Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz: Overturning Tisha B'Av and The Downfall of Our Enemies

Okay, hi everybody. Thank you, thank you for for coming. Uh we have many many dedications tonight. Refuah Sheleimah for Nacha Ben Ziso, Baruch Ben Freeda, and for the liberation of Eretz Yisrael from all of its enemies. Unfortunately, we have newer enemies we have to add to the equation, the safe return home of soldiers and hostages, the lasting unity of Am Yisrael, and for all of those whose health has been affected by the war, as well as we are davening for the release of Arvin Netanel Ben Sonya Tsvona, the young man in Iran that has been uh sentenced to death. Aliyat Nishama Yitzchak Hersh Ben Eliezer, and we also have a dedication from Judy Greenwald in loving memory of her mother, Simcha Bryna Batel Chanan, whose yahrzeit is the 8th of Av, and her brother, Michael Ben Dov Aryeh, whose yahrzeit is Tisha B'Av. Uh also the late father of Carol Stern, Aaron Ben Meshulam, whose yahrzeit is on the 8th of Av, and the Aliyat Nishama of Sarah Zlata Bat Berel on her 44th yahrzeit, which was on Chaf Zayin Tammuz, the mother of Tzipora Leah Chana Ramberg. We also have an anonymous contribution for the nitzachon of all of our chayalim, all of our hostages to return safe and totally healthy to their homes, Hashem's protection of Klal Yisrael, the Geulah Sheleimah in these days. Additionally, additionally, in honor of Rena Kustel's birthday from her husband Mark, and for the safety of all of Klal Yisrael. So, again, we very much appreciate Dr. Akiva Tova. May it be a zechus for all of the families who have contributed. May it be a zechus for Klal Yisrael generally. Um I do appreciate people coming. I understand that this is a time of great anxiety. Uh we've been in a state of war well, really since 1948, but but actively since October 7th, since Simchat Torah itself. And just as that seems to be winding down as the old tzaros are getting uh Baruch Hashem dissipating, although not gone yet, we then get hit with the new tzaros. And the tzaros are mishachos as the Gemara gives the Gemara gives the example of the person who encountered a wolf and was saved and felt real good till he met a lion. And uh you know, things get worse and worse and worse. And once again, the ultimate lesson is as the Mishna says, "Ein lanu al mi l'hisha'en ela al Avinu shebaShamayim." Uh that all of our systems are not going to help us. We need to have a good army. We need to do all these things. But ultimately, it's going to be our bitachon in Hakadosh Baruch Hu that is going to bring the hatzalah to Am Yisrael. So, it is a scary time, but it's precisely, like the Brisker Rav used to say in a different context, it's very easy to be a ba'al bitachon when you have $100,000 in the bank. Of course, that was going back in the '40s when $100,000 went much further. He says, "The real test of a ba'al bitachon is when there's zero money in the bank. Do you trust in Hashem?" So, good. When things are b'shalom, things are comfortable, things are good, I have bitachon. I believe in Hashem. I have bitachon. It's precisely when we're going through adversity that that is when real bitachon comes out. So, b'ezrat Hashem, if you have bitachon, you have everything. If you don't have bitachon, you have nothing. And therefore, we just have to hold on in this difficult in this difficult time. You know, people ask me every day. I get many Should we leave Eric Israel or if we're in Israel, should we come? Should we stay? Now, again, I mean, I'm not going to give people a one answer fit all. I mean, these are very individual questions. And I certainly am not a nobody. I cannot take a for someone safety or someone's family safety. But the overall feeling is that wherever you are, you need a sham's see out of the smile. Wherever you are, life is very very dangerous. So, if you're going to face dangers one way or the other, let's do it here in a land in which there's a special divine divine sky. And in many many ways, you know, on one hand, people say, "Oh, the fact that these threats come out in the 9 days or maybe even Tisha B'Av, that means very bad because these are bad days for quality Israel." But in reality, the novice tells us that it's after those days that are going to become so soon and simple as we approach the goal. It's kind of the same as well as making the same type of mistake as Haman, right? Haman figured, "Oh, the month of Adar, real bad month for the Jews cuz Moshe Rabbeinu died. That's a good time to get him." He didn't realize or forgot or whatever it is that it was a good month for the Jews. Moshe Rabbeinu was born. So, Hezbollah thinks, "Oh, Tisha B'Av, you know, the base of the dash, sad day." Yeah, but in Tisha B'Av is hidden the light of Messiah and Tisha B'Av is hidden the light of redemption. So, be as a sham, the same miscalculation that Haman had also Persia, right? Iran Persia that Haman had in calculating a day to destroy the Jewish people, may Hamas Iran Hezbollah, all of which funded by Iran, may they be subject to the same miscalculation