HaRav Chaim Kluft
"They did not ask, Where is Hashem (found)?" Things happen. Whatever happens, there is immediate commentary. They will explain to you what was just said and what should be done now. Which commissions should be set up and which are the various special interests. They stuff us all the time with commentary. Even before davening, in the mailbox is already "the latest" about what is happening all over the world. What is this rasha planning and what will be in thirty years.
After all this avreichim come with tough questions, after they have read all the ads.
Don't read the ads! Think about what you want from life. "They did not ask, Where is Hashem (found)?" Things happen to Klal Yisroel — yes. But where is HaKodosh Boruch Hu in the whole picture? Maybe there is something that He wants? Where is Hashem? Is it all politicians? Ask where Hashem is in all that is going on. He brought us out of Egypt and led us through the desert. HaKodosh Boruch Hu sustains us throughout the generations.
What does it say in the headlines? But what does HaKodosh Boruch Hu want in all this?
HaKodosh Boruch Hu says that when the kol Yaakov is heard in the botei knesses and botei medrash, we can prevail.
In Medrash Eichah it says, "When can the authorities make decrees and have them be effective? When the Torah is cast to the ground.
This is what HaKodosh Boruch Hu is telling us. One time there was an earthquake in Japan and the Chofetz Chaim started to weep. They asked him what he was crying about. The tragedy was in faraway Japan. He said: Imagine someone gets up in the middle of Warsaw and begins to speak. Who will come to listen? If he speaks in Polish the goyim will come. If he speaks in Yiddish the Jews will come. The Japanese do not understand the language of earthquakes, but HaKodosh Boruch Hu is speaking to us. The message is not politics. It is to search for Hashem. That is how to look at everything that happens.
What should be thing about during these days?
Naturally a person does not want to be sad and depressed. To be sad is generally a bad thing. But here we have a sadness that is spiritual growth and a generally positive thing. It is a sadness that brings us closer to Hashem. How is this?
The Rishonim write that there is and ordered sequence of haftorahs: 3 of troubles, 7 of nechomoh and 2 of teshuvoh. This is sequence of haftorahs that begins now and ends at Yom Kippur. On the upcoming Shabbos, even though it is Rosh Chodesh, we read the haftorah of Mattos-Massei that is in this sequence and not the usual haftorah read on Rosh Chodesh.
We thereby restore the walls of Jerusalem with our desire for Hashem, with our understanding of the true meaning of Golus. Whoever does not understand what is missing, cannot truly wish for what should be. The Beis Hamikdash is called a Tiras Kesef in the sense that all pine for it (nichsafim eilov).
The Tur writes that up to 17 Tammuz that haftorah follows the content of the parsha, but after that it goes according to the time of the year and the events that happened. This means that we have a duty to contemplate. We should not feel the depression of the days, but the spiritual uplifting. The point of these haftorahs is to bring is to think about the prophecies of the prophets about all this. The Maharsha says that the 21 days of the Three Weeks parallel the 21 days from Rosh Hashanah until Hoshanna Rabba. This shows us the spiritual potential of these days.
