Teaching Team
Seven Consolations
On the Shabbat following the fast of Av and the commemoration of the destruction of Jerusalem and the holy Temple, the synagogue reading cycle begins a series of seven special haftarah readings from the book of Isaiah. The haftarah reading is ordinarily a section from the prophets that corresponds in some manner to the content of the weekly Torah reading. The seven readings that follow the fast of Av, however, are unrelated to the content of the weekly Torah reading.
Instead, the seven special haftarah readings from Isaiah are a liturgical response to the anniversary of the Jerusalem’s destruction and the devastation of God’s holy temple. They are commonly called the “Seven Consolations.â€
These seven readings are all taken from the Deutero-Isaiah material of Isaiah 40-66. This second half of the book of Isaiah is filled with hopeful and inspiring prophecies about the end of exile, the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the ingather of Israel and final redemption. Herein we also find the amazing servant songs which describe the enigmatic and messianic Servant of the LORD.
The seven readings begin this Shabbat with Isaiah 40:1-2: “‘Comfort, O comfort My people,’ says your God. ‘Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed, that she has received of the LORD'S hand Double for all her sins.’â€
The Seven Consolations: 1. Isaiah 40:1-26 2. Isaiah 49:14-51:13 3. Isaiah 54:11-55:5 4. Isaiah 51:12-52:12 5. Isaiah 54:1-10 6. Isaiah 60:1-22 7. Isaiah 61:10-63:9
And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. (Luke 2:25-26)
So may it be for us.
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Visitor Feedback:
I hope you can help me with something: I was listening to a radio program (Messianic) and they were explaining that there is no month of Av in the Bible. They said therefore there is no commandment for the fasting etc. They were showing us that if someone asked us why we were mourning and fasting we could not show them in the word why it is done or that there is no month of Av etc- is this true and if so how would we even explain something like that? In this particular show the teacher was explaining how our Jewish brethren mourn for the dead and they were reading the particular midrash about mourning for the dead and connecting this with the Month of Av. Hope this makes sense::)) BTW, I looked at my calendar and I could not see the month of Av either- am I missing something?)))
Blessings
LB
LB | July 29, 2007 8:27 AM