Was the act of the Churban Beit Hamikdash (the Destruction of the Temple) a totally negative event or really a hidden positive one? Tehillim Chapter 79 holds the answer. This Tehillim deals with the gruesome details of the Temple's Destruction, and yet it begins with the words, "A song to Asaf". The Talmud in Kiddushin 31b asks that it would have been more appropriate to start with the words, "A lament to Asaf". Why should the Psalm dealing with the terrible and catastrophic events of the Churban start with the word, "Mizmor", which means a song

The answer is that at the time of the Temple's Destruction the Jewish Nation had sunk to such a low spiritual level that it was in danger of total extinction! How did we survive? Instead of pouring His wrath upon us, G-d expended it by destroying the wood and stone of His very own Temple! G-d make Himself homeless in order to guarantee our eternal survival. So what appears as destruction is in fact a hidden act of compassion, designed to insure the survival and the eventual full recovery of G-d's Holy Nation.

The letters of the Hebrew word "Nega", which means plague, when rearranged spell "Oneg", "a positive delight"! Thus, it was indeed appropriate to describe the Tehillim of the Temple's Destruction as a song, because the Churban contained the seeds of our spiritual Re-Jew-venation. This idea explains a puzzling verse in Devarim 1:11. Moshe Rabbenu blesses the Jewish Nation that it should be blessed by G-d , "… and add to you a thousand times more than you are, and bless you as He has spoken to you."

Yet, in the very next verse Moshe asks, "How (Eicha) could I alone carry your troubles and your burdens and your quarrels?" Rashi explains that Moshe was leveling extremely harsh criticism at his fellow Jews. He accused them of being very troublesome in court cases, of being heretics who sought to find fault with him as their leader, and of being extremely quarrelsome.   If Moshe saw the Jews as being so full of serious faults and character defects, then why did he bless them to be so numerous?

The task of a leader is difficult under all normal circumstances, yet if the nation is quarrelsome, and even heretical, it can seem like a prescription for disaster. However, Moshe saw the situation from the proper perspective and understood that learning to manage such a difficult situation could perfect his own character traits of patience and forbearance. In fact, Rashi on the verse in Parshas Behaalotcha, "And the man Moshe was "Anav" (humble)", Rashi says "Anav"means "Savlan" "immensely patient". Therefore, Moshe saw these very character defects and faults of the Jews as a challenge and opportunity for potential blessings!