<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><br class="">R. Johanan said in the name of R. Simeon b. Yohai: <b class="">"If Israel were to keep two Sabbaths according to the laws thereof, they would be redeemed immediately, for it is said, Thus saith the Lord of the eunuch that keep my Sabbaths, which is followed by, even them will I bring to my holy mountain, etc."<br class=""></b><br class=""><span style="font-size: 20px;" class="">The question is asked why only two Sabbaths and does Shabbat really have the power to reverse the lot of the Jewish people and usher in the era of redemption. In response, a Chassidic Rebbe indicates that the two Sabbaths refer to none other than Shabbat Chazon and Shabbat Nahamu. If we<br class="">sincerely embrace their message, we shall then transform the condition of Jewish existence. <br class=""><br class="">Shabbat Chazon recalls the pain and pogroms, etc., that we suffered and to observe it is to remember the fallen glory of our past. In its very observance lies the seed of Nahamu — hope and victory. Shabbat Nahamu is the promise of rebirth and vindication. <br class="">Mysteriously and miraculously Chazon gives birth to Nahamu. <br class=""><br class="">Interestingly (as a side) the Talmud (Bava Metzia 30b) asserts that the Beit Hamikdash was destroyed because people stuck to the leter of the law and did not penetrate the spirit of the law. <br class=""><br class="">May we all be comforted from our individual and national tragedies and live to see the Redemption.</span></body></html>