This Shabbat, immediately following Tisha B'Av, is called Shabbat Nachamu - the Sabbath of Comforting - after the beginning of the prophetic passage (Isaiah 11:1-26) that is read, “Nachamu, nachamu, ami - Comfort you, comfort you, my people.” It is the first of seven Shabbatot of comforting haftarahs that climb from the depths of Tisha B'Av to the renewal of Rosh HaShanah … It takes us seven weeks to move from the deathday of the whole people (Tisha B'Av) to the birthday of the human race (Rosh Hashanah). In these seven weeks we complete the circle of the year, moving from the burning sun of summer to the first cool breeze of autumn. From the hot and thirsty fast of Tisha B'Av to the wellsprings of Hagar and Abraham, and our own visit to the river for Tashlich. We complete the circle, from exhaustion to new life.