In Parshat Devarim, Moshe discusses the sin of the spies and then mentions the judges who were appointed to help him. He recounts, "I told them to be fair and honest judges and to carry out the laws of Hashem in the right way." Chazal ask why Moshe goes off on this puzzling detour.

The Arizal teaches that the physical world is only a reflection of many spiritual worlds above. This idea is not unique to Judaism. Greek philosophers, most notably Plato, wrote about the concept of the ideal in some other sphere working its way into the reality of this world. It follows that in order to conquer the physical land of Israel, it needed to be subjugated in the upper world.

When the Jewish people are in conflict with another nation, we are actually reflecting a higher spiritual struggle in the upper worlds between the ideals which each of us embodies. Hashem orchestrates our enemies' confrontations middah k'neged middah. When foreign nations distort justice, it is a reflection of our own weaknesses. It must be that somewhere in our own world we are guilty of injustice. Our external enemy is meant to awaken our internal enemy. Winning the battle against the angels in heaven involves conquering the yetzer hara within us. In fact, the Zohar writes that our worst enemy, Satan, gets its power from our sins.

The Shem MiShmuel explains that there are two types of evil tendencies. The first is evil which is clearly wrong, but it is difficult to overcome, because of our inherent taavot (desires). The second is secret and insidious. The yetzer hara has seven names, but the last one tzefoni-the hidden one, is the worst because it catches us unaware and penetrates deeply into our soul. It appears harmless or even good, much like the chazir who shows his split hooves, but doesn't chew his cud. Rome signifies this hidden yetzer hara. They represent beauty and culture, but their essence is completely corrupt. Such insidious falsehood can only be overcome with din and emet.

The judges were sent to spy out the land. They were victims of this hidden yetzer hara. They thought they were recounting the truth and saving the Jews from destruction. Instead they caused disaster and mourning. If they would have had emunah, the seven nations would have fled before them. It wouldn't have been necessary to battle them at all. The meraglim didn't know this because they weren't committed to truth in the absolute sense. And that is why Moshe detours from the story of the spies. He admonishes the Jews to be truthful and fair so that they will not come to stumble again.

The Navi writes, "Tzion b'mishpat tipadeh.."- Zion will be redeemed with justice. Defeating our spiritual enemies, whether they are revealed or hidden, means committing ourselves to mishpat and emet. In this way we will defeat not only our own yetzer hara, but the evil angels above who represent distortion.

There is a well-known Gemara in Tannis which states, "Those who mourn over Jerusalem will merit to see her happiness." The commentators ask, why does it say, "zoche" in present tense and not "zacha" in future tense?

Yaakov was never fully comforted over the supposed death of Yosef. The Midrash notes that this was because Yosef was still alive. When someone dies, Hashem give us the blessing of shikcha (forgetting), but if the person is alive, there's no consolation. Based on this, the Acharonim note that the fact that we still mourn over Yerushalayim shows that it is existing in our hearts. We have not given up hope that one day it will be rebuilt. There's a thread of joy in our mourning, which is why Tisha bav is called a moed and the word zoche is in present tense. There's happiness hidden within our mourning because we still mourn. When Napolean heard the Jews weeping on Tisha B'av he remarked that if we could still mourn so many years after the destruction, there's no doubt that we will one day see rebirth. Similarly, Rav Yaakov Emden comments that, "Rachem Na..." in bentching is also present tense. With these words we attest that the spiritual potential of Yerushalayim is alive, it is only dormant, but will eventually return.

From the very beginning, Yerushalayim had the quality of righteousness. The Beit Hamikdash stood on Har Moriah. Moriah comes from the root word moreh-to teach. It was a city of Torah learning.. When a Jew would come and eat his Maaser Sheni in Yerushalayim he would be exposed to the holiness of the Sanhedrin and the sanctity of the city and he could not help growing in Yirat Shamayim. And so when we mourn, we mourn the loss of the ruchniyut of Yerushalayim.

The Torah juxtaposes the sin of the meraglim with the story of the bnot Zelafachad. Rav Nebenzahl explains that unlike the spies, the bnot Zelafachad expressed a profound love for the land. They specifically wanted the inheritance of Eretz Yisrael. They said "Tnu lanu achuza"-Give us a portion. They came to speak to Moshe precisely when he was discussing the laws of yibum. One of the prime reasons for this mitzvah is the elevation of the soul of the deceased. They too wanted to use their father's portion in the land for the spiritual ascension of his soul.

The Ramban says that when a Jew performs a mitzvah in Eretz Yisrael, he receives more reward than if he would have performed the same mitzvah outside the land. It is a different level of avodat Hashem. The Bnot Zelafachad said, "Lama Negara"-Why should we lose out? They wanted the essential ruchniyut of the land.

During the three weeks we mourn the beit hamikdash. We no longer have the Sanhedrin and the Kingdom of David. The central core of kedusha and ruchniyut that Yerushalayim once was, is gone now. Yet there's a kernel of simcha in our aveilut. We haven't forgotten or given up. The spiritual energy of Yerushalayim is alive within our hearts.

May our faith in the imminent geulah bring the redemption speedily in our days.

The Midrash tells us that Hashem asked the great sages and prophets, "Al mah avda h'aretz,"-Why was the land lost? Nobody was able to answer until Hashem Himself said, "Al shelo barchu b'Torah techila"-Because they did not recite the blessings on the Torah. This seems puzzling.

