Tzvi Moshe On Tefilla And Nechama

When the Gemara connects different Parshios to their corresponding locations on the Jewish calendar we are told that now is the time for “Tzumu U’Tzilu”, Chazal are telling us that Tisha B’Av is called “Tzimu” - ‘Fasting’, and this week’s Parsha, Parshas Va’EsChanan is called “Tzilu”
– ‘Prayer’.

Two observations arise from this: the first is that there is a set, methodical process of going from Tisha B’Av to our Parsha. The second point is that our Parsha is embodied by the word Tzilu, our Parsha is the Parsha of prayer.

As an added layer, we know that Parshas Va’Eschanan is (mostly) always the week of “Shabbos Nachamu”, the Shabbos that we begin to feel consoled for the destruction of Beis HaMikdash that we mourned earlier this week. We know that the Torah reading of any given week sheds light on what is happening in the yearly cycle (HaKriya Meoreres Es HaZman), how then does Parshas Va’Eschanan (as we know it now, to be the Parsha of Tefila) serve as any Tanchumin, any positive pick-me-up to the bereavement we just experienced?

In order to gain clarity we need to get a few concepts clearly defined. In regards to Tisha B’Av; why are we sad? What did we lose when we lost the Beis HaMikdash? In regards to Va’Eschanan – the Parsha of Tefila; why is it the Parsha of Tefila, and what is prayer really all about? How do the answers to the first two questions give us anyNechama that the calendar demands? And on a deeper level, what is really the essence of Nechama?

And most importantly – what does this mean for our Avodah?

In order to truly answer for what we lost with the Beis HaMikdash we need to put into context what the Beis HaMikdash was. (This is the opposite of the saying that ‘You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.’ We are saying that you don’t know what is gone until you know what it was in the first place.) Let’s use the model found inHaLekach V’HaLibuv.

The Prophet Yeshaya tells us that Hashem calls the Beis HaMikdash His house of prayer. Like the Passuk says, (56:7) “Ki Beisi Beis Tefila” - for My House is a House of Prayer.
Time out. Is the Beis HaMikdash really a central location of prayer? Tefila was not the main objective of the Beis HaMikdash - Korbanos, sacrifices were!

So what is a Korban? The word is loosely translated as a sacrifice, but the root of the word is really in Karov, ‘Close’. Korbanos are the mode in which we make ourselves closer to the Creator of the world.

So if the main objective of the Beis HaMikdash was the Korbanos, and those were all about creating closeness with Hashem, then simply put the Beis HaMikdash was about closeness with Hashem!

So when we lost the Beis HaMikdash, we lost the world-center of closeness to God.
This now also gives us deeper insight into what prayer is. If the Beis HaMikdash is where Korbanos generated closeness to Hashem, and that place is called Beis Tefila, that would mean that the whole goal of all of Tefila, of all of prayer is not about presenting a wish-list to God, rather it’s about facilitating that which we now lack without the Beis HaMikdash: a concrete way of forging a relationship with the Divine.

This beautifully explains why every synagogue is called a Mikdash Mi’at, a mini-Beis HaMikdash! Because in essence, what we do in a Shul accomplishes the same thing that we did in the Beis HaMikdash; albeit on a smaller scale.

This is also explains the Gemara in Brachos that discusses an interaction between Avraham Avinu and Hashem. Hashem tells Avraham, “I’m going to give your descendants a temple, a place where they can sacrifice to me and become close to Me.” Avraham replies, “And what about when they are in the exile? How will the become close then?” God responds, “I’ll give them daily prayer.”

As we see, if we don’t have the Beis Tefila, at least we have Tefila.

On to our next question: What is the nature of the Tefila/Va’Eschanan relationship? Most obviously, we see straight out that the Parsha begins with Moshe’s prayer to Hashem, “Va’Eschanan El Hashem B’Eis HaHi” ‘And I (Moshe) implored (prayed) to Hashem at that time.’ Then, later on when wee see Moshe praise Am Yisrael - ‘Who is like this great nation?!” And what is so great? Moshe says that am Yisrael is great because “Ki Mi Goy Gadol Asher Elokim Krovim Eilav CaHashem Elokeinu B’Chol Koreinu Eilav?!” ‘Which nation has God close to them the way that God comes close to the Jewish people when they call out to them?’ (4:7)
We see yet again how we derive our closeness with Hashem when we call out to Him – through Tefila.

Later on we see another very interesting connection of Tefila to Tisha B’Av. Moshe tells the Jewish people not to despair in the exile, because you can seek out that relationship there (even without the Beis HaMikdash). U’Bikashtem Es Hashem Elokecha, U’Matzasa Ki Tidrishenu”, ‘And you will request (to be close to Hashem in the exile), and you will find Him because you looked (4:29). Moshe goes on to explain that once the Jews feel closeness, even in the exile, they will lose their sense of despair and be able to focus on the imminent redemption.
The implication is that prayer; in its truest sense – as relationship building, is the tool we need to feel Nechama in the exile. And thus we connect - on a basic level -Tzumu to Tzilu.

So now that we know that Tefila can get us Nechama we need to ask what is Nechama really all about?

We know from Reb Tzadok HaKohen MiLublin that the truest meaning of a word is the way that it appears the first time in Torah. So if we find the first usage of Nechama in the Torah we will be able to pin-point the essence of it is really all about.

So where is it? Back in Parshas Bereishis. At the very end of the Parsha all of mankind spirals into chaos and God decides to clean house. The Passuk says “VaYinachemHashem Ki Asah Es HaAdam”, ‘And God reconsidered having had made man’ So he decided to bring a flood.
The usage of Nechama here really has very little to do with comfort or condonlence. Hashem wasn’t mourning and then got over it. Hashem took a new perspective, He changed His Mind (Kaviyachol).

Based on the above Rav Avraham Tzvi Kluger Zatzal explained that Nechama isn’t about feeling better, Nechama is not about being distracted from the pain, it’s not even about ‘getting over it’. When a person is struck by a sad event, no condolences will make him feel better in the very moment – we know this to be true from our own lives. Nechama is the process that gets me to the point that I’ll be able look back at the same circumstances, without all the pain, rather with a new, deeper perspective.

And now we see how Tefila is the way we get there. We now see that Tefila is how I bring my self closer to Hashem. It’s not just a wish list – I’m supposed to pour out my very essence, the depths of my soul. To bridge the gap between my life and the Divine. Once I do that I attain the greatest Nechama of all – I see the world through totally new eyes. Everything has more meaning, everything feels purposeful. It’s through the closeness that I create with Hashem that I can totally flip my perspective on the world.

That’s the Avodah of the Beis HaMikdash, and it’s the way we achieve the same process even when we are in Galus and we don’t have access to the Beis Tefila. Because nowadays it is only through strengthening our relationship with Hashem that we will be able to empower ourselves to the point that we can overcome any sorrow, any trial, and any pain that comes our way.
Tefila at its very core is the way that build our relationships with Hashem, and it is this relationship that gives us the strength to see any difficulty through the eyes ofNechama.


B’Ezras Hashem we should be Zoche to see the world with such a lofty outlook. If we can invest in our relationships with HaKadosh Baruch Hu to the point that we become totally overcome with a sense of Nechama then it will surely give us lives of meaningand happiness moving closer to the creator and ultimately the redemption!