This past Thursday marked Tisha b’Av, the day where we mourn the destruction of both the first and second temples. The Talmud in Yoma tells us that while the First Temple was destroyed due to Israel’s violation of three cardinal sins – idol worship, licentiousness, and murder – the Second Temple was destroyed because of baseless hatred – sinat chinam – among Jews. The lesson here is that gratuitous hatred is equal to the three cardinal sins combined.
It’s a frightening lesson. Especially considering the deep fissures in Jewish society today. While Judaism respects difference of opinion – the Midrash says that there are seventy faces to the Torah – where does difference of opinion end and vitriol begin? Look at what’s happening in Israel. As the IJN reported last week and Rocky Mountain Jew commented in its last posting, it’s Jew versus Jew on the streets of Israel. The fundamental principle of loving one’s fellow man seems to have disappeared entirely.
The Torah’s mitzvot are generally classified into two categories – those laws which pertain to man’s relationship with God and those to man’s relationship with his fellow man. Many argue that the latter has fallen to the wayside. In her weekly View from Central Park, IJN columnist Tehilla Goldberg explores this vitally important topic, reflecting on the recent upheavel in the Syrian Jewish community.
Tisha b’Av is a day to mourn the destruction of the past. But it can be much more. It can be the day where we as a society and community use the lessons of the past to examine ourselves in the present and try – naive as it may sound – to the right the wrongs taking place around us, today.
Read related posting, “Painful follow up“