Normally, a mourner begins mourning after the burial and as time progresses, restrictions lessen. However on Tisha B'av, it's the opposite. We begin mourning 21 days before, and as we get closer, there are more and more restrictions. We reach the climax on Tisha B'av when the halachot are most stringent. At midday, the time when the Beit Hamikdash began burning, the men don tefilin, and the mourning lessens. This seems quite perplexing. Shouldn't the mourning begin precisely when the destruction began and intensify as time passes? Chazal tell us that any generation that does not merit to see the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash, is considered to have destroyed the Beit Hamikdash in their time. If we haven't merited to rebuild, shouldn't Shabbath Nachamu be the most devastating Shabbath of the year?

What was Yirmiyahu mourning when he wrote the megilah in past tense, as if the Beit Hamikdash had already been decimated? Hashem began removing his Divine Presence in stages prior to the churban. Yirmiyahu witnessed this happening, but alas no one else did. The Jews didn't mourn Hashem's withdrawal. When they were told they would be exiled, they should have comforted themselves that at least they still had Hashem and the Torah. Instead they sank into despair. They erroneously thought their Torah learning was now worthless too. When that happened, all was lost.

Jewish law states that a Beit Knesset may not be destroyed. How did Hashem allow our enemies to devastate the Beit Hamikdash? There is a principle in halacha that "soser al menos l'vnot-destroying with the intention to rebuild, is permitted. Hashem created the world to bring glory and honor to His name. Every creation reveals Hashem's greatness. Man brings glory by choosing to recognize Hashem in all of his existence. When Adam sinned with the eitz hadaat, Hashem said "Ayeka-Where are you? How did you fall? Where is the Adam I created who was so holy that he could see from one end of the world to the other?" Similarly Yirmyahu lamented, "Eicha yashva badad"-How are you sitting alone? Eicha and Ayeka are speled with the same letters, and are essentially the same word. Ayeka can be read as "Ayeh kevod" or "Ayeh keter"-Where is Hashem? Where is the crown? Our purpose on this world is to find Hashem, to proclaim, "Ayeh mekom kevodo"-Where is Hashem's place of honor. We do this by consciously choosing to find Him at every moment.

This is what Yirmiayhu mourned. Nobody noticed the Shechina departing. When Hashem saw that Klal Yisrael were no longer cleaving to Him through the Beit Hamikdash, he decided to replace it with a new medium of connection. He would destroy in order to rebuild, "V'shachanti b'sochom-Hashem's Shechina rests within each of us and He desires that we find Him within ourselves. We must cry out, "Ayeka" -. Where are you Hashem? This is the avodah of Tisha B'av.

Eicha is replete with Yirmiyahu's directives to call out to Hashem. "Shifchi k'mayim.." Pour out your heart like water before Hashem. Dimah (tears) corresponds to daled-dom-silence, ayin-eyes, hay-Hahem. When words fail us, tears come and they are precious to Hashem. The Arizal teaches that there are twelve parts to the face and each corresponds to a different month. Tamuz is the right eye and Av is the left eye. In Eicha we read, "Eini, Eini yarda dimah.. ki rachuk mimeni"-My eyes shed tears... You are far from me. Just as tears physically cleanse the eyes so too do they purify us spiritually. The Shabbath before Tisha B'av is called Chazon-the Shabbath of vision. We must work on rectifying our perspective by finding Hashem in every moment of our lives. The spies saw negativity. They did not perceive Hashem nor what He had given them.

Tisha B'av, the very day that portends tragedy, is the birthday of Mashiach. We will ascend from afar (ashes) to p'eer (glory). For close to 2,000 years we've mourned, not the physical edifice that was the Beit Hamikdash, but the Shechina which was its essence. The Navi tells us, "Tzadik b'emunaso yichyeh-The tzadik lives by his emunah. If we long for Him and call out to Him, we are in a sense acknowledging His presence and He will listen. Though we've been through so much, we have not forgotten Him.

May this Tisha B'av be the final day of mourning. May we merit to rebuild and rejoice once again.

Question:

How do we anticipate Mashiach, if the era before his coming seems so frightening and confusing? Is there something we can take upon ourselves to ensure that we get through this period safely?

Answer:

How it will be is really up to us. It depends on how much we are willing to make changes and how aware we are.

A friend of mine went to the Rachmastrivke Rebbetzin and asked her, "What should we be doing about all the tragedies happening in our time?" She answered, "Don't you trust Hashem? He is taking us to where we have to go. Things will happen soon and it will be good."

We need to realize that Hashem has far more compassion for us than we have for ourselves. If the price we'll have to pay will be awesome, we should know that all our suffering is only to get us to a place that is far better than anything we can imagine. The financial calamities, the unbelievable chutzpah, the lack of respect for Torah, are all events which were foretold.

Rav Elyashiv says people are asleep. We need to arouse ourselves to the possibilities of every moment and to encourage others to do the same. Torah and chesed can save us from the birth pangs of Mashiach. As women we can be kind to others, offer support, and love our fellow Jews with all our hearts. We can study the Torah that we find relevant and inspiring. We should yearn for Mashiach. It is the only solution to the terrible things happening around us.

Don't confuse the solution with the problem. The problem is galut, the symptoms are all the horrific things happening to awaken us. The solution is Mashiach leading us to the time of enlightenment. We have to point our hearts in that direction. In our minds we should hope for the redemption. With our actions, we should endeavor to move forward day by day, so that when Mashiach finally comes, we'll be ready to greet him.