"'Nachamu, Nachamu ami,' yomar Elokechem." - "'Be comforted, be comforted My People,' said your G-d."



So begins the famous Haftara of this Shabbat Nachamu, as G-d consoles His nation on the staggering loss of the Bet HaMikdash and the Exile from Jerusalem. This powerful phrase inspires two questions: First, to whom is Hashem speaking? Who can comfort Am Yisrael after such a loss? And, why repeat "Nachamu"? (Aside from it obviously referring to the two Temples.)



To understand the double phraseology of Nachamu, we must first try to grasp the double nature of loss. When we lose something precious to us, something really precious, there is shock, and then there is after-shock.



The first jolt is the physical loss of the person or item: Just yesterday you were here, alive, active; now you're gone forever, just a memory. How can I physically cope without you at my side, devoid of your brilliance and love?



But then follows a second, spiritual shock to the system. How could G-d do this to me? Where is goodness, where is hope? How shall I carry on in such a cruel universe where such atrocities occur? If G-d has forsaken me, what point is there in trying to carry on?



This is the double-blow we received when our holy city was razed; this is the left-right combination that floors us if, G-d forbid, we lose a loved one in the prime of life. Two punches, one after the other, knockdown and knockout. This is why we need two Nachamu, two consolations.



But who exactly is it that will doubly comfort us? The Targum says "Nachamu" refers to the Prophets, but I have another idea. I suggest that it is davka (actually) those who have suffered who will do the comforting. I'll go further: It is only the person who has been wounded deeply who can heal others. Only a Betzalel - whose grandfather Chur died a martyr's death - could build the Mishkan. And only a David - who suffered so much for so long - could prepare the Bet HaMikdash to be built.



Look at our own generation: Who built Yiddishkeit (Judaism) in the Diaspora? Who built Medinat Yisrael (the State of Israel)? The survivors of the Holocaust! They who saw indescribable horrors also saw beyond the trauma, with the vision of a better day. Like Rabbi Akiva, martyr par excellence, the suffering itself gave rise to hope for the future.



It's a strange phenomenon, is it not? When your eyes fill with tears, your vision becomes magnified many times over.