Chasidut su Isaia 40:1

Yeshayahu 40:1 The first question is why does it say "your G-d"-- it should be just "G-d" [without the possessive]. The second question is: how come it says that we were punished doubly? How can G-d, who forgives us abundantly, punish doubly? The explanation: it says about Noah that "this one will comfort us from our work and the toil of our hands." What's the meaning of comfort in this context? The answer: the source of the all comfort for the Jewish people is that, despite us being in the lands of the exiles and are exiled from our father's table and don't know when He will reveal to us, G-d glory has not departed from us and G-d does not despise the Jewish people. The shechina is in our midst and Moshiach is standing behind the wall. He [G-d] is imprisoned with us and is close to all who call Him and He hastens to redeem us with an everlasting redemption. Besides the suffering and pain caused by the nations, the more difficult evil and pain is that Jewish people are in a state of sadness and despair because Hashem is above them and they don't know if G-d desires to redeem them (because what are we? How are we important to arouse G-d's love? Who knows if all of our efforts will ascend to cause favor before His Throne? Who knows if He'll listen to our voice). These thoughts and others sadden the Jewish people and make them weak in their service of Hashem as the Jewish people once said "what gain do we have to serve Hashem, how will it help us?" [from Iyov / Job]. Therefore, the first comfort is to show the Jewish people that Hashem is with them wherever they are and has not departed from them and He desires their service and listens to their prayers. And this is meaning of the Zohar about Ezekiel's Chariot: the reason why the chariot was shown in order to remind that, even during the exile, the entire Chariot is with them. This will strengthen the service of Hashem, and this strength will never leave because they'll feel Hashem with them. And this is the theme of prophecy of Aaron in Egypt: Aaron's path is to pursue peace and make peace between people and G-d. He would prophesize that G-d has seen their pain and knows their suffering so, G-d forbid, they wouldn't forget Him (and that's why Aaron was sent to Egypt). This concept is the foundation of all service of Hashem. To strengthen service in exile and show that G-d eyes are always towards His people and His hand is always outstretched to collect the teshuva [repentance] of His people. This is the meaning of Moses' statement "Why are you complaining about Aaron"-- complaining, here, can also mean to hang or be depend on. [Moses was saying:] 'look how great Aaron is; thanks to him, you believe in Hashem and all of you on depend on him to strengthen service to Hashem.' This also explains Yosef's statement to the Jewish people, "I'm going to pass away and G-d will remember you and will lift you of this land", and another statement, by Moses, "G-d had remembered you and what had been done to you." The Talmud says that the Messiah will use the expression of remembrance, which is why Moses used it. What's the reason for this? Remembrance also means to be united with, as it says "the husband must remember his wife, to be with his wife before he goes on the road." Yosef, who is yesod [the sefirah] , said that 'I'm passing away in exile, but G-d will still remember you and will unite with you even in exile and this is how you will be redeemed (by G-d being with you in exile).' That's why remembrance is the sign of redemption: redemption is a product of unification between G-d and the Jewish people. That's the meaning of the verse, "G-d saw the Jewish people and knew them"--- knowing means united with them. Also, regarding other exiles, "G-d saw their pain," and, because He saw their pain, He remembered their covenant and He was appeased by His great kindness. We also say in our prayers, "remember for us good and for blessing"--remember means to be with us. Also, during Rosh Hashanah services, we say "you remember the deed of the world," which refers to the divine flow elicited by the tzaddikim uniting with Hashem. It also says, in the end, "you remember all creatures from long ago"-- He remembers both tsaddikim and all creatures. The source of comfort of Jewish people, who are called tzaddikim, is telling them that their service is desirable before Hashem, they shouldn't be upset when He hides His face in the exile, and they need a great encouragement to keep steady. Yosef said "I haven't done anything here yet they put me in the pits"-- when he was in the pit, he didn't know all the good deeds that he did [he couldn't see the divine favor created by his deeds]. No one could tell him that until he was free forever. This is the meaning of the verse "those who plant with tears will reap with joy": Jewish people are planting with tears, not knowing if their deeds are good or impactful. When Moshiach comes, we will reap with joy, because no good deed will fall to the ground. And this is why we ask in our prayers "may our service always find favor", which means that the prayer should truly find favor and be revealed as such before the coming with Moshiach. This is also why we say "may the words of my mouth... find favor before You"-- there's a doubt if we're giving pleasure to Hashem, and this is first thing that needs to be told to Jewish people to strength them. This is what will comfort us, and the word "comfort" has "Noah" in it. Why? Because despite the evil of that generation, Noah found favour [in G-d's eyes]. In the future, we'll see how Hashem has desired our deeds. This is meaning of the doubly pained: one pain affects the body and the other affects the soul (anxiety about G-d's love), therefore we got double nechama (comfort), for the body and the soul. Even in galut "Hashem is your G-d."