Avraham Avinu Pleads for His Children at the Churban
When the Beis HaMikdash is destroyed, Avraham Avinu argues with Hashem for his exiled children and is told Klal Yisrael is like an olive tree that will yet bear fruit.
Rebbe Yitzchak teaches that at the time when the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed, Hashem found Avraham Avinu standing in the Beis HaMikdash. Hashem asked, “What is My beloved doing in My Temple?” Avraham replied, “I have come on account of my children.” Hashem responded, “Your children have sinned and have been exiled.”
Avraham immediately began to defend Klal Yisrael. “Perhaps they sinned accidentally?” he suggested. Hashem replied that their sins were deliberate. “Perhaps only a minority sinned?” Avraham persisted. Hashem answered that the majority had sinned. Avraham continued, arguing that even if they had transgressed, the merit of the mitzvah of circumcision should protect them from exile. Hashem responded that they had abandoned that mitzvah as well.
Still unwilling to give up, Avraham pleaded, “If You would only wait for them, perhaps they would repent.” Hashem replied that even when given opportunities for repentance, they instead used those opportunities to sin further.
At that point, Avraham placed his hands upon his head and cried out, “Heaven forbid! Is there no possibility of repentance for them?” Hashem answered with a metaphor: “Klal Yisrael is like a leafy olive tree. Just as an olive tree takes a long time to bear fruit after it is planted, so, too, Klal Yisrael will repent. It may take time, but they will ultimately return.”