Parshas Devarim, Tisha B'Av (5785) "Eichah Esa Levadi, Eichah Yashvah Vadad" - The Blessing Within Eichah

00:00 They tell a story about the holy Rebbe of Berditchev, who entered a shul and saw a simple Jew praying. When the man finished and removed his head tefillin, the tefillin fell, unfortunately, to the ground. The moment it happened, he was deeply shaken. He knelt down, picked up the tefillin, kissed them and hugged them. He was beside himself with distress that his tefillin had fallen. Seeing this, the Rebbe of Berditchev raised his eyes to heaven and said: “Master of the Universe, look at Your people: when this Jew sees that his tefillin have fallen to the ground, see how he picks them up, kisses them, and is shaken to his core.” The Gemara says that Hakadosh Boruch Hu puts on tefillin. And what is written in His tefillin? “Who is like Your people, like Israel, one nation on earth?” In other words, the tefillin of Hakadosh Boruch Hu speak of the praise of the Jewish people: “Who is like Your people, like Israel, one nation on earth?” So to speak, just as a Jew whose tefillin have fallen to the ground picks them up, kisses them, cleans them, cares for them, and is shaken to his core—where are the tefillin of Hakadosh Boruch Hu? They are “Who is like Your people, like Israel, one

01:25 nation on earth?” Be shaken, bend down, pick them up, and kiss Your people Israel. This is what the verse in Eichah says: “He cast down from heaven to earth the glory of Israel.” The Jewish people have been “cast down from heaven to earth”—so to speak, the tefillin of Hakadosh Boruch Hu have fallen to the ground. But surely Hakadosh Boruch Hu will bend down, pick up the tefillin, and kiss them. Another point: we are now at Parshas Devarim, which this year falls on the eve of Tisha B’Av, and the parsha is connected to it as well. One clear connection between Parshas Devarim and Tisha B’Av is the verse containing the word “Eichah” in the parsha, just as we read Megillas Eichah on Tisha B’Av. In Parshas Devarim, Moshe Rabbeinu says: “How can I bear alone your troubles, your burdens, and your disputes?” The haftarah we will read on Shabbos, the “Chazon Yeshayahu” haftarah of Parshas Devarim, also says: “How has she become a harlot?” And in Megillas Eichah, which we read on Tisha B’Av, the word “Eichah” appears several times, beginning with its opening words: “How does she sit alone?” The Midrash says that these three instances of “Eichah” are connected. Moshe Rabbeinu saw that the Jewish people were not behaving as they should—“How can I bear alone your troubles, your burdens, and your disputes?” That was how the Jewish people behaved in Moshe Rabbeinu’s time. From this came the situation of “How has she become a harlot?”

03:02 —the conduct of the Jewish people in the later period, before the destruction. And that led to the time of exile, to the state of “How does she sit alone?” In other words, all these instances of “Eichah” are connected. The sefarim also say, in explaining why Yirmiyahu said “Eichah,” that he had a spark of Moshe Rabbeinu’s soul within him. Therefore, just as Moshe Rabbeinu said “Eichah,” Yirmiyahu’s prophecy was also expressed with the word “Eichah.” Yirmiyahu’s “Eichah” is thus connected to Moshe Rabbeinu’s “Eichah.” When we learn these verses as lamentations, then, as explained in the sefarim, it is clear that the verse “How can I bear alone your troubles, your burdens, and your disputes?” is speaking about the conduct of the Jewish people. There was strife and division among them—“your troubles, your burdens, and your disputes.” And that “Eichah” led, G-d forbid, to “How has she become a harlot?” which in turn led to “How does the city that was full of people sit alone?” That is the negative side, the undesirable aspect of “Eichah.” As explained, I believe, in Toldos Yaakov Yosef, he reads “How does the city that was full of people sit alone?” as the prophet’s challenge. He explains that it is a question followed by an explanation: “How does she sit alone?” How did the Jewish people reach a state

