This Shabbat is called Shabbat Nachamu – the “Shabbat of Comfort” – named for the opening words of the Haftarah:

“Nachamu nachamu ami” – “Be comforted, be comforted, My people,” (Isaiah 40:1)

It marks the turning point after Tisha B’Av – the day of national mourning for the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem and so many other tragedies in Jewish history. From this week through Rosh Hashanah, we read seven Haftarot of Consolation, each offering messages of healing and hope.

But that hope can feel hard to access. Can we truly be consoled when the reasons for our grief – exile, division, rising antisemitism and the pain still facing our brothers and sisters in Israel – haven’t fully gone away?

One insight I recently learned from Rabbi Zvi Romm helped me see Shabbat Nachamu in a new l

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