B"H

Thursday, Menachem Av 14, 5778 / July 26, 2018

It is with thanks and gratitude to G-d that I share the following with you. G-d blessed us Monday night with an additional beautiful little granddaughter.  Thank G-d mother and daughter (and grandparents) are doing well.

As I was admiring the wonderful precious seven pound miracle-gift which G-d gave us, I realized how much richer and happier we would all be if we would only recognize G-d’s constant miracles which we are blessed with every second of every day, instead of taking them for granted.

In the bonding minutes with my new born granddaughter, nothing else mattered. It was like the world came to a complete stop. It was total appreciation and thorough gratitude to G-d for this beautiful miracle.

My daughter said, “All through the inconveniences of pregnancy, and the exhaustive labor pains, she felt comforted, knowing the wonderful result which will come at the end.” That feeling of comfort was so much greater, when the baby was finally born. It was a double comfort,  

It made me think about this Shabbat which is called, “Shabbat Nachmu” – “Shabbat of Comfort.” The reason is because the Haftora begins, “Find comfort, find comfort my people.”

The sages ask, “Why does the prophet repeat the word “Comfort” twice?

The above experience of the birth of my granddaughter made me realize the answer to this question. We come now from the fast of Tisha B’Av, when we mourn the destruction of the Holy Temples and the pain and sufferings of our exiles, which came as a result. Now we are entering the seven weeks of comfort.

Our sages say that the pain and sufferings the Jewish people experienced during our exiles are compared to the labor pains a woman goes through before and during birth. These are the labor pains before the revelation of Moshiach.

The closer we get to the redemption, the stronger the pain may be. But we must be focused and remember the reason for this pain. It makes the pain more bearable. When Moshiach will finally arrive, we will then realize why we had to go through it all.

Thus, we can explain the double expression of comfort.

The first “comfort” refers to the comfort even during the days of exile, during our suffering, knowing that all this leads us to the final redemption. The second “comfort” is the final comfort when our hope and prayers will finally be realized with the actual arrival of Moshiach.  

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY