Musar for Bava Kamma 120:17

There are yet three more signs of a rabid dog. His ears hang down, etc. That is, the rabid dog, aside from his bite being extremely dangerous, as mentioned by Chazal, has a great desire to bite anyone who comes before him. And so that people not hide from him because of the great danger owing to the evil spirit reposing upon him, as written there, he hides and conceals himself in every possible way, and suddenly he pounces upon the person and bites him. That is why he walks (and does not run) on the sides of the public thoroughfares and not on the thoroughfares themselves facing the people [(for that is where people walk, viz. Bava Kamma 60b: "A man should not walk along the sides of the roads, etc.")], so that people should think that he is going slowly on his way. And because of this, his ears also hang down. For it is well known that the Holy One Blessed be He has given a dog an acute sense of hearing to help him protect his master and himself from danger. And so, this dog, who wants to attack everyone, walks along the sides of the road with his ears dragging, so that he appears to everyone as going his own way and not wanting to hear anything on his sides. And that is why his tail also hangs down on his hindquarters, unlifted. All this to show everyone that he is quiet and secure and has no desire to rouse his senses to attack the people at his sides. And some say that he also barks without being heard. All because of the same reason, so that everyone think that he is the very best of dogs, and will not guard themselves from him at all. And all of these things he does through the agency of the evil spirit that rests upon him.

Although this parable describes the descendants of Esau as burning the Holy Temple, we must remember that no human being can burn G–d's building unless G–d wants it burned. To remind us of this, Jeremiah, in Lamentations 1,13, describes the Temple as being burned ממרום, "By Heavenly decree. This appears to make G–d guilty of the burning of the Holy Temple, in line with the example quoted in Baba Kama. Exodus 22,5 describes a situation where a fire is lit within one's private domain, the fire crosses that domains's boundary, ומצא קוצים, and "encounters stray thorns," as a result of which the neighbor's corn-stacks are burned. The Torah clearly holds the party that started the fire as liable for any damages arising from his action. Allegorically speaking, G–d assumes the blame for the destruction of the Temple, saying: "I have lit the fire." This is the meaning of Lamentions 4,11: ויצת אש בציון ותאכל יסודותיה, "G–d set fire to Zion and it consumed its foundations." G–d will also personally rebuild it, as we know from Zachariah 2,9: ואני אהיה לה נאום ה' חומת אש מסביב ולכבוד אהיה בתוכה "I, says the Lord, shall be a wall of fire surrounding it, and I shall be glory in her midst." When the Torah had said in Exodus 22,5 שלם ישלם המבעיר את הבערה, that the one who started the fire shalll surely pay for the damage, G–d says that it is He who has to pay for the damage caused by the fire.