The Sabbaths
before and after Tisha B'Av provide a message of comfort and consolation.
By Lesli Koppelman Ross
The Sabbaths surrounding the Ninth of Av carry a clear
message relating to the holiday. The prophetic readings for the three weeks
preceding the holiday--the first two from Jeremiah and the third from Isaiah--
are full of admonitions in preparation for this mournful time. Following Tisha
B'Av, there are seven prophetic readings of consolation--all from Isaiah--providing
comfort after this somber occasion and preparing the individual emotionally and
spiritually for the upcoming High holidays. The Sabbaths that immediately
precede and follow Tisha B'Av each have a special name reflecting the message
of the respective haftarah (prophetic reading). Excerpted with
permission from Celebrate! The Complete Jewish Holiday Handbook (Jason Aronson Inc.).
The Sabbath
immediately preceding the ninth of Av is known as the Sabbath of Vision (Hazon)
for the prophetic reading Isaiah 1:1-27. After recounting heinous
transgressions, it offers the hope of reconciliation, which will come when the
people "cease to do evil, learn to do good." The Sabbath of Vision
and Shabbat Nahamu, which provides words of consolation a week later,
embrace Tisha B'Av from opposite sides, cushioning the blow of the day of
destruction, allowing the mourners to go into it knowing there is salvation and
emerge from it reassured that redemption will come. The entire portion [of
Shabbat Hazon] may be chanted to the melody of Eicha (Lamentations);
more appropriately, only the verses of admonition are rendered in the subdued
chant.
The upswing of hope
begun on the afternoon of Tisha B'Av continues on the following Shabbat. Called
Shabbat Nahamu (Console) after the first line of the day's prophetic
reading (Nachamu, nachamu ami, Console, console my people…") (Isaiah
40:1-26), it is also the first of seven haftarot of consolation,
all drawn from the book of Isaiah, that deliver a message of comfort in the
seven weeks following Tisha B'Av and lead us to the period of Rosh Hashanah (49:14-51:3; 4:11-55:5; 1:12-52:12; 4:1-10; 60:1-22; 61:10-63:9).
Lesli Koppelman Ross is a
writer and artist whose works have appeared nationally. She has devoted much of
her time to the causes of Ethiopian Jewry and Jewish education. Her latest book
is The
Lifetime Guide to the Jewish Holidays: Abundant Ways to Bring the Joy, Meaning
and Relevance of Celebration into Your Home and Heart Year After Year.
(Jewish Legacy Press).
Copyright 1994 by Jason
Aronson Inc.
