Shabbos Chazon
BSD
The Shabbos before Tisha B’Av is nicknamed Shabbos Chazon, which means the Shabbos of Prophetic Vision.
The Haftorah of Parshat Devarim is the first Perek of Yeshayahu, which begins,
“Chazon Yeshayahu Ben Amotz”- describing the vision of the prophet- the vision of exile and eventual redemption.
The Apter Rav was a student of the Baal Shem Tov and is buried right next to him in the Ukraine. He taught that Shabbos Chazon is one of the highest, holiest Shabbatot of the entire year. There were Tzaddikim who said that on this Shabbos, one can actually have a vision of the third Bais Hamikdash.
The Shabbos of Vision- of visions. How can we expand our vision of life? Is there more to what we can perceive? Can we begin to hear and see the messages, the hints, that Hashem sprinkles throughout our day? Can we begin to sense and understand more of the why’s in our life?
A mother takes her baby to the doctor for a vaccination. She holds him as the doctor jabs his little tush with the needle and the baby looks horrified- not just because of the pain of the shot, but because his own mother, it seems, is collaborating with the enemy. Here there is an evil man, stabbing his body and his own mother is helping by holding him still!
Go explain to a baby about illness, about vaccines and about bacteria. This baby knows one thing- right now, this hurts! We often feel the same about life- sometimes it hurts. But there is a bigger plan, and on this Shabbos, we can begin to expand our minds, hearts and experience to open to the justice of this heavenly plan.
People are noticing an interesting phenomenon. Last minute major and minor tikunim are being made. Repair and restitution in different areas of your life are being offered. Have you had a thought of correcting an injustice in your relationships, or in your finances? Has a realization hit you, pointing to a new reason for your repeated tests? Have you seen, recently, a pattern in your life that hints to a particular mida?
This Shabbos reminds us that there is a reason for the exile- both the private personal exile, and our national exile. We are working through major tikunim in many levels, in many worlds.
May Hashem open our eyes to see and understand the great love He has for us. May we see that we were never abandoned, never in danger and always beloved.
Visiting New York
CHODESH TOV UMEVORACH
BSD, I will be in N.Y. from July 28 until Aug 16. If you would like me to visit your community and give a shiur, feel free to be in touch by email.
The audio on my site has been problematic for the last month or so. You can still go to
Oneg.tv to see the shiurim, or go to the Simchat Shlomo website where the shiurim are archived.