃.

אברהם is the soul of the גאלה. The promise of redemption whether deserved or not was a promise to אברהם. Compare the list of human frailties listed in the Siddur with the human frailties in this Haftara

. What are we? What are our lives? What is our lovingkindness? What is our righteousness? What is our salvation? What is our power? What is our might? What can we say in Your presence, Eternal One, our God and God of our ancestors? Are not the mighty like nothing in Your presence, and the renowned like as nonexistent, and the wise like those without knowledge, and the understanding like those without sense? Most of what they do is void and the days of their lives are vanity in Your presence. And the difference between human and beast is nil, because everything is vanity. [What is our difference?] But we are Your people, the children of Your covenant. The children of Abraham, whom You loved, that You made an oath.

רדק - The gentiles will say that I cannot redeem Israel from their hand. When I bring Israel out the nations will have regret for what they have said, but if all the trees of Lebanon were used to make a fire and all the beasts of Lebanon were burnt for My benefit, it would not be sufficient.

All the nations are considered as nothing in his eyes. Ibn Ezra :"All nations, etc. All divisions of nature. Only those parts of nature are mentioned, that exhibit a certain degree of vitality; the minerals (רומס) are therefore passed over in silence. are reviewed by the prophet; viz. first the nations (ver. 15), that is, man, and then (ver. 16) plants and beasts "

J. Hirsch הַגּוֹיִ֖ם not כָּל -גּוֹיִ֖ם denotes the totality of nations. If all nations were to unite in a single entity and oppose the goals God set for mankind, נֶגְדּ֑וֹ, their power would evaporate כְּאַ֣יִן.

אֶ֥פֶס_negating existence.תֹ֖הוּ _ vagueness, obscurity, . .. It is not unlikely that אֶ֥פֶס here refers to atheism, denial of God's existence, while תֹ֖הוּ denotes polytheism, the belief in many gods....A large segment of mankind vacillates between both illusory ideas. One motivated by moralistic nihilism, negates Divinity and derides the belief in higher values . Or one creates a new doctrine found in the polytheistic deification of the forces of nature .

This verse addresses the religious beliefs of the nations of the world. Unlike the rest of the Haftara, this verse uses the word אֵ֑ל for God. Why is this name here? For the nations of the world it is a generic name for divinity that they have appropriated. They have a basic concept of god, but erring in their polytheism, they worship pieces of the universe that have no independent power or will. They are addressed in this manner to challenge them to recognize that God unlike their gods has the power to save ( another example of רדק's emphasis on God's omnipotence and the ability to keep his promise to the אבות and bring the redemption).

דעת מקרא - This verse is to the nations of the world, since they designate or recognize the name "אֵ֑ל' it is used here. It is to teach the general concept of Divinity. The gentiles also recognize this. This is rebuke to gentiles that it is impossible to make a physical representation of God. Therefore, there is nothing in all their idols that they call אֵ֑ל

J. Hirsch - מי ִrefers to a person and מה to a physical creation. God's uniqueness as the Creator of all beings precludes any comparison with a person or any attempt to borrow an attribute of one of the creations and apply it to the concept of Divinity.

הלא תדעו Have ye not known by your own common sense, which is the most important source of knowledge ; הלא תשמעו have you not heard; have you not been informed by others;הלא הגד מראש לכם hath it not been told you from the beginning, this is the lowest degree of knowledge.(the various degrees of knowledge, with regard to the mode of acquiring it, are, according to ibn Ezra., respectively expressed in Hebrew by ידע to know from our own reasoning, שמע to know from information and instruction received from others, הֻגַּד to be told, without any effort of our own reason).

From the beginning. From the first day of your existence; and even if you have no knowledge at all, have you not considered the foundations of the earth? etc. Ibn Ezra

J. Hirsch 40:21

Have you not drawn the conclusion that the moral state of mankind is the basis for its existence? Thus the Mishnah in Pirkei Avos (1:18) forcefully states -- עַל הַדִּין וְעַל הָאֱמֶת וְעַל הַשָּׁלוֹם- that the future fate of mankind is contingent on three concepts: truth, justice and peace.

Mendel Hirsch on 40:24 as quoted by his brother:

"All of history, Israel's as well as mankind's strikingly reflects the never-ending gift of Divine providence......

We who can look back on the eventful millennia of our history are overwhelmed by a deep sense of reverence in the light of the prophet's message. Where is the glory of Pharaoh, of all-powerful Nineveh and Babylon, where are the majesty of the Persian kings? Where is the Macedonian empire, where are the dynasties of the Ptolemies and the Seleucides? Where is the mightiest of all, the Roman Empire? Is it an accident of history that the founders of these world powers -- from Nevuchadnetzar and Alexander to Caesar and Napoleon did not succeed in establishing a true dynasty?

Do we not read on the tombstones of those world leaders of the prophet: "They were not planted and sown nor rooted in the ground. His breath caused them to wither away, and the storm carried them off like chaff."

שְׂאוּ־מָר֨וֹם עֵינֵיכֶ֤ם וּרְאוּ֙ מִי־בָרָ֣א אֵ֔לֶּה That which is in the heavens: the sun, the moon, the stars and the planets since the beginning of time force you to know that I am He.

הַמּוֹצִ֥יא - Even today!

בְמִסְפָּ֖ר צְבָאָ֑ם - to serve

לְכֻלָּם֙ בְּשֵׁ֣ם יִקְרָ֔א- Everyone by his work, by his service

אִ֖ישׁ לֹ֥א נֶעְדָּֽר. - Does they not work as created from your beginnings. Am I not He? You should know and understand, just as My strength was then, so is My strength now and forever to Guide My world, which I created to sustain it in might and strength.