ASK THE RABBI

What is Taking so Long?

by Rabbi Dan Rodkin

QIt’s been 2,000 years already! Why is it taking so long? What caused the destruction of the Temple and the exile of Israel, and what can we do to correct it?

The Talmud (Yuma 9b), explains why the Babylonian exile which followed the destruction of the first Temple lasted only a predetermined seventy years, while we are languishing in this current exile for so much longer, and no end-date has been given. “The first ones whose sins were known, the end [of their exile] was made known. The latter ones whose sins were not known, their end is [also] unknown.”

This statement apparently contradicts another statement cited on the very same folio of the Talmud: “Why was the first Temple destroyed? Because of three sins of which the Jews were guilty—idolatry, promiscuity and murder. The second Temple – when the Jews were involved in Torah, mitzvahs and acts of kindness – why was it destroyed? Because the Jews were guilty of harboring baseless hatred towards each other!”

Wanton hatred is very noticeable. How can the Talmud say regarding a society where such behavior was rampant: “their sins were not known”?

The Rebbe explains that this is the unique character of hatred and fighting— it is the unknown sin. On average, an idolater, adulterer, or murderer is keenly aware of his sin. “The flesh is weak” and people fall victim to temptation, but repentance is eminently achievable, because the person himself is troubled by the sins which sully his soul.

Conversely, the person who is guilty of participating in quarrels and hatemongering has no idea that he is at fault— in his estimation, the other party rightly deserves all the abuse being heaped on him! Indeed, baseless hatred is perhaps the most overt sin, yet so few recognize their guilt.

Why does the Talmud insist that the hate was "baseless"? Were there not reasons, both ideological and pragmatic, for the divisions amongst the Jews? But no reason, explains the Rebbe, is reason enough for hate. The commonality of our fate runs so much deeper than any possible cause for animosity. All hate, then, is baseless hatred.

Raw, fanatical, baseless, relentless hatred can be matched and combated only with pure, undiscriminating, uninhibited, unyielding, baseless, unsolicited love and acts of kindness. Not just plain love –love that costs us. Love for which we get nothing back. Love that is irrational. We need to be willing to lose sleep, to suffer losses, to be uncomfortable, to sacrifice our pleasures, in order to help another human being—with at least the precision, determination and passion that evildoers employ to fulfill their mission of hate.

Every one of us can make a difference, as Maimonides teaches, each person should see himself as though the entire world is on a delicate balance, and with one deed, he or she can tip the scales. Every good act, every expression of kindness and love, tips the scale.

So if "baseless hatred" was the cause of the destruction, its remedy is "baseless love”—our rediscovery of the intrinsic unity which overrides all reasons for discord and strife.

Perhaps even more frightening is the way history is repeating itself. The Talmud describes how, instead of uniting against the common enemy, Jewish factions battled each other in besieged Jerusalem. "Because of baseless hatred between Jews," concludes the Talmud, "was Jerusalem destroyed."

This is true both in our interpersonal relations as well as our nation’s regrettable tendency to be heavily preoccupied with inter-faction squabbles. Moshiach will come when we finally recognize that differences of opinion — even if validated without a doubt by objective fact— is never a valid reason to hate. EM

Rabbi Dan Rodkin is the Executive Director of the Greater Boston Jewish Russian Center. You can Ask the Rabbi at rabbi@shaloh.org.