Parshas Devarim/Erev Tisha B’Av
From Rosh Chodesh Shevat until the sixth of Adar, the day before he died – being a total of 36 days (equal to the numerical value of “eileh”) – Moshe addressed the people of Israel and told them what we read in Sefer Devarim. In so doing, he began reprimanding them for their ingratitude to G-d during the 40 years of their sojourn in the desert. His rebuke had a light touch because although he was blaming them, he was also acting as their defense attorney by pointing out the mitigating circumstances that contributed to their conduct.
His admonishment was subtle. Moshe enumerated the places along the way where the people of Israel annoyed G-d. But, as Rashi points out (Devarim 1:1), these were not the real names of those places, but rather names attributed to them to remind the Jews of their bad behavior.
The last of these places Moshe mentioned was one he called “Di Zahav.” In rebuking them, Moshe implied that it was the over-abundance of gold and silver that G-d told the Jews to take from the Egyptians that spoiled them and gave them the means to build the golden calf. They did not want so much gold. They even protested and said, “di zahav – we have enough gold” (Sanhedrin 102a). Yet, You G-d heaped it on them. So, what do You expect from children who were given so much money that they never had to work a day in their lives? Did You expect them not to get up to mischief?
The first of these places Moshe mentioned was “the other side of the Jordan in the Midbar, the wilderness.” But the wilderness is not on the other side of the Jordan. So, the word “midbar” is referring to something else. As Rashi explains, it is referring to the lack of appreciation the Jews showed when, after having been saved from continued slavery, taken out of Egypt and protected in the wilderness, they complained and said, “If only we had died in Egypt. There, at least, we could sit by the pots of meat and eat our fill of bread. But you had to bring us out to this desert to kill the entire community by starvation” (Shemos 16:3).
The second of these places Moshe mentioned was the “Arava,” the plain, which refers to the Plains of Moav, where the Jews began to behave immorally with the Moabite women and joined them in worshipping their idols (Bamidbar 25:1.) Again, Moshe implied that the natural urges that G-d instilled in man, together with the enticing circumstances that G-d subjected them to, was an irresistible combination. Although they should never have succumbed to it, it would be unfair to judge them too harshly.
The third place Moshe mentioned was opposite “Suf.” This refers to the Jews’ skepticism on emerging from the split sea. They refused to accept that the Egyptians had drowned. They fretted that perhaps the Egyptians had merely circled the shore to attack them as they came out of the split sea. They needed to see the Egyptians dead to believe that they no longer posed a threat. Couldn’t they have taken Moshe’s word for it when he told them on the way out of Egypt, “Stand firm and you will see what G-d will do to rescue you today. You might be seeing the Egyptians now, but you will never see them again” (Shemos 14:13). But Moshe understood that fear borne out of centuries of persecution would not evaporate overnight and it is natural for victims to ask for concrete proof that their persecutors are really dead before they can sleep at night.
The next places Moshe mentioned were Tofel and Lavan. “Tofel” refers to the slander the Jews leveled against the Manna which was “Lavan,” white, and which they called disgusting bread (Bamidbar 8:9). They complained that the Manna became absorbed in their system and that they never needed to excrete. Instead of being grateful that they did not have to trek miles in the open desert to find a private place to relieve themselves, they worried that their innards would blow up. But here, too, Moshe defended them. Indeed, these were unnatural and scary conditions for a people who had placed their trust in G-d and followed Him into the desert with no provisions.
Another place Moshe mentioned was Paran, the place from which the twelve spies set out to bring back a slanderous report about the land of Israel (Bamidbar 13:3). But here, too, Moshe insinuated: “But G-d, what a show You put on for them. You brought out scary giants to intimidate them and showed them gigantic fruits to overwhelm them. Couldn’t You have shown them midgets and normal sized fruits? What do You expect from weak and frightened slaves who just escaped from their Egyptian captors? Besides, the Jews didn’t slander other people, just the land, mere sticks and stones.”
And then Moshe mentioned Chatzeros where Miriam had spoken lashon hara about him (Bamidbar 11:35, 12:1-17). But again, Moshe intimates that Miriam’s sin was not so bad. It was just a petty sibling squabble, and, besides, Moshe had forgiven her.
Notwithstanding Moshe’s defense, the common theme running through these incidents is ingratitude. They had so much to be thankful for. Yet they chose to complain.
When the spies returned with their damning report, we are told, “That night the people wept” (Bamidbar 14:2). They wept over what they perceived they lacked, instead of rejoicing over what they got. Ingratitude, or lack of “hakaras hatov,” is an element of Sinas Chinam, baseless hatred, on account of which the Temple was destroyed (Yoma 9b).
The night they wept was the night of the ninth of Av.
G-d said to them, “You wept a weeping without cause; I shall establish for you on this day a weeping for generations” (Taanis 29a).
