Shabbat Nachamu: A Message of Hope
Rabbi Josh Knobel
July 28, 2023 | 10 Av, 5783
In discussing the message of hope that pervades Shabbat Nachamu, Rabbi Josh Knobel cites British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s speech just eight days after taking office. “It would be foolish to disguise the gravity of the hour,” he said. “It would be still more foolish to lose heart and courage.”
In the weeks after Churchill gave that speech, France surrendered, the Battle of Britain began, and then came the Blitz, killing more than 40,000 British civilians. Churchill never wavered. One month after he took office, he spoke these words:
“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”
On this Shabbat, Shabbat Nachamu, the first of seven on which we read special selections from Prophets, we are exhorted to rekindle our hope after the dark day of mourning of Tisha B’Av. This week’s selection begins with words of comfort, as God urges the prophet Isaiah to comfort and console the broken and defeated Jewish people, still reeling from the destruction of the First Temple. Even after losing everything, God urges Isaiah to remind the people that they still matter, that they still have a purpose.
Watch this week’s video and all Shabbat sermons HERE.