“These are the words that Moshe spoke to the people of Israel.” (Devarim 1:1)

These were words of rebuke listing all the places where they angered Hashem. Therefore to preserve their dignity he only alluded [to their sins] indirectly. (Rashi)

Just a few days before his death Moshe Rabbeinu rebuked the Jews for their well-known transgressions including the Cheit HaMeraglim the sin of the spies which prevented the entire generation from entering Eretz Yisrael and the Cheit HaEigel the sin of the Golden Calf which wasn’t fully forgiven and still hovered over them. Regarding this sin the pasuk says “On the day of My remembering I will remember ” meaning that every future punishment includes an element of Cheit HaEigel.

Although these sins were known to all and it was a mitzvah for him to rebuke them Moshe refrained from enumerating their misdeeds specifically so as not to embarrass them. This teaches us the importance of kavod habriyos — safeguarding other people’s dignity. (Lekach Tov) 

A shadow of grief envelopes the world these days. The pain of the Churban burns within us. Suddenly we realize that despite our cheerful everyday existence replete with kids on vacation simchahs and summer plans the truth is that we’re living in a pleasantly decorated room full of flowers within a huge dungeon. Maybe when Mashiach arrives we’ll grasp the depth of our confinement and distance from the Shechinah the darkness and emptiness of the room and the joy that awaited us outside although we never knew it.

These are days to shed some outer trappings of our daily lives and let the sensation of galus seep into our hearts. Now when musical notes are silenced and the washing machine is quiet when trips are abandoned and our children bring home Beis HaMikdash art projects from day camp we begin to realize there’s life beyond our comfortable room. We sense a deep sincere yearning to bring Mashiach.

But how do we actualize that yearning?

The destruction ofJerusalembegan with a man (Bar Kamtza) mistakenly invited to a banquet and banished in disgrace despite his pleas. In an act of revenge he went to the Roman ruler to inform on his Jewish brethren. He is considered responsible for the Churban.

True Bar Kamtza was shamed unfairly. The other guests should have protested. But how could this one incident cause the destruction of the House of G-d and thousands of years of exile?

This teaches us the significance of respecting every person from the greatest of the great to the lowest of the low. Torah laws are compromised when kavod habriyos is at stake.

Why is respect of others so crucial?

As human beings constrained by physicality we are small and narrow-minded challenged by everyday trials. But we have a neshamah! Can we truly appreciate the value of a soul hewn from under the Kisei HaKavod Hashem’s throne? It’s not an exaggeration or a metaphor; a piece of Hashem dwells within each mortal body.

There is tremendous spiritual power hidden within every person. However so often we are so attuned to our bodies we tend to forget that special part.

Someone who degrades his friend is humiliating his friend’s neshamah. He does not respect admire or recognize his inner essence. Any host conscious of Bar Kamtza’s eternal neshamah would never have degraded him publicly. If the generation of the Churban had realized the greatness of every man baseless hatred would not have spread and the destruction could have been prevented.

Now I better understand the Gemara that says it is better to fall into a fiery furnace than to humiliate others. I realize that I a busy housewife who has no time for Tikun Chatzos holds the key to the imminent Geulah — by appreciating the true essence of others no matter who they are and maintaining their dignity and respecting them.

This is the key of ahavas chinam. The key that will ultimately bring Mashiach.