04:29 of exile in which they sit alone, disconnected, separated and isolated, without connection or unity? The answer is: “the city that was full of people.” It says there “full,” and also “great among the nations”: “the city that was full of people,” “great among the nations,” “a princess among the provinces.” Everyone has an opinion of their own, [unclear], and there is division among hearts. That is what brought about the “sitting alone” of exile. But on the other hand, it is known that the holy Rebbe of Berditchev, Reb Levi Yitzchok, said that one can take Megillas Eichah and read it not as a lamentation, with sorrow and mourning, but the opposite: interpret the entire megillah positively. He said to read “How does she sit alone,” “the city that was full of people,” “great among the nations,” “a princess among the provinces” as questions and answers, but all for the good: before, she “sat alone,” and now she has become “the city that was full of people.” Before, she “was like a widow,” and now “she has no comforter”—she no longer needs one, because she has already been comforted. And that is how he interprets the whole of Megillas Eichah: it is all built around one “but” after another. Before, the situation was undesirable, but now, thank G-d, she has become “a princess among the provinces,” and so on.

06:02 He interprets it positively. And this was the central approach of the holy Rebbe of Berditchev: in everything, he found an argument in the Jewish people’s favor; in everything, he saw their virtues, and he always spoke in their praise. He also interprets the beginning of today’s parsha this way, the verse “These are the words that Moshe spoke to all Israel.” Rashi says that Moshe spoke words of rebuke. The Rebbe of Berditchev says: “These are the words that Moshe spoke to all Israel”—to the Jews, he spoke only words of rebuke, because he needed to tell them what they should do. But when speaking to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, he spoke constantly and only of the Jewish people’s virtues and merits. And we find this with Moshe Rabbeinu himself in today’s parsha. The Midrash says that Hakadosh Boruch Hu sent Moshe Rabbeinu to rebuke them: “Let Moshe, who loves them, rebuke them.” When Hakadosh Boruch Hu wanted the Jewish people to be admonished, He sent specifically Moshe Rabbeinu, who loves them. And when Moshe came, instead of speaking words of rebuke, he immediately began to bless them. The Midrash says of today’s parsha that Moshe said: “May Hashem, the G-d of your fathers, increase you a thousandfold and bless you as He promised you”; “and today you are as numerous as the stars of heaven.” Instead of rebuking them, he came with the greatest blessings. This was also the central approach of the holy Rebbe of Berditchev. And we find something similar in the haftarah. In the “Chazon Yeshayahu” haftarah, Yeshayahu—even the Midrash

07:27 says of what he states in the haftarah, “Come now, let us reason together, says Hashem,” that Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants to argue with the Jewish people, to speak words of rebuke to them. “Come now, let us reason together”—the Midrash says—he is about to deliver rebuke; he has come to admonish the Jewish people. And what does he say immediately? “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will become white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will become like wool.” He immediately turns it toward the good: on the contrary, Hakadosh Boruch Hu forgives them, pardons their transgressions, and transforms “scarlet” into “snow,” willful sins into merits. It is also known how the holy Rebbe of Berditchev interpreted the “Chazon Yeshayahu” haftarah: he interpreted everything in it as praise of the Jewish people. For example, the verse “a people heavy with sin”—they are a people who do not know how to sin; sinning is hard for them. “Heavy with sin”—sin is heavy and difficult for them. There are many such verses in the haftarah, and he turned them all into praise of the Jewish people. Along these lines, as mentioned above, we also find that the Tzemach Tzedek, in one of his notes, interprets the verses of Eichah this way and applies to them the teaching of our Sages, “These are blessings.” As is well known, the Gemara relates that when Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s son Rabbi Elazar went to the Sages of Israel, they said things that appeared, G-d forbid, to be the opposite of blessings,

08:57 but Rabbi Shimon immediately explained to him that they were all lofty blessings. The Alter Rebbe explains in the way of Chassidus that when blessings are exceedingly lofty, high and profound, they must descend within a garment. That is, they must be clothed in such a garment in order to descend here below, and so that the external forces cannot draw sustenance from them, and the like. This garment appears to be the opposite of a blessing, but within it lie the most profound blessings. This is what Kabbalah calls “sweetened severities.” That is, severities—expressions of severity, things that appear to be the opposite of kindness—but on the contrary, they are sweetened severities: when severity turns into kindness, into the most profound, lofty and abundant kindness. This applies generally to the month of Menachem Av. As is known, the theme of Av is sweetened severities. That is “Av,” the father: a father loves his child not only with an intrinsic love; sometimes he must also admonish him. And on the contrary, within that admonishment lies the greatest and deepest intrinsic love. These are sweetened severities that turn into the greatest blessings. And the same is true of “Eichah.” When we say, “How can I bear alone your troubles, your burdens, and your disputes?”,

