07 Jul THE THREE WEEKS AND A MESSAGE OF PEACE

We are now in the middle
of the period called Bein
HaMetzarim, known
more commonly as the
Three Weeks. As a
nation, we mourn the
destruction of our two
Holy Temples during
this time. This loss is more poignant now
with all the different hardships swirling
around our people of late; the open and
unabashed Jew-hatred masquerading as
antizionism, the horribly unresolved crisis
between the mainstream and the Chareidim
in Eretz Yisroel, other mounting challenges
for our people in Eretz Yisroel who must
continuously be on-guard, and trauma for
Jews around the world.
We must realize that we are feeling the
absence of the mizbei’ach, the altar, which
allowed us the opportunity to atone for our
sins instead of being punished for them.
The disturbing challenges for our next
generation and the hardships experienced
by the middle class in paying its tuition,
are all reminders that we are missing the
shulchan from the Holy Temple, which
helped the fiscal solvency of our people.
The absence of Hashem’s Temple also

allows for a universal spiritual deterioration
where things can get so out of hand in the
world that even the American Pledge of
Allegiance and pride in our host nations can
be ruled unconstitutional!
But the Three Weeks is not simply a time
to ponder our loss. The Yerushalmi, in
Tractate Peah [Chapter 1] teaches us, “Kol
dor shelo nivneh Beis HaMikdash b’yamav,
k’ilu charav b’yamav – Any generation in
which the Temple was not rebuilt in its
day, is considered as if it were destroyed
again in that era.” Thus, the Three Weeks
are also a time to focus on why the Temple
was destroyed and what specific sins are
still lingering among us, such that their
malignancy is blocking the restoration of
the House of Hashem.
Here, thankfully, we can step outside the
realm of guesswork or suggestion. The
Talmud clearly delineates why the two
Temples were destroyed. In Tractate Yoma
[9b] the Gemara teaches us that the first
Temple was destroyed because of the sins
of idolatry, immorality and bloodshed.
Then the Gemara poses the question,
“Mikdash sheini, she’hayu oskin b’Torah
u’vimitzvos u’v’gemilus chasadim. Mipnei
mah charav? – The second Temple, where

the masses studied Torah,
followed the laws and embraced
acts of loving-kindness. Why
did they lose the Temple?”
And the Gemara responds
succinctly, “Mipnei she’haysa
bo sinas chinam – Because they
were guilty of senseless and
meaningless hate.”
The Gemara then adds a
powerful message. We
discover that the sin of such senseless
and meaningless hatred is equivalent in
severity to the sins of immorality, idolatry
and bloodshed. We should also reflect on
the profound novelty that it is possible for
people to be involved in Torah and even do
acts of kindness yet simultaneously be so
riddled with the crimes of feuding with –
and hating – their fellow man.
The Gemara then continues. Both Reb
Yochanan and Reb Eliezer observed,
“Rishonim, she’nisgalu avonam, nisgalu
kitzam. Achronim, she’lo nisgalu avonam,
lo nisgalu kitzam.” Rashi explains this
to mean that, since the sinners of the first
Temple era didn’t bother to sin in secret,
the limit of the first Diaspora was not
kept secret. Rather, it was revealed to be
a duration of seventy years. However,
the sinners of the second Temple, who
camouflaged their sins, were not told
when the long Diaspora would end.
Rav Michel Birnbaum, in his wonderful
sefer Sichos Mussar, Volume Two, offers
another explanation of this Talmudic
dictum. He explains that the generation
of the first Temple was punished for
only a short duration since it realized
its sins. However, the generation of the
second Temple and ensuing generations
thereafter have not fully realized their
crimes. Therefore, it has not revealed
when the Temple would be restored.
This is a very important point. Many
people fool themselves into thinking
that they are not guilty of the crime of
sinas chinam. A very important step for
us to take during the Three Weeks is to
pull out our little black book and review
the people who we are not talking to, the
people we used to be friends with, and see
how we can repair these relationships.
The sixth chapter of Orchos Tzadikim
gives some reasons why people might
hate one another. Sometimes, he says,
sinah is generated by jealousy, whether
of the other person’s wealth, wisdom,
prestige, spouse, or children. He counsels
that we need to combat these feelings by
realizing that Hashem gives us precisely
what is best for us. Other times, he

suggests, we might dislike someone
because he abstains from doing us favors.
The Orchos Tzadikim suggests that we
should sidestep this pretext by looking for
favors exclusively from Hashem instead.
We need to remember the rule taught to us
by Rav Chanina ben Dosa in Pirkei Avos
[3:13]. “V’chol sh’ein ruach habriyos
nocha heimenu, ein ruach haMakom
nocha heimenu – Whoever people are not
pleased with, you can be sure that Hashem
is not pleased with him either.” Thus, it is
imperative for us to brush up on our skills
of peacemaking and tolerance so that we
should be assured of finding favor in the
Eyes of the Almighty.
This is a subject matter we need to discuss
with our children at this critical time of
the year. Say to them, “If you would like
to work toward rebuilding of the Beis
HaMikdash and the coming of Moshiach,
you need to learn how to get along with all
kinds of people, even those who are surly
and sour, even those who are stubborn and
rigid, and even those who are opinionated
and self-righteous.”
In this merit, may we indeed be zoche to the
coming of Moshiach, speedily in our times.