06 Aug DEVARIM: SINAS CHINAM

The two Batei
Mikdash were
destroyed because of
aveiros, but the aveiros
of these two eras
weren’t the same. The
primary aveiros of the
first Beis HaMikdash
were avodah zarah, giluy
arayos, and shefichus
damim. The second Beis
HaMikdash was
destroyed because of
sinas chinam.
There were other
differences between the
aveiros of these two eras.
The Gemara (Yoma 9) states that one of the
differences is that “the first Beis HaMikdash,
their aveiros were revealed, and therefore, the
date when the galus would end was revealed to
them. In the second Beis HaMikdash, their
sins weren’t revealed, and therefore, the end of
the galus was not revealed.”
Rashi explains that by the first Beis
HaMikdash, people were transparent; they
didn’t conceal their true selves. Everyone
knew who was a tzaddik and who was a rasha.
They were revealed, therefore, it was revealed
to them that after seventy years, they would
return to Eretz Yisrael (see Yirmiyahu 29:10).
But by the second Beis HaMikdash, not
everyone was transparent. There were

resha’im who pretended to be tzaddikim. No
one knew who was a true tzaddik and who
wasn’t. They were concealed. Therefore, the
end of the galus was hidden from them. They
weren’t told when Moshiach would come.
Rebbe Yohonoson Eibshitz zy’a (Yaaras
Dvash 7) explains the Gemara in another way.
He explains that “during the first Beis
HaMikdash, their sins were revealed,” means
the navi told them the reason for the exile. The
pesukim in navi reveal that they were being
punished for avodah zarah, giluy arayos, and
shefichus damim. They knew what their sins
were, so they knew how to improve. Therefore,
it didn’t take them long to improve their ways.
Seventy years later, they returned to Eretz
Yisrael.
But their sins weren’t revealed during the
second Beis HaMikdash. There were no
nevi’im in that era to tell them the cause of
their punishment. Although the chachamim
told them that the destruction was caused by
sinas chinam, it was hard for people to accept
that because sinas chinam doesn’t appear to be
a severe aveirah. They didn’t know the reason
for their punishment, so it was harder for them
to do teshuvah. It is still hard for us to
recognize the severity of sinas chinam, which
is why nearly two thousand years have passed,
and we haven’t been redeemed.
The Arizal created a hesger, an exclusive
compound for his ten primary students, where
he taught them the secrets of the Torah. He

warned them to avoid machlokes.
But one Friday, two women got into a fight
about some matter, and their husbands got
involved. Their shouts could be heard from the
distance.
Before Shabbos, the Arizal with his students
walked out of Tzfas to be mekabel Shabbos in
the fields (as this was their weekly custom).
The Arizal was usually extremely happy at this
time, but this week, he appeared sad. Reb
Chaim Vital zt’l asked him about this, and the
Arizal replied, “I heard the samach mem
(Satan) say, ‘Also you and your king will die’
(Shmuel 12:25), and I understand this to mean
that I am going to die together with some of
my students. And it’s all because of the
machlokes that occurred today. As long as
there was peace among you, the Satan couldn’t
enter our secluded compound.”
And that is what happened. Less than a week
later, on the fifth of Av, the Arizal and five of
his students were niftar.
The Chofetz Chaim explains that when the
Gemara says the Beis HaMikdash was
destroyed because of sinas chinam it refers to
lashon hara. Sinas chinam, alone, wouldn’t
destroy the Beis HaMikdash. Rather, the
severe aveirah of lashon hara (a byproduct of
sinas chinam) is what destroyed the Beis
HaMikdash.
Chazal (Eiruchin 15:) say that lashon hara is
just as severe as the three cardinal sins, avodah

zarah, giluy arayos, and shefichus damim.
The Kli Yakar (Shemos 3:2) writes, “This is
the primary reason for the galus, it is because
of the hatred and jealousy among them, and in
this regard, the Jewish nation is worse than all
other nations. They speak lashon hara.”
Rebbe Yissachar Dov of Belz zt’l once came
to a city, and after davening, the community
honored him with a l’chayim. He refused to
drink. He explained that lashon hara was
spoken in the beis medresh, and this results in
the punishment of murder. He said, “When a
Yid stabs his fellow man in a beis medresh by
speaking lashon hara on him, this results in a
goy stabbing a Yid.” Later they heard that a
goy stabbed a Yid in their city (heard from the
Rebbe of Narol zt’l).
One Yom Kippur night, soon after the
Holocaust, the Klausenberger Rebbe zt’l said
the following dvar Torah: (Devarim 32:18-19)
people forget all the kindness that Hashem
does for them and Hashem forgives them for
that. However, “Hashem becomes angry and
doesn’t forgive when someone harms His
children. “