Rashi: "diber" is harsh speech — these are words of rebuke. Yet Moshe rebukes gently, only by allusion: place-names that hint at the sins (Bamidbar, Ba'arava, Mol Suf… Di Zahav = the Golden Calf) — to protect Israel's honor.
The Ben Ish Chai turns those same words into a roadmap of avodat Hashem: Ever HaYarden (cast the bad into the sea) · Bamidbar (midbar↔ledaber: words of Torah and listening) · Ba'arava (humility and mixing with people) · Mol Suf (keep the end in view) · Paran/Tofel (tell good from insipid) · Lavan (whole inside and out) · Chatzerot (don't dry up from Torah) · Di Zahav (limit the material).
Toward Tisha B'Av: in Megillat Eikha the acrostic is ordered, yet in chapters 2–3 the Pe comes before the Ayin. A hint to the spies who put mouth before eye — they spoke not what they saw but what they thought: lashon hara on the Land → baseless weeping → churban.
The remedy: ayin before pe — first see, then speak with integrity. And in the order samech-ayin-pe-tzadi: close the eye (see only good), close the mouth (no lashon hara) — and you become a tzaddik.
Rashi is precise on "diber": dibbur is harsh speech, amira is gentle (as in "Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak" — harsh — versus "let the earth hear the words" — gentle). The parasha opens with "devarim" because these are words of rebuke.
Yet Moshe rebukes gently — he does not spell out the sins, he only alludes to them through place-names, to protect Israel's honor: Bamidbar — the ten tests · Ba'arava — Ba'al Peor · Mol Suf — the complaint at the Sea · Di Zahav — the Golden Calf. One word is enough, and they understand.
The Ben Ish Chai reads those same words as guidance in avodat Hashem. "Across the Jordan" — if you want to begin, first cast all your bad traits and deeds across — throw them into the sea: "and You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea."
"Ba'arava" — the willow symbolizes humility. It is the lowest, with no taste and no scent, yet it grows by the water and draws water up (water = Torah). So Moshe and Aharon are compared to the willow: humility is the secret of their greatness.
"Between Paran and Tofel" — Paran from pe'er (good), Tofel from tafel (tasteless, triviality). Learn to distinguish good from bad, the essential from the nonsense.
"Lavan" — whole inside and out: not a hypocrite, white outside and black within.
"Chatzerot" — from chatzir (dry grass that withers fast without water). Always feel that you could dry up — so drink the water: Torah.
"Di Zahav" — gold = materialism. Enough! Set a limit on the material, be content with what you need — for the essence is the spiritual.
In Megillat Eikha the verses follow the alphabet. In chapter one the order is correct — ayin then pe ("Over these I weep," then "Zion spreads out her hands").
On that night (Tisha B'Av) they wept a baseless weeping — the Holy One said: I will establish for you a weeping for the generations. The destruction of the First Temple (Babylon) and the Second (Rome) was decreed. So Yirmiyahu hinted at the sin by reversing pe and ayin.
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