Parshat D'varim is always read on the Shabbat prior to Tisha B'Av. This year, since Tisha B'Av falls on Shabbat, we read the Parsha on that very day. The reason seems obvious. In the Parsha Moshe exclaims, "EICHA (How) can I alone bear your burdens, complaints and your quarrels?" The Talmud compares Moshe's EICHA with Yirmiyahu's EICHA in Lamentations, which is read on Tisha B'Av. The connection between Parshat D'varim and Lamentations is the identical word EICHA.

The Vilna Gaon suggests a deeper connection between the two EICHAS. He focuses on the third word of the verse in D'varim 1:12 –"L'VADI" "alone". Here Moshe complains that it's lonely at the top. Another form of the word "ALONE" is also found in Lamentations, "Eicha Yashva BADAD Hair …" "How did the City of Jerusalem become so alone?" This, says the Vilna Gaon, is the true essence of the tragedy of Tisha B'Av and Moshe's complaint. Both of them brought about conditions of loneliness. Throughout the forty years that Moshe lovingly and unselfishly led Israel in the wilderness, his leadership was frequently challenged by opponents and once even by his own siblings. Moshe was the loneliest man in Israel.

Yirmiyahu in EICHA lamented a similar condition in Jerusalem in which many people were alone and lonely. The plight of the individual remained just that – the individual's concern. Nobody else seemed to care for the less fortunate. In our time also there are many individuals in our beloved Holy Land who are utterly alone – for example, senior citizens. Such people yearn for companionship and friendship. Much can be done to alleviate their loneliness, such as a quick home visit and an invitation for a Shabbat meal. The lonely senior citizens need someone with whom to share their joy and their pain.

Yirmiyahu laments how "the City is so lonely and alone". Let us make sure that no Jew will be left lonely and alone. In this merit, may G-d send the Moshiach who will rebuild the Beit Hamikdash, speedily in our days.