When the nation heard the negative report from the meraglim, they panicked and cried. As it states in this week's parashah (1:27), מארץ הוציאנו אותנו 'ה בשנאת ותאמרו באהליכם ותרגנו להשמידנו האמרי ביד אותנו לתת מצרים, "You spoke lashon hara in your tents and said that Hashem hates you and therefore He took you out of Mitzrayim to give you over to the hands of the Emorites..." And it states (Bamidbar 14:1), ההוא בלילה העם ויבכו קולם את ויתנו העדה כל ותשא, "The entire community raised their voices and shouted, and the people wept on that night."
The Gemara (Taanis 29) states, "That night was Tisha b'Av. Hakadosh Baruch Hu said, לדורות בכיה לכם קובע ואני חנם של בכיה בכיתם אתם, 'You cried for no reason; I will give you a reason to cry, for all generations.'"
Their crying for no reason resulted in the Churban. Many times, people cry for no reason. They are upset with their lot, they think their life isn't good, and they don't believe that everything is in their best interest. They should remember what crying for no reason caused and train themselves to believe that everything is for their good.
Hidden Goodness in Suffering
Rebbe Shmelke of Nikolsburg zy'a related the following mashal: A king had to flee from his kingdom. He came to a distant land and stayed at the home of one of his loyal friends. The king noticed that his host was sometimes sad and other times happy. The king asked him, "Are you happy or sad?" The host replied, "I'm both. I'm sad that you had to leave your palace, and I'm happy because the king is in my home."
Kabbalah seferaim teach us that the head of the letter 'ט is bent into itself to hint בגוויה גניז טובא, that the good is concealed within it. The Apter Rav (Ohev Yisrael, Pinchas) explains that the Churban occurred on the ninth of the month, אב 'ט, to hint that a lot of goodness is concealed within this day. Now we see the suffering, but it will turn around in the future, and we will find all the good that was concealed in this day.
The Debt of Galus
The Chofetz Chaim told a mashal to explain why the galus has become so difficult in our times. The Chofetz Chaim compared it to a wholesaler who sells merchandise to store owners. The small stores don't have the funds to pay for the merchandise, so they pay for part of it, and the rest they take on as a loan. The following year, after selling the merchandise and having earned some money, they can make a payment on the loan. They buy more merchandise, and once again, they take it on loan. This goes on for many years; they pay back a bit but borrow more, and each year, the debt grows steadily higher and higher. One year, the wholesaler says to the smaller enterprises, "The game is over. This year, everyone has to pay up in full, every penny they owe." Everyone was in shock. "We had such a great system in place! What happened all of a sudden, that you want full payment?" The wholesaler explained, "It's simple. I am retiring. Until now, I was in business, so I agreed to get paid at a later time. But now I am old, I am closing the business, so everything has to be paid up in full."
The Chofetz Chaim continued with the nimshal. When Yidden have aveiros, r'l, they pay back their debts with the hardships of galus. So, although the debt increases from year to year, Hakadosh Baruch Hu compassionately pushes off the debt for another year... and He does so every year. Some of the debts were paid off with the tzaros of galus, but a large part of the debt remained. But now, the galus is reaching its end. Now all the debts have to be paid in full. So, when we go through tough times in our times, this should encourage us and give us hope because it means that we are reaching the end of galus. Soon we will be redeemed, speedily in our days.
The Good in the Churban
The Dubno Magid zt'l gave the following mashal: The doctors in the hospital gave strict instructions to the parents of a sick child to do everything they could to keep their child awake. They warned that if the child falls asleep within the next hour, he may never awaken, r'l.
The Chasam Sofer zy'a (Drashos, 7 Av, p.326) says that the Churban was for our good. He writes, "If I weren't afraid, I would say Tisha b'Av is a happy day because we survived... [As Chazal say, 'Hashem poured His anger out on wood and stone so we could survive']. We should be praising Hashem on Tisha b'Av. This is the reason Tisha b'Av is called mo'ed (a holiday). The crying and the mourning are for the new tragedies that happen every year. Because of our many sins, the curses and the tzaros become worse each day..."
The brother of the Maharal (Reb Chaim zt'l, Igros HaTiyul) notes that throughout Eichah, the name אלקים, Hashem’s name of harsh judgment, isn't used. Instead, the name ה"הוי, the name of compassion, is written. This teaches us that even the Churban was an act of Hashem's mercy in order to save the Jewish nation.
