The depth of this matter is expressed in the following Chazal:9
They sinned doubly, as it says: “Jerusalem sinned a sin.”10 They were smitten doubly, as it says: “She was smitten by Hashem doubly for all her sins.”11 And they receive a double consolation, as it says: נחמו נחמו עמי – “‘Be consoled, be consoled, My people,’ says your G-d.”12
This requires explanation. First of all, what does it mean that “they sinned doubly”? Second, what is the meaning of “they were smitten doubly”? Hashem always punishes measure for measure, no more. Furthermore, if they sinned doubly, then they were smitten for two sins. How is that called smitten “doubly”? Neither is the double consolation so clear.
The explanation is as follows. Every deed has two repercussions for the person who does it. For instance, let’s say a person has a car and he wants it to serve him well. If so, he needs to take care of it. If he is negligent in the maintenance of his car, and it breaks down, he “sinned” and was “punished.” That’s how it is with an inanimate object like a car. But when it comes to a live person, for instance, saying a hurtful word to a friend, the sin becomes doubled. First there is the actual misdeed done to the friend. Added to this is the fact that his friend is now angry with him. This anger could have many repercussions that go beyond the actual misdeed that was done.
This applies even more in relation to Hashem, the mighty King over all. Hashem says: “If I am a father, where is My respect?”13
So to speak, Hashem feels the insults and indignities; He feels who truly loves Him! The Rambam writes that Hashem considers a sinner to be “detestable, rejected and abominable.”14
In other words, besides the sin itself, there is also the offense to Hashem. There is the distance that results from the sin. Let’s take the sin of bitul Torah, for instance. Besides the five minutes that this person could and should have learned Torah, there is also the insult this constitutes to Hashem’s Torah. Therefore the Torah says: If you leave me for a day, I will leave you for two days.15
Yirmeyahu HaNavi cries out: “Those who hold the Torah did not know Me...”16
Hashem is Elokim Chayim, and His Torah is Toras Chayim. Hashem and His Torah are alive and real. R. Yerucham of Mir would say that if a person is sitting in front of the shtender and learning, and then suddenly leaves the Gemara, then even if he comes back, he need to realize that when he went away, his Gemara went away, too. And his Gemara won’t come back so fast.
This is why people don’t see success in their learning. The Torah is not a machine. Someone who learns a daf Gemara does not automatically know the daf. For that, siyata di’Shemaya is needed.
In the same vein, R. Yerucham quotes the Yotzros of the second day of Shavuos, which recount those times that Hashem wanted to bring the Torah down to the earth, but the Torah refused. This happened in the time of Adam HaRishon, and then again in the period of the Avos, until came the time of Moshe Rabbeinu, when the Torah had no remaining objections. Even the Torah itself desired to be given to the Jewish people. It wished to descend to the earth at that time.
Here we see that the Torah is in charge of itself, so to speak. It’s not enough just to pick up a Gemara and start learning. There is a relationship to build — a person needs to live with the Torah at all times!
(Digressing from the subject for a moment, it is worthy of mention that this is actually the first chinuch that a child receives. Before he even learns to talk, well before he can say, “Torah tzivah lanu Moshe,” he is taught to kiss sifrei kodesh. When a sefer falls down, he is told, “Pick it up and give the book a kiss!” People don’t kiss stones, only something alive. And the Torah is alive: Toras Chayim, the living Torah!)
This is the meaning of “they sinned doubly.” Besides the actual sin, there was also the insult to Hashem.
So it is with, “they were smitten doubly.” When a person is punished by Hashem, it contains a double punishment. First of all, he loses all the good things that Hashem would otherwise have granted him. But besides that, he loses the wondrous goodness that is inherent in closeness to Hashem, as he disconnected himself from Elokim Chayim.
And this is also what the consolation will be: “double.” When Hashem will console us and redeem us, we will once again receive all the good things we had in the past. In addition, we will be embraced by Hashem in closeness and love. This is a great “double” influx of goodness.
