18 Jul HOW CAN IT BE?

This Shabbos, we begin Sefer Devarim, the
fifth book of the Chumash. Parshas Devarim
is always read on the Shabbos preceding
Tisha B’Av, known as Shabbos Chazon.
The name Shabbos Chazon is taken from
the opening words of this week’s haftarah,
“Chazon Yeshayahu – the vision of the
prophet Yeshayahu (Isaiah)”.
The Midrash on Shir HaShirim tells us that
chazon, a vision, is the most powerful form
of prophecy. Yeshayahu’s vision was
painful. He saw the terrible destruction that
was to come upon Eretz Yisroel. It was so
real, so palpable, that it was as if he
personally experienced it.
“Your country is desolate; your cities are
burned with fire, and your lands – before
you, strangers consume it…” (Yeshayahu I
1:7).
“Aino domeh shemiah l’reiyah, there is no
comparing the power of something seen to
that which is merely heard.” How it painful
it must have for Yeshayahu.

Yeshayahu laments the causes of the
destruction, and cries out HaShem’s words.
“Bonim gidaltee v’romamtee, v’heim
poshu bee, I raised and exalted children, but
they rebelled against me.” (Yeshayahu I
1:2) He admonishes the people for
worshipping without heart, and of just
going through the motions. A people who
allow the mitzvos to become routine,
without a genuine feeling of connection to
HaShem.
Yeshayahu’s message is timeless. A
message that even generations later still
speaks to us.
Yeshayahu grieves, “Eichah – How can it
be! Hoysah l’zonah kiryah ne’emanah, That
the beautiful city has become a harlot, a
faithful city that was full of justice and
righteousness, is now with murderers.”
Parshas Devarim… Shabbos Chazon. We
know there are no coincidences – even as to
when a parsha comes out on the calendar.
There is one word that connects Parshas
Devarim, Shabbos Chazon and Tisha B’Av:
“Eichah – How can it be?”
Yeshayahu, in his prophecy cries out

“Eichah”. In this week’s parsha, Moshe
Rabbeinu also painfully cries out “Eichah”.
“Eichah essah l’vadi, torchachem,
u’ma’sa’achem, v’rivchem. Eichah – How
can I alone carry your contentiousness,
your burdens and your quarrels? (Devarim
1:12) Being the leader of the nation was
no easy task. Moshe asks, “Eichah – How
can I do it?” Rashi explains that the
skeptics among the people caused Moshe
much heartache. Additionally, to Moshe
each member of the nation was a beloved
child. He felt their burdens and suffering, as
a father does for the pain and anguish of his
own children.
Ramban teaches that when Moshe davened
for the Jewish nation, he felt their suffering.
He carried their burdens on his shoulder,
prompting him to ask “Eichah – How can I
continue on”?
There is yet one more prophet who cried
out “Eichah”. The Eichah that connects all
three. The Eichah of Yirmiyahu, Jeremiah
whose words we read on Tisha B’Av.
In Megillas Eichah, also known as
Lamentations Yirmiyahu cries out “Eichah
yoshvah vadad, How can it be that the
city (Yerushalayim) sits alone; ha’ir
rabasi am, the city that was full with
people, haysah k’almanah, has become
like a widow – abandoned.” (Eichah 1:1)
The passage where Moshe says Eichah is
read in the same trop, mournful tune as

we read Yirmiyahu’s Eichah. A soul-
stirring tune that enters the neshamah and

wakes up the “Eichah” within each and
every one of us.
Eichah… How can it be, we ask. How
can it be that it is over two thousand years
and we are still a nation in exile, our Bais
HaMikdash destroyed? Eichah… How
can it be that we live in a world where
hate crimes and anti-Semitism is rising?
That our beloved Eretz Yisroel is
surrounded by blood-thirsty enemies, and
under a constant barrage of terrorist
attacks.
Eichah… How can it be that there is so
much illness, pain and suffering? That
there are so many struggling with family
relationships, shalom bayis (peace in the
home), and raising children. Eichah… so
many having difficulties in making ends
meet, with spiraling costs that have
affected us all.
Eichah… How can it be that we are living
in a world where social mores have been
turned upside down? Where behavior and
values once considered unfathomable

have become routine and in some cases the
norm?
Eichah… How much more can we take?
In the haftarah, Yeshayahu advises that in
order for the geulah, the final redemption to
come, “Learn to do good, devote yourself to
righteousness, strengthen the victim, do
justice for the orphan, and take up the cause
of the widow.” (Yeshayahu I 1:17)
All mitzvos we can do. All acts of kindness
– bricks leading up to the building of the
third and final Bais HaMikdash with the
coming of Moshiach.
The second Bais HaMikdash was not
destroyed because of the nation’s failings in
adhering to halacha. Rather, it was brought
about by sinas chinam… unwarranted
hatred, ill feelings between brother and
brother.
Chazal teach “Kol dor v’dor shelo nivneh
Bais HaMikdash, k’ilu nechrav b’yomov,
Every generation in which the Holy Temple
is not rebuilt, it is as it had been destroyed
in its time.”
That’s us. The generation that didn’t merit
(as of yet) to rebuild the Bais HaMikdash. It
means the wrongdoing and negativity
amongst us continues. It means we are
guilty of continuing the misdeeds of past
generations.
This Tisha B’Av, it’s time for us to say that
we’re making a break. We will start anew.
We can rebuild the Third Bais HaMikdash
thru exhibiting ahavas chinam,
unconditional love. To accept people
without being judgmental or expecting
anything in return.
It’s up to us. We can do it. To be concerned
for someone else. To think of what we can
do for each other. To bring light into a world
of darkness. To be an ohr lagoyim, a light
unto the nations. With HaShems’s help, we
will be zoche to see the fulfillment of
Yeshayahu’s words, “Tzion b’mishpat
tipadeh, v’shaveha b’tzedaka, Tzion shall
be redeemed with justice and her returnees
with righteousness.” (Yeshayahu I 1:27)