10:26 In simple terms, this seems to be something [unclear]. Similarly, the verse “How does she sit alone?” would seem to describe something undesirable. But how does it become a blessing here? Even “How?” has a meaning of blessing here—and a most exalted blessing at that. These are sweetened severities, and the blessings are the greatest blessings. [unclear] The Rebbe delivered the maamar on Shabbos Chazon. The Rebbe held a farbrengen in the afternoon and, in the Chassidus maamar, spoke about the maamarim of Yosef Yitzchak and the Tzemach Tzedek, beginning with the verse “How does she sit alone?” There he explained a number of details, drawing out precisely the lofty blessings hidden in the verse. When he comes to the word “How?” he brings an interpretation according to which it is, quite simply, an expression of wonder and astonishment: How could such a thing happen? This is the prophet’s astonishment; he cannot fathom how great the descent into exile has been. “How does she sit alone, the city that was great with people?”—how can it be that such a people, a people “great with people,” [unclear], the greatest of the leaders of Israel, is now in a state of being “alone”? How can this be? It is truly astonishing, “a wonder”; he simply cannot understand it. But from this comes the blessing. “How does she sit alone?” is meant in a positive sense. That is, we also find in

12:00 verses in Tanach, in the Chumash, that being “alone” appears as a blessing. We find this with Bilam: when he blessed the Jewish people, the verse says, “Behold, a people that dwells alone and is not counted among the nations.” This is an actual blessing, one of the greatest blessings. He praises the Jewish people for the virtue of being “alone”: they do not mingle with other nations; they stand on their own. Being “alone” is a virtue. [unclear] “He crouches and lies down like a lion, and like a lioness—who will rouse him?” This is the virtue of being “alone”: they stand on their own because they are above all the nations of the world. We find this again later, in the blessings of Moshe Rabbeinu. When Moshe Rabbeinu wished to bless the Jewish people, also shortly before his passing, what did he say in his verses of blessing? “Israel shall dwell securely, alone, the spring of Yaakov.” He points to another virtue of the Jewish people: they are “alone, the spring of Yaakov.” In other words, this too is a virtue of Israel, and it will be their defining virtue—to stand on their own. The Jewish people will be “alone.” They will stand above all the nations, all created beings, and all worlds—even above the angels, as stated in Bilam’s prophecy. As it is written: “Now it shall be said of Yaakov and Israel: What has G-d wrought!” The Jewish people stand [unclear], and they are above all the worlds, above everything, connected to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. According

14:00 to this, the “How?” leads to a level beyond understanding. That is, it is beyond understanding, beyond the chain of spiritual worlds, beyond reason and comprehension; one cannot understand it. How can such a thing be? It does not make sense intellectually. But being “alone” shows that the Jewish people are above everything. And we say that this quality of being “alone” is also found with Yaakov. It comes from Yaakov Avinu. For what do we find with Yaakov Avinu? Yaakov Avinu was in Lavan’s house. He was in a state of being alone. “By day, scorching heat consumed me, and frost by night”—and all the things said about Yaakov Avinu. Yet it was precisely to Yaakov Avinu that the great blessings were given: “You shall spread out westward, eastward, northward, and southward.” And with Yaakov Avinu we do indeed find the concept of [unclear], as is understood concerning Yaakov Avinu. Yes, “an inheritance without bounds.” Yaakov’s blessings are boundless, infinite, without limits. That is why “alone” is said of Yaakov: it is precisely with Yaakov Avinu that being “alone” is above everything. That is why we say it is above Avraham and above Yitzchak: “Not like Avraham, who called it a mountain, nor like Yitzchak, who called it a field, but like Yaakov, who called it a house.” Yishmael came from Avraham, and Esav came from Yitzchak. Yes, that was not “alone.” It was specifically Yaakov whose children were all righteous. And [unclear] Knesses Yisroel, all seventy nations of the world [unclear] “alone,” “an inheritance without bounds,” above all limitations. And so this will be the Third Beis Hamikdash, the eternal House called by Yaakov’s name. Yes, this is “Yaakov, who called it a house”—the eternal House, and this is the house of his being alone. According to this, how is it connected to “above Yosef”? This is what the prophet Yirmiyahu says [unclear]. Even when they were in exile, in a darkness that was doubled and redoubled, in the great darkness of exile, they were nevertheless in a state of being “alone.” They stand on their own, with pride, and do not mingle with the nations.

