Parshas Devorim - Exasperation

While Moshe recounts the highs and lows of his journey with the Jewish people through the desert over the previous 40 years, he looks back at the episode – in the first year of their travels – when he appointed judges over groups of one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten so as to share the burdens of leadership. Moshe recalls the feelings he had that led him to this decision: Eicha EhSaw LehVahDi TorHaChem, OoMaSahAhChem, VehReevChem/How alone can I bear your troublesomeness, your burdensomeness, and your contentiousness? (Deuteronomy 1:12)

Traditionally this parsha is read on the Shabbos right before the mournful fast day of Tisha B’av. Torah commentators have noticed that the uncommon word Moshe used at the start of his recollection – Eicha/How can I – is echoed in the first words of the Book of Lamentations (Megillas Eicha) that we read on Tisha B’av night. In the opening verse of the Book of Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah asks rhetorically about the city of Jerusalem at the time of the destruction of the first Bais HaMikdash (Holy Temple): “Eicha YashVa BehDod HaEer RahBahTea Am/How is it that the city sits alone, which was (previously) full of people?

Rashi, commenting on Deuteronomy 1:12, states that what led Moshe to exclaim “Eicha!” and then to appoint judges was his exasperation with the Jewish people’s argumentativeness, their tendency to gossip (loshon hara), and their pessimistic outlook. When we consider Jeremiah’s question of Eicha, we need not search far for an answer. The caustic personality traits that sapped our greatest leader, Moshe, appear to have persisted and led centuries later to one of our greatest national tragedies. If we each examine our own character this Tisha B’av, will we find remnants of these divisive traits? By wrestling with this question and resolving to do better in the weeks to come, we have the chance to improve ourselves and to contribute to a larger effort to reverse the dynamics that have contributed to centuries of Jewish suffering.