Double Sin, Double Comfort
By: Rabbi Zev Leff
By Rabbi Zev Leff
They sinned doubly, as it says, “Cheit chatah Yerushalayim, Yerushalayim has sinned a sin.” And they were stricken doubly, as it says, “Ki lakta kiflayim, She has received double for her sins.” And she will be comforted doubly, as it says, “Nachamu, nachamu ami, Be comforted, be comforted, my people” (Yalkut Eichah11:18).
This Midrash can be understood in light of the comments of Ibn Ezra and Sforno on the verses of our parashah. “When your son will ask you in the future—what are the testimonies and statutes and judgments, which Hashem our G-d has commanded you? And you shall tell your son we were slaves unto Pharaoh in Egypt, and Hashem took us out of Egypt with a strong hand… and Hashem commanded us to do all these statutes for our good all the days, to give us life as this day” (Devarim 6:20–24).
Ibn Ezra explains that the son’s question is not what the mitzvot are, but why we were given a yoke differently than all other peoples. The Torah’s answer is that we must have trust that the mitzvot are for our own good because G-d saved us from slavery by taking us out of Egypt. Sforno elaborates that while the benefit of the mitzvot is predominantly in the World to Come, they also bring us life in this world.
The Haggadah attributes the Torah’s question here to the wise son. The answer given to him in the Haggadah is that we do not eat after the korban Pesach so that the taste of the korban Pesach is all that is in our mouths at the moment of redemption. In the end, it is the benefit from mitzvot, such as eating the korban Pesach, that remains with us.
The Torah begins with Hashem’s loving kindness—His clothing Adam and Chava—and ends with His loving kindness—burying Moshe. The entire foundation of Torah is chesed—G-d’s total giving to those who serve Him. The Torah is, in its entirety, an expression of G-d’s desire to do good for us. It is not an imposition on our life but rather a framework within which to earn eternal reward for our own good.
Delving deeper, the Torah begins with the kindness of covering man’s humiliation, his physical body. It gives us the means to utilize that body in G-d’s service and thereby purify and elevate it. Moshe was the culmination of this process of elevation to being G-d-like. He transformed his physical body into something so holy that only Hashem could bury it and put it away until the resurrection of the dead. That is the very essence of Torah—to remove the shame of pure physicality by elevating the physical to G-dliness.
When one sins, he actually commits a double crime: the first is rebellion against G-d: the second against himself in his disregard of the benefit from the mitzvah. Hence, the punishment is also double. Not only does Hashem punish him for his rebellion, just as a parent punishes a child to discipline him and guide him back to the right path, he also robs himself of the great benefit Hashem so much desired to bestow upon him.
Consequently, the comfort will also be double. The ultimate benefit will finally be realized, and, in addition, we will understand that the punishment itself was for our own good to prevent us from losing our eternal reward.
The place where the benefit of Torah and mitzvot is most intense is Eretz Yisrael. Hence, that double comfort will be in Eretz Yisrael with the coming of Mashiach soon in our days.
Rabbi Zev Leff is the rabbi of Moshav Matityahu, and a renowned author, lecturer and educator. He is a member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau (Mizrachi.org/speakers).
