The deep connection between Moses' rebuke, the Temple's destruction, and the hope for redemption.
Parashat Devarim, always read on the Shabbat before Tisha B'Av, opens Moses' final address. These are words of rebuke and a summary of forty years of wandering in the desert. Moses alludes to the sin of the spies, a sin that was the root of the destruction and the weeping for generations, and it is precisely from these harsh words that we find the path to consolation and hope.
Moses begins his words by detailing the places where the Israelites angered the Lord. He mentions Paran, the site of the sin of the spies, and rebukes the people for despising the desirable land. It was not just a mistake, but a rejection of G-d's gift and their destiny.
The sin of the spies was so severe that it turned the night of Tisha B'Av from a night of potential joy (the spies returned on Tisha B'Av) into a night of weeping for all generations. They caused an entire nation to lose the right to enter the Promised Land.
Surprisingly, within the description of the punishment of the generation of the spies, Moses includes his personal story: "Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither." Seemingly, the verses refer to the sin of the waters of Meribah, but Moses connects his fate to the fate of the people in the sin of the spies.
According to the plain meaning, Moses was punished for striking the rock instead of speaking to it. But here, Moses tells the people: "For your sakes." The commentaries explain that the people's behavior over the generations, which began with the sin of the spies, ultimately led to the situation where Moses struck the rock. The death of Miriam, who provided the well, caused a water shortage, which led to the people's complaints, which led to Moses' sin.
He tells them: If you had been worthy, Miriam would have lived, the well would have continued, and I would not have reached this situation. The responsibility is shared. Had you been worthy to enter the land immediately after two years in the desert, Miriam, Aaron, and I would have entered with you.
The connection to the destruction is intensified when we come to Psalm 137, the famous lament of the exiles after the destruction of the First Temple. King David, through his holy spirit, sees the future exile and describes the pain of the Israelites.
This is not just a historical description. It is an expression of deep emotional pain, of the loss of the spiritual and physical home. They sit by the rivers of Babylon, and the memory of Zion makes them weep.
The psalm continues, describing the demand of their Babylonian captors:
The Babylonians, who took the Levites captive, ask them to play their harps and sing the songs of the Temple to mock them. The Levites, who were accustomed to playing with holiness in the Temple, face a terrible dilemma.
The response of the Levites is an act of self-sacrifice. The Midrash tells that they bit off their fingertips so they could not play. They say: "How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land?" They refuse to desecrate the holiness of the song and music that was intended solely for the service of G-d in the Temple.
From this pain and refusal, the eternal oath is born, an oath that every groom takes under the chuppah:
This is not just the oath of the Levites in the Babylonian exile. It is the voice of King David, and more profoundly, it is the voice of the Holy One, Blessed be He, Himself. The holy Zohar explains that G-d swore by His right hand, as it were, that He would not forget Jerusalem.
The Holy One, in His love for the people of Israel, swore that He would not forget His promise to rebuild Jerusalem. Even when He punishes Israel for their sins, He grieves over its destruction. His joy will not be complete until Jerusalem is rebuilt in its entirety, and the word "Jerusalem" (Yerushalayim) itself hints at "Fear/Awe" (Yirah) and "Complete" (Shalem) - the completeness that will come in the end of days, when the whole world will recognize the kingship of G-d.
King David sees in his holy spirit not only the destruction of the First Temple by Babylon but also the destruction of the Second Temple by Edom (Rome), and asks G-d to remember the day of vengeance. The complete redemption includes the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the downfall of its enemies.