Adapted from: The Darkness and the Dawn by Rabbi Daniel Glatstein

On Tishah B’Av, all our hearts are in pain. Rav Moshe Wolfson writes that even ordinary people who may not fully grasp the gravity of having lost the Beis HaMikdash are able to weep genuine tears on Tishah B’Av. From where does this originate? How can every single Jew feel the pain of the Churban so acutely on this specific day?

An incredible phenomenon is articulated by the Haflaah, the rebbi of the Chasam Sofer: The neshamah of every single Jew is connected and in sync with how the Ribbono Shel Olam is feeling toward us.

David HaMelech writes, צָמְאָה נַפְשִׁי לֵאלֹקִים לְקֵל חָי, My heart thirsts for Hashem, for the Living God (Tehillim 42:3). What does David mean by the phrase, “the Living G-d”?

The Haflaah explains: When David HaMelech refers to Hashem as the living G-d, he is referring to the fact that Hashem actively has, at it were, feelings of deep longing and love toward us. The natural human emotion is to then respond in kind, to reciprocate these emotions. The way you feel toward others is a direct reflection of how they feel toward you. As the pasuk states, כַּמַּיִם הַפָּנִים לַפָּנִים כֵּן לֵב הָאָדָם לָאָדָם, As water reflects a face back to a face, so one’s heart is reflected back to him by another (Mishlei 27:19).

Hashem is a living G-d, actively loving and yearning toward each and every one of us. We then mirror these emotions, and our souls thirst for Hashem, for a relationship with Him.

We learn a very important principle: The neshamah of a Jew is in tune with the Ribbono Shel Olam.

The Midrash on Eichah tells us that when a human king is in mourning, he sits and cries. So too, says Hashem, do I cry in mourning over the loss of the Beis HaMikdash. As the pasuk in Yeshayah (22:12) states, וַיִּקְרָא ה’ אֱלֹקִים צְבָקוֹת בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא לִבְכִי וּלְמִסְפֵּד וּלְקָרְחָה וְלַחֲגֹר שָׂק, My Lord Hashem/Elokim, Master of Legions, declared that day to be for crying and lamenting, for baldness and for the donning of sackcloth. Hashem designated that day as a day of crying and tears.

Were we to ascend to Shamayim and witness how Hashem is spending His time on Tishah B’Av, so to speak, we would find Hashem and His entire entourage weeping bitter tears, mourning over the Beis HaMikdash and Klal Yisrael going into exile. But we don’t have to see it to know that this is what is happening.

Our neshamos feel it; we sense the mourning taking place On High, and we respond in kind; we join Hashem in weeping and mourning. We cry, says Rav Wolfson, because our neshamos perceive the crying of Hashem and His court. Hashem is crying for us, and we reciprocate by shedding genuine tears, pining and yearning for Him.

The Midrash later describes how Hashem mirrors the mourning of a human king. A melech basar vadam, king of flesh and blood, would sit on the floor in silent reflection. Similarly, Hashem sits on the floor in mournful silence, grieving for Klal Yisrael.

We join Hashem on the floor, mourning along with Him. ‘שִׁפְכִי כַמַּיִם לִבֵּךְ נֹכַח פְּנֵי ה, Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord (Eichah 2:19); we pour out our hearts directly opposite Hashem. We don’t have to send our tefillos, our cries, our tears, all the way up to Shamayim. Hashem is right there on the floor with us.

Even the simplest of Jews is able to cry on Tishah B’Av because he senses Hashem crying, and he cries along with Him.

עַל נַהֲרוֹת בָּבֶל שָׁם יָשַׁבְנוּ גַּם בָּכִינוּ בְּזָכְרֵנוּ אֶת צִיּוֹן, By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and also wept when we remembered Tzion (Tehillim 137:1). What does the pasuk mean by saying, גַּם בָּכִינוּ, we also wept? Who besides us was weeping? Rav Wolfson explains that in addition to our crying, Hashem, too, is also weeping. The “also” refers to the Ribbono Shel Olam crying along with us.

A Nechamah for Klal Yisrael

The fact that the Ribbono Shel Olam is still crying for us after more than two thousand years have passed provides us with some degree of nechamah. He has not forgotten about us. If we are able to shed bitter tears over the Churban, it is only because Hashem still cries desperately for us, longing for us to return to Yerushalayim. His love and yearning for us have not waned even an iota over the millennia.

A further source of consolation rests in the fact that our souls are attuned to Hashem’s crying. However sullied, dirtied, and covered over our neshamos may be, whatever sins we may have committed, and whatever distance has been created between us and Hashem because of our aveiros, we still remain connected to Hashem. Our neshamos are far from perfect, yet we remain tethered to Hashem, and His emotions are reflected by us. We remain forever connected to Avinu she’baShamayim, our Father in Heaven.

We continue to feel toward Hashem what He feels toward us. This bond has not broken or diminished at all. This, too, is a nechamah to us, as we cry and mourn for the Beis HaMikdash.

May we be zocheh to feel the full outpouring of love, the ahavah rabbah and the ahavas olam that the Ribbono Shel Olam has for us, and may it be manifest with the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash, may it happen imminently.