The holier a specific time is, the more desperately the opposing forces will seek to attack it
INthe year 1267, Rav Moshe ben Nachman, known to posterity as the Ramban, arrived upon the shores of Eretz Yisrael. The land was largely uninhabited and much of it was left in ruin. But in a letter addressed to his son (found in Kisvei HaRamban, Iggeres 7), the Ramban provides an insight into what lies within this desolation.
“Kol hakadosh meichaveiro charav yoser meichaveiro,” writes the Ramban — anything holier than its “friend” is more desolate than its “friend.” The Ramban goes on to relate how this was clearly manifest. Yerushalayim, the holiest city of all, was the most desolate. The region of Yehudah was less so, but more than the Galil. Each locale had undergone a level of destruction that correlated with its sanctity.
The explanation for this, on a basic level, is that the holier something is, the more aggressively the forces of evil will pursue it. The desolation of a holy place is to be seen as powers of impurity imposing themselves against the powers of kedushah.
What holds true for space also holds true for time. The holier a specific time is, the more desperately the opposing forces will seek to attack it.
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