Going Public
But that’s not the whole story. Because the Gemara there tells us that there’s one thing that causes Hakadosh Baruch Hu to cry in public; He weeps even ְרַאי ּ ֵי ב ּ ְבָת ּ ב, in His outside chambers. That’s what the Navi Yeshaya (22:12) says: א ּ וֹם הַהו ּ ַי ּ קִים צְבָאוֹת ב ֹ ִקְרָ א ה' אֱל ּ וַי – Hashem proclaimed on that day, לִ בְ כִ י – for weeping, לְ מִ סְ פּ ֵ ד ּ ו – and for mourning, לְ קָ רְ חָ ה וְ לַ חֲ גֹר שָׂ ק ּ ו – and to put on sackcloth. ִ קְ רָ א ּ וַ י – He declares a time of public weeping!
And so the Gemara asks, isn't that a contradiction? Above you said Hashem weeps in secret – you quoted so from the Navi – and here it says ִקְרָ א לִבְכִי ּ וַי, that He proclaims a public weeping. It's a kasha.
So the Gemara answers as follows: ָ שׁ ּ ֵית הַמִּ קְ ד ּ ַן ב ּ שַׁ אֲ נִי חֻ רְ ב – The destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, that's a different subject, מַ לְ אֲ כֵ י ּ ו ּ ַ אֲ פִ ל ּ ד ּ ָ כ ו ּ שׁ ָ ל ו ֹ ם ב– because even the angels weep for that. The Golus, the exile
A Different Story
And so we have now two different subjects. The first is what we spoke about until now; the subject of going into Exile and losing sight of our superiority and our function as the chosen nation that's a cause of sadness to Hashem. He weeps bamystarim, in a private place, because of that.
But when it comes to the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, that's a different story. Then it’s לְמִסְ פֵּד ִּקְרָ א ה' לִבְכִי ו ּ וַי; Hashem proclaims a public weeping. He's not ashamed to picture Himself kaviyachol, as if He's shedding tears. And that means that He wants us to shed tears too; he wants us to understand that this is something to weep about. א ּ וֹ ם הַ הו ּ ַ י ּ ב our mourning is not a secret matter. On Tisha B’Av we sit on the floor, the whole nation together, and we make a public mourning; we shed copious tears for the loss of the Beis Hamikdash.
Now let's understand that. Why is the Mikdash different?
A Nation Without a Heart
You have to understand that the Beis Hamikdash isn’t just something in our history; that we’re a nation and also we once had a Beis Hamikdash. No, that’s not right – the Beis Hamikdash is the heart of the nation. If a person is missing his heart is he a person?
The purpose of Yetzias Mitzrayim, of the birth of our nation, was ָ יָדֶ ך ּ וֹנְנו ּ ָ שׁ ה' כ ּ מִקְד, that they should establish that Mishkan; that was the purpose. It says that openly in the Chumash (Shemos 29:46): אֲ שֶ ׁ ר הוֹצֵאתִ י אֹתָ ם מֵאֶרֶ ץ מִ צְרַ יִם לְשָׁ כְנִי בְתוֹכָם. “I took you out of Mitzrayim for one purpose – not merely you should be a frum nation and keep the Torah. That’s very good but it’s not enough. I took you out לְ שָׁ כְ נִ י בְ תוֹ כָ ם, so that my Shechina should dwell among you. Not that you should be able to bring korbanos or have a mitzvah of being oleh regel – it’s so that I should live with you.”
And that’s why right away when they came out of Mitzrayim Hashem told Moshe Rabbeinu to tell the people: שׁ ּ לִי מִקְדָ ּ וְעָשׂו – They should make for Me a sanctuary, תוֹ כָ ם ּ י בְ ּ וְ שָׁ כַ נְ תִ – and I’ll move in there and I'll dwell in their midst (ibid. 25:8).
Are You Serious?!
Now these words, because of habit, don't have an effect on us but the first time they were said, they were stunning. Moshe Rabbeinu couldn’t believe his ears. “What do you mean we’ll make a Sanctuary and You'll dwell there?! But ְבוֹדוֹ ּ א כָל הָאָרֶ ץ כ ֹ מְל! You fill the whole universe with Your glory!
You know what it means ‘the universe’? If you would sit down in a speed craft that travels with the velocity of light and you start now, you wouldn't reach the outermost spaces of this universe in thousands of light years. Thousands of light years! That's how great this universe is. It's even bigger than that. Every year the scientists are updating their knowledge. Oh, it’s bigger than we told you last time. It’s tremendously big, more than they could imagine.
And so Moshe and the nation were dumbfounded: “You’re telling me that the Master of the Universe, the One Who created and manages and supervises this tremendous creation of the universe declares, ‘Make for Me a little edifice and I'm going to move out of the universe and I'll move into that little edifice’?!” It boggles the mind! “How could it be? You mean to say You’ll forsaking space and concentrate Your vast endlessness into one little place?”
Experiencing Divinity
But Hakadosh Baruch Hu said “Never mind your surprise. You go ahead and do it. Make it according to My specifications and I’ll take care of the rest. I promise you that תוֹ כָ ם ּ י בְ ּ וְ שָׁ כַ נְ תִ. I’m going to move in because you, My nation, you’re everything to Me. You’re the purpose of creation and I want you to know that, to feel it, to experience it, in the best way possible.”
Now as I said before, words and comprehension are many times very far apart. We can say the words but it needs a great deal of effort to comprehend them. How could He come? Is Hakadosh Baruch Hu a body? We can’t even try to describe it. But our nation experienced it! That’s what matters. We experienced it!
