Whenever פרשיות מטות-מסעי are read together, they are either read on the Shabbos before ראש חודש מנחם אב, or on ראש חודש מנחם אב itself. So there must be some connection between them.
QUESTION:
Where do we find a connection between פרשיות מטות-מסעי and the month מנחם אב?
ANSWER:
A Yid must be concerned with what concerns Hashem, even more than what concerns himself.
מנחם אב literally means “comforting the father”. In this month the בית המקדש was destroyed, and when we were sent into גלות, Hashem Himself went into גלות with us. So in addition to our own suffering, a Yid must be primarily concerned with comforting Hashem, as He is pained by the גלות. We must be מנחם אב, comforting our Father in heaven.
In פרשת מטות, Hashem told משה to wage war against the nation of מדין, as revenge for what they had done to בני ישראל. Yet, when משה prepared them for war, he told בני ישראל to take revenge for what the people of מדין had done against Hashem (פרק לא, פסוקים ב-ג). So here too we see that our main concern should be for the sake of Hashem.
In פרשת מסעי, Hashem warns בני ישראל before entering ארץ ישראל that they should not defile the land, because Hashem Himself dwells among us. רש"י explains that even if בני ישראל are impure, the שכינה, Hashem’s presence, is always with them even in their state of impurity! Here too, it is understood that redeeming the שכינה from such a situation is even more important than redeeming the people.
Further discussion:
What can we do to bring about comfort to Hashem? (See אות יג in the שיחה)
