The Three Weeks
The Gemara relates: Eliezer HaKatan was wearing completely black shoes unlike other people who did not wear this color without white, because of their love for Yerushalayim. Rashi writes Eliezer intended to act with the custom of mourning. He stood in the marketplace of Nehardaah, there the Reish Galusa found him and questioned him, “why are you wearing such shoes?” He responded, “I am mourning over Yerushalayim.” The Reish Galusa said to him, “are you so honorable to mourn over Yerushalayim?” They thought that he was being haughty so they grabbed him and held onto him. He told them, “I am a great Torah Scholar.” They tested him and realized indeed, he is a great person, and so they released him. Rav Yonason Eibeshitz wonders: what was the reason that they grabbed him for mourning over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash; it is incumbent upon everyone to practice this? Also, what was Eliezer’s intention to mourn by specifically wearing black shoes and not with other garments?
Rav Yonason Eibeshitz writes that a person’s “desire” is associated with one’s heel. A shoe covers the heel and gives warmth; and when the heel is cold it annuls desire. On Yom Kippur we do not wear shoes and walk barefoot to expose the heel and be rid of any desire. For this reason, in the Mikdash, and so too, in other holy places one needed to walk around barefoot. By annulling desire, it makes the mind pure to achieve wisdom and receive special strength and high levels of ruchniyus from Hashem.
Yosef ben Gurion recited in a Kina over the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, “when they stepped on the floor of the Mikdash they would receive wisdom and become smarter, and ruach haKodesh would cling to them, for the ground was a holy place.” There people needed to walk around without shoes so as not to separate between the floor and themselves and receive great holy shefa through the floor.
Eliezer HaKatan was a pious man who abstained from luxuries. He specifically wore black shoes to mourn in order to annul his desire and to remind himself of the great loss. The Gemara writes: after the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed people started to refrain from eating meat and drinking wine since it was fitting for people to stop indulging in their desires. Important people used to be able to reach great heights in ruchniyus while walking barefoot, but no more; it has stopped. But a regular person did not achieve such heights. For this reason, Reish Galusa thought that Eliezer was arrogant and grabbed him, however in truth, he was indeed fitting to mourn for the great loss that he personally had. May Hashem rebuild the Beis HaMikdash and return the unbelievable great attributes which we attained!
