12 And if you do obey these rules and observe them carefully, the Lord your God will maintain faithfully for you the covenant that He made on oath with your fathers: 13 He will favor you and bless you… D’varim / Deuteronomy 7:12-13
The author of the Torah commentary Orach Chayim understands the opening word of our parasha, v’haya, in the manner of many Hasidic interpreters as being code meaning, “simcha” (joy). He writes:
When you find yourselves in trying times, facing hardships and difficulties, and
you are challenged to maintain normalcy in your lives, the pattern and structure
of observing God’s commandments can become a source of uplift, strength,
and even joy.
Reading his comment in the current context gave his teaching an added cogency and depth. The comforting structure of daily worship definitely makes me feel more anchored. At a time when I hear so many articulate the unsettling nature of each day, and even a sense of forlornness that tomorrow will not be different, the recitation of the Psalm of the Day with its opening formula, “Today is the xth day of the week” (Hebrew uses the term Shabbat) emphasizing the progression of days culminating in Shabbat affords a marked and purposeful progression of time. On a larger scale, preparing to read the second of the seven Haftarot of Comfort, the time bridge between Tisha B’Av and Rosh Hashanah is being fashioned.
Isaiah’s prophetic messages of comfort, consolation and connection with the sacred, combined with seeing joyful purpose in mitzvot can be seen as an antidote and an expression of empowerment in a manner similar to the kavanot (expressions of intentionality) articulated by the Kabbalists (Jewish mystics) who saw in our actions the power not only to transform our world but to impact even on the realm of heaven.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David M. Eligberg
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