חסידות אויף מלכים א 8:48

And now we return to explain the verses of the Haftarah: “Comfort, comfort My people…” — the double expression. And “comfort” (nachamu) is from the same root as “And God regretted (va-yinachem) that He had made man” (Genesis 6:6), which implies a change of thought — a language of teshuvah (repentance). And the repetition — “comfort, comfort” — corresponds to the two levels of repentance: First, from fear, and then, a higher level — repentance from love. This double expression teaches the path of teshuvah corresponding to what was damaged. And the verse continues: “Speak to the heart of Jerusalem…” The word “to” (al) can also mean “with” — meaning: speak the words of Torah and prayer with your heart, which is called Jerusalem. And through this, it says: “And call to her…” — because all that you call and pray will go to her, meaning, to Jerusalem, which is the heart — for that is where the gate of prayer is, as is known from the verse (I Kings 8:48): “And they shall pray to You via their land…” All prayers must reach the gate aligned with Jerusalem, and they only reach that gate if they come from “Jerusalem” — the heart, as stated above. This is the meaning of: “Call to her” — through speaking with the heart, your calling will reach her — the gate of Jerusalem. “For her service has been fulfilled” — this refers to prayer, which is now in its fullness and completion, with all of its words and letters — this is called “her service” (tz’va’ah). “For her iniquity has been accepted” — through teshuvah, done first from fear and then from love, as explained above. And the verse explains which iniquity it refers to: “For she has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins.” What is this “double from the hand of the Lord”? These are the two hands and arms of the world — Love and Awe (Yirah) — called the “hands of God”, twofold. The divine attributes of Love and Fear are the “arms” mentioned earlier — and their spiritual contraction (tzimtzum) exists within all the worldly desires and pleasures,especially silver and gold, as explained above, which are garments for the two Divine arms, through which Israel can be grasped and lifted upward to their root. But instead, what happened? “She has taken from the hand of the Lord double…” — she took these two hands and used them in all her sins. That is: Through these very garments of love and awe, they violated God’s will, chasing physical lusts and earthly pleasures. Not only did they fail to use those attributes to cleave to God in love and fear, but they dragged them down, using them in their sins. And now, by repenting twice — once from fear, once from love — as the verse says: “Comfort, comfort”, a double expression — they cause a re-ascent of the love and fear that they had previously cast down. They now repair what was corrupted, grasping those same attributes to draw closer to the Creator, and to rectify the past misuse of those qualities in sin. Because, in truth, ultimately all of Israel must return in full repentance. There is no escaping it. For at the giving of the Torah, Israel became betrothed and sanctified to the Holy One, as it says (Hosea 2:21): “And I will betroth you to Me forever…” And as the prophet said (Isaiah 50:1): “Where is your mother’s bill of divorce, with which I sent her away?” — implying: there was no such divorce. You are still bound to Me. Therefore, you are compelled to return, in the end — you will not go on forever following the evil inclinations of your heart, God forbid. And likewise, the prophet said (Jeremiah 3:1): From a legal standpoint, one might have said: “If a man sends away his wife, and she becomes another man’s, can he return to her again?” But you — you have gone astray with many lovers — yet return to Me, says the Lord. In other words: Even though they strayed greatly, God still seeks their return, and will receive them. And they will merit the coming of the redeemer (the Messiah) through fulfilling all worldly actions in accordance with His will,and by elevating all the sparks of the Shechinah, especially those embedded in speech — in prayer and Torah — when those are done truly, from the heart. Then, the world of speech will be elevated, and all fallen letters and words will rise. And their prayers will be accepted, because they are genuine and from a full heart. And all the spiritual attributes that were previously clothed in material forms, as explained earlier, will be elevated back to their source, when they are used in service of the Creator. And abundant blessing will flow into the world. But until they repent, as long as they damage those attributes, and use them for sin and transgression, they cause lengthening of the exile, and bring upon themselves judgment and suffering, God forbid. And this is the intent of the verse, according to our path of interpretation.