and the very day that they think is so bad for all of Israel that they should turn out to be a wonderful day of Yeshua. Uh, and you know, if if Tisha B'Av is a day of Mashiach, ma tova u ma na'im, but even if chas v'shalom this year it's not, it can still have the sod of some type of redemptive koach that's going to be there even if it doesn't manifest itself in the fullness yet of of Mashiach. Okay. And in fact I mentioned a number of times, you probably heard it before, that you know, number one, Tisha B'Av we don't recite Tachanun because it is called a moed, it is called a holiday. And there's an old minhag, you know, old Yerushalmi minhag, I don't know, old Yerushalmi women who have the old minhagim that the afternoon of Tisha B'Av they sweep the house in honor of Mashiach coming. They clean the house to prepare the house for Mashiach. You know, my my a good friend and neighbor, Rabbi Machlis, many of you might have heard of the Machlis family, and unfortunately Rebbetzin Machlis passed away a few years ago, but these are people who are amazing in their hospitality and their hachnasas orchim. You know, a typical Shabbos they'll have 50, 60 people like for every, you know, every meal, sometimes even even more than that. So, Rebbetzin Machlis was nifteres a few years ago, but Rabbi Machlis carries on with his children and sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, and whole extended family. So, it's kind of a a legend. Uh, Machlis. So, you know, there is a halacha in the Shulchan Aruch that a Jewish home should have a part that's unpainted zecher l'churban. Zecher l'churban. Now, it's machlokes if it's obligatory today, but it is proper to have something unpainted zecher l'churban. So, in Rabbi Machlis's house he has a square, an amah, a by cubit, ama by ama, that's unpainted, but he keeps a permanent can of paint and a paintbrush right next to the unpainted part, as if to say, "I'm mamin bemuna shleima that pretty soon we're going to be able to paint that unpainted corner." It's kind of an affirmation of faith. Side by side with the zecher l'churban is the emunah in the geulah geulah shleima. So, I want to talk a little bit, obviously, about uh the fast of the 9th of Av and the 9 days, uh the period of aveilus. So, the first point is a very interesting observation that uh Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, of Yeshiva University, made a number of years ago. I think others for him say it as well, in which he pointed out that the public mourning over the Beis Hamikdash operates in an opposite direction than the private mourning we have when we lose a relative. When we lose a relative, God forbid, a person loses a spouse or a child or a parent, whatever it would be, so aveilus starts off very, very severe. Right? For shiva, you don't even leave the house, etc. And then it gradually gets more lenient. So, after shiva, we have a shloshim period, which is somewhat strict, uh and then for most relatives, other than parents, aveilus is over after 30 days. No, even for a spouse, 30 days. For father and mother, it goes on for a year, but certainly the aveilus after 30 days, for the rest of the year, is much more lenient than 30 days. So, we go shiva, we go shloshim, we go yud beis chodesh, and the trajectory of aveilus is min hachamor, from the severe aveilus, el hakal, towards leniency, and after the yud beis chodesh, there's no aveilus at all except on the Yahrtzeit. Once a year, you observe mourning equivalent to the 12 months, the the the din of a Yahrtzeit is like the Yud Beis Hodash for a parent. Now, by contrast, when we look at the designated weeks of the year where we mourn officially over the Churban Beis Hamikdash. Now, I say officially because the truth of the matter is the Shulchan Aruch says in uh the second sif in the Shulchan Aruch that a person should cry over the Churban Beis Hamikdash all the time. We should mourn the loss of the Beis Hamikdash every single day of the year. That is why the old custom in Klal Yisrael that is recorded in the Shulchan Aruch was called Tikun Chatzos. People would get up or if they didn't sleep yet, they would at midnight and they would say they would sit on the ground and they would say prayers for the over the Churban Beis Hamikdash and for the restoration of the Shechinah. So, in truth, aveilus over the Churban is something that we should always have, but the designated period where it's most intense is the three weeks. Now, if you think about it, here we're moving in the opposite direction. We start with the three weeks, which is, you know, relatively lenient. So, first of all, if you're Sefardi, you don't even have a three weeks thing. Like, there's nothing to do during the three weeks. But, Ashkenazim are stricter in these minhagim. So, we don't get haircuts. We don't listen to music. Then, you get into the nine days. In the nine days, we don't do laundry, we don't eat meat or drink wine except on Shabbos. And then, there's actually a higher level of chumra, the week of Tisha B'Av. That's going to start um after Shabbos. The week in which the