16:15 And the Midrash says that Knesses Yisroel—the Jewish people—are compared [unclear] to oil. Just as oil [unclear] with other liquids—it does not mix with them—so the Jewish people do not mingle with the nations. It also compares the Jewish people to wine, to grapes, to a vine. Just as a vine [unclear] accepts grafting, so the Jewish people do not mingle with the nations. This is Yaakov’s being “alone”: a Jew, even when the Jewish people are among non-Jews, remains a Jew. And so they maintain this quality of being “alone.” Yaakov stands proudly, with Jewish pride. Yaakov does not mingle with the nations—not in their names and not in their clothing. This is the being “alone” that is above the chain of spiritual worlds. What does “How?” mean? How can this be? It is the greatest revelation, which cannot be [unclear] by the intellect. How great and how exalted is the power of the Jewish people? That is why the word “How?” is used, as it says in tractate [unclear]. What is the great revelation, the great [unclear] that is added? The Hebrew word for “How?” has four letters: alef, yud, kaf, hei. Alef is “the Master of the World”; alef is “wonder.” It refers to Kesser, to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is the alef, “the Master of the World.” That is Kesser. The yud represents the ten sefiros. That is [unclear], the ten sefiros. And the hei refers to the Shechinah. Also [unclear].

17:56 [unclear] refers to the Shechinah, and here we say that the alef-yud [unclear]. It comes from the highest levels, from the supernal Kesser, from Atik, from the inner dimension of Kesser. The first level of alef, “wonder,” comes from there. It descends through the sefiros, and from there it is drawn down [unclear] into the Shechinah. After that, it reaches Knesses Yisroel, so that the Jewish people can “sit alone.” [unclear] the Midrash, [unclear] “alone.” “Alone,” he says, is written with a beis and two daleds: beis, daled, daled. The beis is a house; it is a blessing. And daled, daled—he says that daled denotes poverty: the poverty of the giver and the poverty of the recipient. The two daleds are the two forms of poverty. The giver and the recipient are Hakadosh Boruch Hu and Knesses Yisroel. The Jewish people are poor. That is, they feel themselves to be in a state of poverty because they want what comes from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. They want to be connected to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But Hakadosh Boruch Hu is also “poor”: poverty from Above means that He wants to bestow. Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants to give to Knesses Yisroel. Hakadosh Boruch Hu [unclear] with the Jewish people, and this is the poverty of the giver. Just as the recipient wants something from the giver, so the giver wants something from the recipient. Just as the Jewish people want something from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, so Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants something from them; and together they become “alone.”

19:33 They become one thing, the only thing. From there, all the blessings are drawn down from Above to the Jews. So here it emerges that [unclear] the greatest blessings, that [unclear] in order. When [unclear] the order is, Moshe Rabbeinu says, “How can I bear you alone?” But with all the virtues of “alone,” it follows that here too, “alone” carries all these virtues. The ultimate goal is to be “alone.” Moshe Rabbeinu says, “How can I bear you alone?” so that Jews will be in a state of being “alone”—that they will not mingle with non-Jewish women, with non-Jews, or with worldly matters; that they will proudly hold fast to their Judaism. And through “How can I bear you alone?” we arrive, on the contrary, at the greatest blessings of being “alone.” So “How does she sit alone?” is meant in a positive sense: “Israel shall dwell securely, alone, the spring of Yaakov.” When Jews maintain this state of being “alone”—“Behold, a people that dwells alone and is not counted among the nations”—distant from the nations of the world and from all these matters, Hashem gives Jews all the blessings, all the deliverances, and all the success, and so on and so forth. And this is “These days shall become days of joy and gladness,” culminating in the building of the Third Beis Hamikdash, speedily in our days. Amen, may it be His will.