It would seem that Shabbos Nachamu and the nechama (comfort) that follows right after Shabbos Chazon and Tisha B’Av is because, within this week, falls Tu B’Av, as it is written, “For there were no better days for Yisroel like Yom Kippur and Tu B’Av “ (Taanit 26b). Rav Soloveitchik, zt”l would say that this was the intent of the Gemara when it says Tu B’Av was a day when the slain of Betar were permitted to be buried, a sign between Hashem and Bnei Yisroel that the covenant still existed. This is, in fact, the nechama felt after the destruction, knowing that the covenant between Hashem and his people has not been severed.

We know Megillas Eicha concludes with words of redemption: “Turn us back to You, O LORD, and we will be restored; Renew our days as of old” (Lamentations 5:21), and Kinos ends with words of nechama as well.

Rav Soloveitchik explained that Nichum Avelim is not just a fulfillment of chesed and the mitzvah of ve’ahavta l’ereacha kamocha, but rather it is a kiyum the avelus itself, because avelus requires nechama.

In fact, the Rambam explains that the mitzvah of nichum avelim precedes the mitzvah of bikur cholim because avelus is a chesed to the living and the dead (Rambam Hilchos Avel 14:7) and, therefore, nechama is part of the actual avelus.

A proof for this point can be found in the Gemara (Shabbos 153a), which is explained in the Rambam (Hilchos Avel 3:4), that in a case where a meis (dead person) has no avelim to be menachem (comfort) and sit for him, 10 others come and take their place and the rest of the nation gathers around them. Here we see that there can be a kiyum of nichum avelim, even without the avel there to direct kindness too, because it’s a chov (obligation) on the tzibur to fulfill the etzem kiyum of avelus.

Another proof is that avelus ends only at the time when the consolers stop coming. It may be asked why the avel has to wait for those giving nechama to stop coming; it must be that nechama is a kiyum of avelus.

According to this, we can understand that to an onen (where the body is in front of him), one may not give nechama. This is because, at that time, there is no din of avelus on him but, rather, a din of aninus which has no aspect of nechama.

This is why on Tisha B’Av we conclude with Shabbos Nachamu, because avelus needs nechama. And this also explains the recitation of “Nachem” on Tisha B’Av because the avelus of Tisha B’Av needs nechama.

This is to say that even within the avelus of Tisha B’Av there is nechama for the realization that there will be a future redemption. This explains the verse, “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalms 23:4).

The idea that the nechama is part of the avelus can be found in the Gemara at the end of Makkot where Rabbi Akiva sees the Churban and observes a fox walking out of the Kodesh Kodashim, and notes optimistically that he now awaits the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah whenYerushalayim will once again experience happiness and joy. This is because the avelus of the churban is not a contradiction to nechama and salvation but part of the same din.

This idea is based on what my close friend, Rav Nissen Alpert, zt”l, says regarding the verse, “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (ibid). He asks, “How is a rod and staff connected to comfort from Hashem?” He answers that God’s punishing us with His rod ultimately becomes the greatest nechama.

This is excerpted from “Articles, Anecdotes & Insights: Genack-Genechovsky Torah” (Gefen Publishing House).