Friday, August 4, 2017

Being comforted on Shabbat Nachamu

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Click to enlarge for the beautiful window details



Shabbat Nachamu begins this evening.

After going down to the depths on Tisha B'Av, mourning the destruction of the Temple and of Jerusalem [in my 9 B'Av posts], we are brought back to the light by Isaiah's visions of a better future.
He tells us that Jerusalem has paid the price for her sin and is now forgiven.

The haftorah, Isaiah 40:1-26, begins "Nachamu, nachamu ami . . ."
God is telling his prophets to console his people:

" 'Comfort, oh comfort my people,' says your God.
'Speak softly and tenderly to Jerusalem . . .' "

Are they not lovely and welcome words?!

The other verses are equally lovely and well-known.
You can chose your preferred translation of the Isaiah chapter:
"The Message" in modern English or NIV or the translation used by Chabad or the Hebrew with classic old English.

The painted stained glass window is exhibited at Hechal Shlomo museum of Jewish art in Jerusalem.
It was made in England in 1907, one of twelve windows that graced a synagogue in Manchester.
It is based on sketches made by 19th century pilgrims to the Holy Land.

Shabbat shalom!
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17 comments:

  1. BONUS! Highly recommended!

    Soon-to-be-rabbi Rachel Barenblat of "Velveteen Rabbi" blog wrote a poem about her new baby using the images of the Isaiah passage:
    http://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2010/07/a-mother-poem-for-shabbat-nachamu-comforter.html

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  2. "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people."
    This is one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible, especially accompanied by music of Handel. I love it!
    The painted glass window is fabulous.

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  3. Oh yes! It's very beautiful indeed. I thought the colors reminded me of Tiffany glass. Shabbat Shalom, Dina.

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  4. A very nice blog, i have a good impression of jerusalem.
    May be... i visit this important city.
    Regards from Berlin,
    Uwe-Jens

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  5. Wil, thanks for reminding us that Isaiah's words are sung in Handel's "Messiah." I just went to YouTube to listen to the tenor.
    You know, since 2007 there has been a Hebrew version and it is performed occasionally in Israel.

    Kay, Shabbat shalom. Oh yeah, why didn't I think of that? Maybe I liked the window so much because it looks like Tiffany glass. Give my love to your Tiffany-girl. :)

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  6. Uwe-Jens, vielen Dank. Es freut mich.
    Ja, Jerusalem muss man sehen und erleben. Herzliche Wilkommen!

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  7. I love those verses also. I'm so glad that God still loves the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob!

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  8. Thank you for this beautiful and comforting post, and the magnificent stained glass. The details truly are amazing, down to the tents outside the walls.

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  9. Isaiah is one of my favorite books to read -there are parts that are so poetic, yet gripping! Never realized this Denise, but the Israelis love all kinds of arts.

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  10. A great post, lot of informations and a beautiful image!

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  11. Dina,
    This is a stunning stained glass, one of the more beautiful that I've even seen. And, of course, Isaiah's words are so comforting at this point.

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  12. Thank you for bringing us along your way, Dina

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  13. It's so beautiful, Dina. Someone made that from a sketch? That's amazing.

    I wonder why it is no longer in Manchester? Maybe because it is 110 years old?

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  14. Tender and welcoming and very comforting. In many ways. What a beautiful stained glass window. I enlarged your photo and studied it for a while - remembering my own visits to Jerusalem in the past. A lot of the details were just as depicted when I first saw this scene in person, though there were certainly no empty fields within the walls by that time.

    Shabbat Shalom Dina!

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  15. Very beautiful Dina Thank you for this post.

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  16. A VERY beautiful window and I think I preferred the Chabad translation of the Sidra.
    CLICK HERE for Bazza’s loquacious Blog ‘To Discover Ice’

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