Sometimes insights come to you when you least expect them.
We have a ritual that before bed my mother "tucks me in." Last night it got to more than just a tuck in- it began with: "You know, its kind of disturbing reading the news nowadays."
"Why?" ( I obviously KNOW why, I'm just inquiring her point of view on the matter...It was a turn slightly unexpected...)
"Well, its frustrating to see that even though in every day life the "Palestinians" of Gaza hate the hit men of Hezbollah, and if they would under any other circumstance, meet in the street, they'd at least spit some nasty words at each other, and at most get into a blood feud, or whatever it is that Arabs do to pre-occupy their time. But when it comes to the Jews, when it comes to the idea of obliterating the nation that so called" occupies" THEIR land- they unite.
And it's not a mere unity, a collective " I agree," it's a " lets donate the children of Gaza to help Hezbollah blow up something to hurt the Jews." It's a unity that crosses all Arab family blood feuds, its a unity that binds them. "
In the month of Av, Jews commemorate the devastating destruction of the worlds holiest piece of architecture- the Beit HaMikdash. It is widely known that one of the reasons why the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed was because of Sinat Chinam- or baseless hatred. The infamous story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza is just a beginning look at a period where each Jew's heart was turned against their brother's. When a person looks out for themselves, numero uno , and is oblivious not only to the needs of others, but to their desires and feelings, the world gets very warped.
THE ONLY WAY WE WE CAN GET BACK TO OUR APPROPRIATE LEVEL OF SPIRITUALITY, THE ONLY WAY G-D WILL RESIDE AMONGST US AGAIN IS IF WE OBLITERATE SINAT CHINAM.
Hashem resides in Israel when Israel can be a home to all Jews- together. HaRav Kook speaks about this topic. He says that when a person wishes to repent, they not only must avoid doing the sin at all costs, but they must go beyond that and use what they defiled and make it holy. Iimagine drowning: if you are at the BOTTOM of a pool- you do not want the lifeguard to just leave you at the surface of the pool where you could drown again- you want him to get you OUT of the pool! Same thing with repentance, or Teshuvah: when one wishes to repent they need to go beyond just "not doing it again," they need to do the polar opposite in order to regain a healthy balance.
In OUR case, we need to not only obliterate Sinat Chinam- we need to incorporate Ahavat Chinam into every second of our lives.
I bet you heard of " my enemy's enemy is my friend." That is one very universal way to create and maintain a friendship- as we see with the Arabs. But a friendship based on something other than genuine love will fall apart sooner than later.
The real way to sustain a human relationship, whether its a male-female, friendship, mother-daughter, anything relationship, is through Ahavat Chinam: through loving a person just because they're a person, a Jew, a brother. My mother, my pearl of wisdom, always says, " It's easy to find faults in a person- because we all have them. It shows TRUE personal strength and greatness when you can find good in a person."
Ahavat Chinam is the way to bring us back to G-d. Like a father, He detests when His children hate one another. He cannot pay complete attention to them because their arguments are so diverting. Ahavat Chinam is like the glue that holds a broken cup together. You cant expect to drink from a cup that has broken if you only reassemble the pieces to how they used to look- you have to glue them back together in order to actually use it. Only then can we drink from the cup- only then can it be filled.
There is a Jewish saying that says " Ein cli l'bracha elah shalom," which translated means
"there is no vessel for blessing except peace." How can you appreciate all the blessings you have if there is turmoil that disrupts your perception of it? How can you appreciate life if there is war and baseless hatred? It hurts to be hated, but it is even more detremental to hate. To be hated is to be in a state where you see the enemy outside of you, to change yourself as best as you can, and the rest is up to the other. But to hate is to fight the enemy inside you. Your Yetzer hara- or evil inclination ( you know in cartoons it's that little devil sitting on your shoulder) convinces you to close yourself off into oneness. He convinces you that they are eternally wrong, and you are never at fault. He convinces you to push blame on them and deem yourself innocent. He convinces you to hate, and that is the enemy inside: that is the biggest detriment because it keeps you from developing and growing into a loving and open person.
When the Arabs are under pressure and in the face of an enemy- they unite. When we, Hashem's beloved children are under the load of the enemy- we attack each other. We have our Jewish brothers in the army and government evicting our Jewish brothers in Gush Katif. We have left-wing Jews despising Right-wingers. We eat ourselves up- which only makes us weaker. Iit's like cancer in a body that convinces its own cells to devour each other until the point where the body is no longer functional! So, although it is disgusting to have to learn this from the very people who are out to obliterate us, nothing happens stam( for no reason). We need to learn from the Arabs the importance of uniting- the importance of being one, the importance of facing troubles together- that we can learn from our precarious situation. But to make ourselves truly strong, to have Hashem guide us once again, to defeat the Arabs, and all our mortal and spiritual enemies, we can't just unite in the face of danger- we must unite in the face of peace too. We MUST employ Ahavat Chinam, and only this way can we rid ourselves of our enemies once and for all.
With Hashem's help we should soon build the Beit HaMikdash together in unity- B'ezrat Hashem!
peace!
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