One of the things over which we mourn on Tisha B'Av, says HaRav Chaim Kluft, is the decree that our ancestors of the desert could not enter Eretz Yisroel. Had the nation, upon leaving Egypt, entered the Land immediately after their deliverance, the Beis Hamikdash would have been built by Moshe Rabbenu and would never have been destroyed. The Ultimate Redemption would have been ushered in like the reality of Adam before the Sin. All of Creation would have reached its true purpose.
But Jewry wept in vain, a weeping of ingratitude, rejecting the desirable Land. The Nesivos, in his commentary on Eichah, explains that they precluded the desirability of the Land; they wanted a land of natural law, not a holy land. They felt unworthy of a reality at a level beyond that of nature and therefore despised this favorable land.
Therefore, "He raised His Hand upon them, to disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries [of the world]."
How are we expected to repair this in our exile?
There is avodas Hashem through spiritual enlightenment of Hashem, and alternately, avodas Hashem through veiled or hidden Providence. "But when they were exiled to Bovel, the Shechina accompanied them."
In spite of the hardships of exile, we cleave unto Hashem and do not leave Him. Be it an exile of suffering or an exile of respite, be it an exile of propaganda as we are experiencing now, we are threatened by 'marketing' luring us to the follies of this mundane world, attempting to make us forget the Beis Hamikdash, and enticing us to live a meaningless life of hedonism. Even in such an exile, we do not abandon our faith in Hashem.
The lesson and repair in all of the exiles is our demonstrating our yearning for Hashem. This is not a meaningless weeping, it is a contemplation of the meaning of the absence of His glory, the absence of the full Presence of the Shechina.
"Our heritage has been transferred to strangers." Eretz Yisroel has become profane, secular, strange and abnormal, not a land of holiness and purity, not a land where Hashem is worshiped, but one only of strangeness. As the Targum comments, 'zar' - chiloni - secular.
Eretz Yisroel has been transformed into a profane entity. "Our homes - to foreigners." Our homes are no longer places of sanctity but houses of heathens whose inhabitants seek the ways of gentiles and emulate their tastes - not homes of purity wherein the Shechina can reside.
What is required of us in these days?
The gemara asks:"Why was the Second Beis Mikdash, during which time people were very immersed in Torah, destroyed? Because of baseless hatred, sinas chinom." This goes to teach us that the sin of baseless hatred is tantamount to all of the three Cardinal sins.
There is another version of Chazal: "During the period of the Bayis Sheini, when people toiled in Torah and were vigilant in the performance of mitzvos in general and of ma'asros in particular — why was it destroyed? Because they had a love for money and practiced baseless hatred."
Nachalas Dovid explains that the Anshei Knesses Hagedolah prayed that Hashem abolish the evil desire for idolatry; their prayer was answered but only in the practical sense, while the root underlying it remained.
And what is this? The discord and dissension remained, which is even worse that avoda zara.
Let us analyze this. Unity is expressed through "And all shall unite in one association to do Your will with whole heart." How is this exemplified? That there exists a genuine will, he explains, to please Hashem. The Biryonim seized power over the Beis Hamikdash, inciting a civil war of Jew against Jew.
What was the issue? Each segment claimed that it was best suited to guard the Beis Hamikdash and therefore, it was necessary to oust the others. This is baseless hatred. If everyone seeks to guard the Beis Hamikdash, then there is a unified purpose and there is no reason to fight against one another. Why, then, was there so much friction? Because their objective was not truly the Beis Hamikdash but their own ego.
