Weekly Dvar Torah: The Cure Before The Illness
A Remarkable Message Hidden in the First Week of the Three Weeks
As we begin mourning the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, and our long and bitter exile, this week’s Parshah seems to take us in an entirely different direction.
Instead of speaking about exile, it speaks about Eretz Yisrael.
Instead of speaking about destruction, it speaks about inheritance.
Instead of speaking about what we lost, it speaks about preparing to enter the Land.
The contrast is striking.
This week we read about the division of Eretz Yisrael among the twelve tribes. Every tribe receives its portion through a lottery directed by Divine Providence. Rashi tells us that the lots themselves miraculously announced which portion belonged to each tribe.
We then meet five remarkable women—the daughters of Tzelafchad.
Their request was simple, yet extraordinary.
“Our father left no sons. Why should our family lose its share in Eretz Yisrael?”
They were not asking for wealth.
They were asking for a portion of the Holy Land.
Earlier in the wilderness, it was the men who accepted the discouraging report of the spies and recoiled from entering Eretz Yisrael. But these five women refused to surrender even the smallest connection to the Land that Hashem had promised His people.
Hashem’s response was as remarkable as their request.
“The daughters of Tzelafchad speak correctly.”
Their love for Eretz Yisrael became part of the Torah forever.
The Parshah continues with Hashem instructing Moshe to appoint Yehoshua, the leader who would bring the Jewish people into the Land. It concludes with the Korban Tamid and the additional offerings of Shabbos and Yom Tov—the very service that would one day be performed in the Beis Hamikdash.
Pause for a moment.
As we begin mourning the loss of Eretz Yisrael…
the Torah fills our minds with Eretz Yisrael.
As we begin mourning the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash…
the Torah teaches us about the Beis Hamikdash.
Why?
Reish Lakish gives us a profound insight.
Hashem never brings hardship upon the Jewish people unless He has already prepared the cure.
Usually, medicine comes after illness.
With Hashem, the medicine comes first.
Perhaps that is precisely what is happening here.
As the Three Weeks begin, the Torah itself begins administering the cure.
Before our thoughts can become consumed by destruction, the Torah reminds us what we are mourning.
It fills our hearts with love for Eretz Yisrael.
It reminds us of the beauty of the Beis Hamikdash.
It places before our eyes the daily korbanos, the festivals, the inheritance of every tribe, and the generation standing at the threshold of redemption.
The Torah is teaching us that the greatest antidote to exile is never to stop living with redemption.
This same pattern appears in the very first tragedy we commemorate on the Seventeenth of Tammuz.
Moshe shattered the first Luchos.
It was an overwhelming loss. Chazal tell us that had those Luchos remained intact, the Torah would never have been forgotten.
Yet from those shattered Luchos emerged one of Judaism’s greatest gifts.
Hashem gave us the second Luchos together with the rich world of Torah Sheba’al Peh—Halachah, Midrash, Aggadah, and the endless depth of Torah study that has sustained the Jewish people throughout every exile.
The Alter Rebbe expressed this in three unforgettable words:
ירידה צורך עליה
A descent exists for the sake of a greater ascent.
The loss remained a loss.
The pain remained real.
But hidden within the descent was the beginning of a greater revelation.
The Rebbe once illustrated this idea with a simple comment.
During a visit to Camp Gan Yisrael, he noticed a cluttered room with a sign reading “זכר לחורבן”—a reminder of the destruction.
The Rebbe commented, “Why ‘זכר לחורבן’? ‘זכר למקדש’!”
The Rebbe was certainly not suggesting that we forget the Churban.
Rather, even while remembering the destruction, our thoughts should remain focused on the Beis Hamikdash itself. Our yearning should always be directed toward what will be rebuilt.
Perhaps that is the message hidden in this week’s Parshah.
As the Three Weeks begin, the Torah refuses to let us think only about what was destroyed.
Instead, it fills our minds with Eretz Yisrael.
With the Beis Hamikdash.
With korbanos.
With Yehoshua leading the Jewish people home.
With five women whose love for the Holy Land never wavered.
Yes, these are days of mourning.
We mourn sincerely.
We mourn deeply.
But at the very same time, the Torah quietly places the medicine into our hands.
It reminds us what we are longing for.
It reminds us where we belong.
It reminds us that exile is only a chapter—not the story.
May Hashem transform our mourning into everlasting joy, as promised by the prophets. May we merit to see the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash, the restoration of the Divine service, and the return of all our people to Eretz Yisrael with the coming of Moshiach, speedily in our days.
Have a Shabbos of confidence – the greatest ascent follows the deepest descent,
Gut Shabbos
Rabbi Yosef Katzman