That's even stricter. And then, the crescendo, the highest point is Tisha B'Av itself. So, with private mourning, you start off easy and you end I'm sorry, you start off hard and you end easy. With public mourning, you start easy and you end hard. So, why is the direction of the mourning in opposite directions between the public mourning over the korban and the private mourning over a person's bereavements? So, Rav Soloveitchik Rav Soloveitchik wanted to suggest that that is because the purpose of mourning is very, very different. Why is there a category of halakha that's called mourning? Avelut. Why why am I obligated to mourn over a parent, over a child, over a spouse, over a brother or over a sister? Well, there are a few elements. One element is this is kavod. This is a respect. Certainly for a parent, a lot of the yesod of avelut is it's an expression of kibbud av v'em. So, even if God forbid somebody didn't even even feel close to their parents, there's a certain obligation of kavod. That's one aspect, but there's another aspect that avelut is a very deep psycho-spiritual method of inner healing. That when a person loses someone that they care about and they love, their lives are often shattered. They feel they can't move on. They don't know how they could be reintegrated in a normal life. Everything stops. Everything shattered, even breathing can become laborious. So, avelut is a mechanism where slowly but surely the mourner can be guided to re-entry in normal life. So, for the first 7 days, don't even leave the house. People come to you. Afterwards, it's like putting your toe in a cold water swimming pool. Put your toe in, it's cold, but you get used to it. Well, a lot, a lot, meaning the purpose, or at least one of the purposes, of private mourning is to enable a person whose life was shattered to re-enter human existence. It doesn't mean you forget your grief. The grief is never forgotten. The grief is ever present. But on some level it might be compartmentalized. So, you have part of your brain, but then you go on, because it's God's will that as long as we're alive we should partake in life. It's God's will that in spite of tragedy and loss we go on. That uh the Midrash has different criticisms. Hashem says, you know, if a person is mourning and mourning after the year or whatever it is, Hashem says, "Are you more merciful than me?" So, the whole purpose of avelus is to take a shattered person and give him a re-entry procedure. You know, when I uh became a rabbi in Silver Spring, uh even before I officially became a rabbi, one of the members of the shul that I was going to become rabbi of tragically lost uh a son. The son was 10 years old. So, almost my first duty even I was not even the rabbi of the shul yet was to be at the uh attend uh officiate at the funeral. And it was a little complicated issue because um this man's wife, the mother of this child, was a non-Jewish woman. So, the child technically was not Jewish, but he converted, but whatever it would be. Wh- Whatever. That didn't make a difference in the mourning, but there's a certain mental picture that I had in my mind that has stayed with me for more than 30 years. And that is the mother was there, of It was her her child. The mother was there. The father was there. They were divorced. They were not married anymore. And after the Jewish Levaya, the father was surrounded by people who were offering their comfort Nechama Velar Mamakim Yenachem Eschem. And the mother was not Jewish. Although she was invited, she was invited to participate in it, but she didn't want to whatever reason because she felt it was a Jewish thing. The mother left the cemetery alone. I'm not saying that was the right thing to do and you know, mistakes may have very well been made. But what it highlighted to me was the therapeutic aspect of Jewish morning rituals. They heal the soul. They give a person a solidarity of community. That you're not alone. People care about you and if people care about you, Hashem cares about you. So, that's why Avelus moves from the more chomer to the more lenient because it's a mechanism to get you back into life. Now, when it comes to the Churban Beis Hamikdash, we have exactly the opposite problem. How many of us are so devastated over the loss of the Beis Hamikdash that we can't go on with our lives? How many of us are shattered? How many of us are destroyed? How many of us need the therapy of being comforted? I tell the students in Ner Yisroel that this is a new excuse if you don't show up to davening in the morning. And the rebbe says, "Why weren't you at minyan?" So, the kid can say, "I was so devastated over the Churban base of migdish I could not get out of bed. I was destroyed. Well, frankly, I don't think that's going to be too credible because that's not the way we are. Our problem is not that the urban base of migdish is so devastating to us that I can't go on. Our problem is I don't feel anything at all. So the purpose of mourning over migdish is not to get you out of your devastation but to put you into your devastation in the hope