The Rambam (Hilchos Taanis 1:2-3) writes, "This is how teshuvah is performed. When there is a tzarah, and people shout and pray, they must know that the tzarah came because of their bad deeds, as it states (Yirmiyahu 5:25) הטו עונותיכם, 'Your sins have caused this...'
"When they know this, the tzarah will leave them. However, if they won't shout out to Hashem, rather they will say that this tzarah is a natural occurrence, it is אכזריות, cruel, to think so. If this is their attitude, they won't change their ways, and then even more tzaros will come. About this, the Torah (Vayikra 26:27) states, בקרי עמי והלכתם, if you think it is all natural and by chance, (Vayikra 26:28) קרי בחמת עמכם אני גם והלכתי, Hashem will behave toward you with fury of chance..."
Therefore, at this challenging time, let us review our deeds and return to Hashem. Let us realize that what is happening in Eretz Yisrael today didn't happen by chance. Our sins are what caused it, and we must repent.
With this attitude, Hashem will remove His wrath from His nation. This is the only place that the Rambam uses the word אכזריות, cruelty. Why is one cruel if he doesn't do teshuvah? One answer is that by refraining from doing teshuvah, more tzaros come, as the Rambam writes. Furthermore, to think that Hashem shook up the entire world and took the lives of so many people for no reason at all is a cruel thought. How can one think that Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the Av HaRachaman, would cause this devastation to occur for no reason at all?
Dovid HaMelech urges us (Tehillim 32:9) אל הבין אין כפרד כסוס תהיו, "Be not like a horse, like a mule, uncomprehending." The Baal HaTanya explains that when one hits a horse, the horse runs forward, and he doesn't look back to see who is hitting it. Dovid HaMelech tells us, "Don't be like the non-understanding horse. When you are hit, look back, understand who is hitting (and it is ultimately our Father in heaven Who loves us), and understand that Hashem wants something from us. He wants us to improve our ways.
It states (Amos 5:1-2) אנכי אשר הזה הדבר את שמעו בתולת קום תוסיף לא נפלה ,ישראל בית קינה עליכם נושא ישראל, "Hear this pronouncement that I recite over you in lamentations, O house of Yisrael. She has fallen and will no longer rise – virgin of Yisrael." The Malbim explains that when a person falls and can get up again, people allow him to stand up on his own. But if a person falls and can't get up alone, friends and family will immediately come and extend a hand and help him stand up. Klal Yisrael fell and can't get up by themselves. So why don't the malachim come to help us get up? The answer is (Amos 5:4) דרשוני ישראל לבית 'ה אמר כה כי וחיו, "For thus said Hashem to the house of Yisrael: Seek Me and live." The Targum translates it, "Seek fear of Me, and you will live." This is what is incumbent on us now, to search for ways to improve our ways.
