נ וֹ רָ א אֱ ל ֹהִ י ם מִ מּ ִ קְ דָּ שׁ ֶ י ך – You are awesome, O G-d, in Your holy places. What does this Pasuk mean? Rashi translates it to mean: You are feared, O G-d, from what You have done to Your sanctuary. (If He did not grant grace to His sanctuary, how much more so will He not grant grace to the wicked idolators!) This fear, whose source is the Beit Hamikdash, emanates directly from the Aron Kodesh within the Kodesh Hakodashim, as the same letters spell both נ וֹ רָ א and אָ רוֹן.
The place called Kodesh Hakodashim was the place where the Aron stood, with the Luchot inside, and the Keruvim on top. The Keruvim had the faces of a man and woman (or young boy and young girl), representing the intimate relationship between Hakadosh Baruch Hu and Knesset Yisrael. Do you want another proof of this? We read a Megillah each year on Pesach that shares the same naming convention as the Kodesh Hakodashim. Shir Hashirim, named unlike any other Megillah, represents that same intimate relationship and bond. The other Megillahs are Kodesh, whereas Shir Hashirim is Kodesh Hakodashim.
Want yet another proof? Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin says, any subject found in a Massechet of Gemara, has a direct connection to that very Massechet. Where is the topic of the Churban (destruction) discussed? It is in Massechet Gittin. Why there? Why not in Ta’anit next to the list of what took place on the 17th of Tamuz and 9th of Av? It is placed in Gittin because Hakadosh Baruch Hu married Knesset Yisrael at Har Sinai, and after the wedding, we were instructed to build the Mishkan, where we would reside together for 480 years until the Beit Hamikdash was built. Knesset Yisrael lived together with Hakadosh Baruch Hu in the Beit Hamikdash like husband and wife, and the Keruvim demonstrated the love in that relationship. But when Bnei Yisrael did not behave like they were supposed to, the Keruvim turned away from one another. The Gemara (Yoma 54b) says, when Hakadosh Baruch Hu threw us out of the Beit Hamikdash, how did the Keruvim appear? They were locked in embrace! Should it not have been with a raised hand or a kick at the other? No! Because Hakadosh Baruch Hu, as He exiled us, said: “I am not separating from you emotionless! I am separating from you with tremendous love! I have to separate but it is out of love and not anger!” This was a place of love and embrace, a place of connection with Hakadosh Baruch Hu, but with a condition. The condition that we fear Him and that we guard and maintain the name ל-אֵ. A condition that we maintain the name אֲ רִ י אֵ ל in the Beit Hamikdash. This is the place where the connection of the lion’s den is found – the connection between Hakadosh Baruch Hu and Knesset Yisrael.
Chazal tell us that the Avodah in the Beit Hamikdash would lead to one obtaining or strengthening their יִרְ אַת שׁ ָ מַ יִם – Fear of Heaven. When the Beit Hamikdash is rebuilt, how we will resume our Avodah? בּ ְ י ִ רְ אָ ה ו ְ שׁ ָ ם נ ַ ע ֲ ב ָ דְ ך – we will do so with fear. Why? Because fear emanates from the Beit Hamikdash! Therefore, the Maharal says, the name אַ רְ י ֵ ה, which contains the name of Hashem in it, contains a shortened version of the name associated with Din: ה and ו-ה-י. This can be seen in many sources, including: מִלְחָמָה לַָ ה' בַּ עֲמָ לֵק ה -יָ כִּי־יָד עַל־כֵּס, as well as וְלַמָּ וֶת לֹא נְתָ נָנִי ה - ָיַסּ ֹר יִ סְּ רַ נִּ י י. As a result, the name אַ רְ י ֵ ה is a name of Din.
The Beit Hamikdash was not given the name אַ רְ י ֵ ה – it was given the name אֲ רִ י אֵ ל. What is the difference and what does this name אֲ רִ י אֵ ל signify? It is the addition of ל-א to the name ארי. This addition reflects a combination of both Din and Rachamim together. How so? On the one hand we are told וֹם ל כָּל הַ י-חֶ סֶ ד אֵ (Tehillim 52:3), and in parallel, we have the Pasuk ֵל זֹעֵם בְּכָל־יוֹם-וְ א (Tehillim 7:12). The former reflects חֶ סֶ ד and Rachamim, while the latter reflects זַעַם (fury) and Din. The name ל-אֵ can represent both Din and Rachamim. The Beit Hamikdash, אֲ רִ י אֵ ל, also has that dual characteristic. There is love and mercy found there, along with a cleansing of one’s soul and atonement. At the same time, however, there was a tremendous level of fear present too.
The Maharal says, as long as there was fear of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the name given to it was אֲ רִ י אֵ ל, and nobody could lift a hand against or do anything to the Beit Hamikdash. Nor could they raise a hand against or do anything to Am Yisrael. But as soon as that fear was removed, and they no longer feared Him, Hakadosh Baruch Hu removed His name – ל-אֵ – from the name of the Beit Hamikdash – אֲ רִ י אֵ ל, leaving it with only אֲ רִ י. With no name of Hakadosh Baruch Hu to protect it, an אַ רְ י ֵ ה – i.e., Bavel – could come along and overpower the Beit Hamikdash, because the lion that is Bavel does have the name of Hashem in it. Fear of Hakadosh Baruch Hu is what protects us, and when we fear Hakadosh Baruch Hu, we need not fear any nation or enemy.
As soon as the fear of Hakadosh Baruch Hu was gone and the ל-אֵ removed from the name of the Beit Hamikdash, how does Hakadosh Baruch Hu cry out three times each night? כָּאֲ רִ י ה ו ּ א ו ְ שׁ ו ֹ א ֵ ג ד ו ֹ שׁ ב ּ ָ ר ו ּ ך ו ְ ע ַ ל כ ּ ָ ל מִ שׁ ְ מ ָ ר ו ּ מִ שׁ ְ מ ָ ר י ו ֹ שׁ ֵ ב ה ַ ק – he does so כּ ָ אֲ רִ י – as a lion, without Shem Hashem. Why not like an אַ רְ י ֵ ה? Because אַ רְ י ֵ ה has within it in Shem Hashem and indicates the fear of Hakadosh Baruch Hu in place. Once again, the אַ רְ י ֵ ה of Bavel was now able to come and overpower the אֲ רִ י.
We can now understand the combination of Chodesh Av with the mazal of the lion, and the merging of two contradictory traits – Din and Rachamim. Hakadosh Baruch Hu says in Sefer Malachi: ֵה מוֹרָ אִ י וְ אִ ם־אֲ דוֹנִים אָ נִי אַ י וְ אִ ם־אָ ב אָ נִי אַ י – If then I am a father, where is my honor? and if I am a master, where is my fear? It was in the month of Av that we did not honor Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and therefore it was in the month of Av that He removed His Rachamim. If we do not fear Him, He takes from us the ל-אֵ, leaving us with just אֲ רִ י, vulnerable. The Beit Hamikdash was called the lion’s den, because it was there that the lion and lioness connected – Hakadosh Baruch Hu and Knesset Yisrael.
