Days of Avodah, Not Mere Memory
The days of Bein HaMetzarim are days of aveilus over the destruction of our Beis HaMikdash. It is clear, however, that these are not simply days of historical commemoration, marking those terrible and devastating Churbanot that befell us in the past. Rather, they are days of avodah and contemplation — an occasion to consider how the Churban finds expression within us, and where our own personal lives are broken and deficient. For this purpose, we are called upon to understand the depth of the Churban and the root cause that brought it about.
The entire reality of the Churban came about through man’s distortion of reality — a distortion so severe that the Churban, as it were, became inevitable. The first Beis HaMikdash was destroyed on account of the three cardinal sins: avodah zarah, gilui arayos, and shefichas damim (Yoma 9b). The common thread running through all three is that each represents an irreversible distortion of reality by man — a distortion that made destruction inescapable.
Three Sins, One Theme
Avodah zarah is service directed toward absolute emptiness, as it is written (Yeshayahu 44:9): “Those who form idols are all of them vanity” — that is, a form of spiritual service that has no foundation whatsoever and no connection to reality at all.
Gilui arayos, too, is a transgression that generates a corrupted reality, regarding which it is said (Koheles 1:15): “That which is crooked cannot be made straight.” Although all neshomos emerge from the treasury known as the “guf,” situated beneath the Kisei HaKavod — as Chazal explain (Avodah Zarah 5a) — and those neshomos are themselves absolutely pure and without blemish, it is nonetheless within man’s power, through his wicked exercise of free will, to corrupt and pervert that sacred reality and bring a mamzer into the world. Of such a one it is said, “That which is crooked cannot be made straight” (Chagigah 9a), for he constitutes a “kahal” unto himself, outside of Klal Yisrael, רח”ל .
Shefichas damim, too, utterly distorts reality, for regarding it the Torah says that it is “as though one diminishes the Divine image” (Bereishis Rabbah 34:14). That is to say, this transgression uproots and nullifies from the world the tzuras ha’adam — the form of man who was created “in the image of His likeness” — and thereby renders the world wholly distorted and formless.
The second Beis HaMikdash, which was destroyed on account of sinas chinam (Yoma ibid.), was also brought down through man’s distortion of reality that made destruction inevitable. For sinas chinam is a hatred that arises without any cause whatsoever — from an inability to bear the existence of another person as he is. It is a hatred driven by a destructive impulse that seeks to annihilate everything and build nothing.
The Awesome Power Entrusted to Man
When we contemplate this, a startling and awesome vista opens before us — revealing the magnitude of the power that the Borei Yisborach has placed in man’s hands. For even though kedushah is engraved and present in the world in a natural and abiding way, it lies within man’s capacity to distort and falsify that kedushah, to crowd out the Shechinah and send Her into exile from Her dwelling. And so, the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed: through the distortion of reality and the corruption of the kedushah within it, the world itself became, in its very existence, destroyed.
This contemplation lays bare the full weight of our responsibility for the reality of the entire world, and compels us to examine our own lives honestly — whether there is within them a place for the kedushah originally embedded in them, or whether, chas v’shalom, we are crowding out that kedushah and perpetuating the terrible Churban.
Truly grasping the magnitude of the power that was placed in our hands — a power capable of bringing about even the Churban — can itself infuse us with the strength to direct our avodah toward tikkun and building. For we have seen that man possesses the power to reshape reality, whether toward building or toward destruction. We are therefore called upon to engage in honest self-examination: Do we recognize the Churban within our own lives? And are we even seeking to build a reality of pure ruchniyus — or have we, chas v’shalom, sunk into that same distorted and ruined reality?
What Are We Truly Waiting For?
We can examine ourselves by reflecting on the nature of our own anticipation of the Geulah. Does it flow from a genuine longing for a life of ruchniyus reality? Or is it driven by a desire for a life of ease and tranquility, free of troubles and worries? The correct anticipation is clearly one directed toward a reality of kedushah — for Chazal have already told us that in the time of the Beis HaMikdash, Yerushalayim was filled with pain and affliction, as it is written: “Righteousness dwelt within her” (Yeshayahu 1:21). A place in which kedushah is revealed to such a degree cannot tolerate even the faintest stain of sin, and therefore the people of Yerushalayim were subject to suffering and purification. But the distorted reality of our own lives warps even our anticipation of the Geulah — and so our longing becomes one for a life of comfort and pleasure.
Therefore, in these days especially — beyond the self-criticism and recognition of the Churban within our lives — it is fitting that we take hold of that wondrous power that has been placed in our hands, and strive to bring about a reality that is as rectified and upright as possible. And even if we do not possess the power to bring about the Geulah Sheleimah — as the Ramchal explains (Da’as Tevunos 36; Mesilas Yesharim 19) — we are nonetheless called upon, on our part, to prepare our lives so that ruchniyus reality is present within them, and that our longing for the Geulah be a longing for a reality of pure ruchniyus — soon in our days, Amen.