On Tisha B’Av, praying for better future

When the Levush records the halakha from Shulchan Arukh 428 about when certain Torah portions are read during the year, he explains the rule that Tisha B’Av precedes parsha Va’Etchanan: “So that Devarim, which begins the rebukes of Moshe, will be read before Tisha B’Av.”

This would have been easier for us to understand had the Shulchan Arukh done two things differently:

1. Explain that Devarim precedes Tisha B’Av (as was done for Bamidbar and Nitzavim, which precede Shavuot and Rosh Hashana respectively), rather than say that Tisha B’Av preceded Va’Etchanan.

2. Provide an explanation, such as a thematic connection.

For Bamidbar and Nitzavim, the purpose of their standing as a buffer between the rebuke of the previous parshas, Bechukotai and Ki Tavo respectively, and the coming holiday, is made clear. So if Devarim contains a rebuke, shouldn’t it also have a buffer between it and Tisha B’Av? We even read from parsha Va’Etchanan ON Tisha B’Av! Wouldn’t it make sense to have Va’Etchanan be a reading of the past once Tisha B’Av is over, if the rebuke of Va’Etchanan is powerful enough to be the Tisha B’Av Torah reading?

We can argue that no buffer will help Tisha B’Av. It is a miserable day. It may as well be attached to rebuke. But why not just say that Devarim precedes Tisha B’Av, since it does, even more consistently than Bamidbar precedes Shavuot?

Devarim contains within it Moshe’s reference to the sin of the spies. The Talmud (Taanit 29a) tells us that the date when the spies returned with their report was the Ninth of Av. The negativity of that episode, and the devastation it wrought upon the nation, was so horrific, bringing it up in any context seems to be an example of pouring salt in very sore wounds.