in the hope and this hope is not always realized either that by external behaviors first not listening to music and not getting married and then you know not cutting your hair gradually gradually the hitsonius the externals make me realize what it is that I've lost. It's amazing thing. It's a fascinating idea. Avelous over the urban is not to get us out of grief but is to put us into grief. So we have a sense that there's something that we're missing in our lives. Now the Gamora gives a not the Gamora the madrasa. Gives a fascinating story about one of the rabbis after the urban base of migdish was recounting all of the different sufferings that that generation had gone through the deaths the injuries the the the gazeros against the Torah. And he enumerated many many many many things. And one of them asked that this earlier rabbi who lived during the urban he only mentioned some of these things meaning how how could you mention more things than him? I don't remember the exact number it was something like the earlier generation mentioned 50 sorrows and you mentioned 200 sorrows. How could you mention 200 if the earlier generation said 50? So, the answer the Madras gives is a fascinating answer. That earlier generation was so close to the korban that as soon as they began remembering it, they would be consumed with sobbing and grieving and they couldn't go on. They couldn't go on beyond what they said. I'm more removed. I feel less connected to it. So, I could dispassionately talk about all the atrocities because they were not directly connected to me. The difference would be, let's say, somebody who was I mean, if people I know, if any of you have parents or grandparents who were Holocaust survivors, and it's very, very well known that Holocaust survivors usually do not like to talk about their experiences in the camps simply because they start talking about it, it's too much. It's too much. So, we can sit there, we can go to Yad Vashem, and we can go through all of the things that happened, but the people who actually went through it might often not even be able to talk about it and the like. So, this is our problem. Our problem in mourning the base of miktash is we don't know what it is we're mourning about. You know, there's a famous story that's part of Israeli you know, secular culture even. It's just a famous story in the Six-Day War in June 1967 when we finally gained uh back the old city of Yerushalayim and we gained back the Har Habayit, the famous statement on the radio, Har Habayit beyadeinu, Matityahu uh the Har Habayit is in our hands. Wonderful thing. So, some of the first chayalim who came to the Har Habayit were the Hester chayalim and they of course were overjoyed. They were dancing and singing, but they also were crying because remember, after all, at the end of end of the day the Kosel Maaravi is not the Beis Hamikdash. It's not even a wall of the Beis Hamikdash. It is the remnants of the wall of the Har Habayis. So, simultaneously with the joy is also the aveilus. So, they were crying and sobbing. And a few feet away there was a chiloni soldier. Not religious at all. And he was crying and sobbing. And his friends asked him, "What are you crying and sobbing about? You don't even know what this is." And he said, "I'm crying and sobbing because I don't know why they're crying and sobbing. And that's something that causes me great grief." The truth of the matter is the statement that the chiloni soldier made is a statement that we can make about ourselves. We should cry because we don't know what it is to cry about. We should cry because we don't even know what any of this is about. Someone went to the Sfas Emes and said, "What do I do? I can't cry over the Churban Beis Hamikdash. I don't know what it is." A blind person who was born blind, who never saw, how could they understand color? Back to this day, I don't fully understand the the Helen Keller stories. I really don't know how that even works. A person who was born deaf, how can they understand music? How can we appreciate what the Beis Hamikdash was? We've never seen it. It's been gone from our lives. Our lives have adapted without it. So, he said to the Sfas Emes, "What do I cry over if I can't cry over the Beis Hamikdash?" And the Sfas Emes answered exactly what the chayil it? Cry over your neshama that cannot cry over the korban base hamikdash. So, what is the base hamikdash? A beautiful building, to be sure. The first temple was HaMelech's building. The second base hamikdash was initially relatively simple, but Herod built it up. Amazing thing that Herod had such credit in this. The big Russia that he was, and Chazal say about Herod's binyan, and that's a typical picture you see of the temple, that he who did not see Herod's temple did not see a beautiful building. So, sure, the base hamikdash was a beautiful building. It was one of the I don't know if it ever made the official list of the wonders of the world, but it was one of the wonders of the ancient world. But, you know, that's not what it is. After all, there are other beautiful buildings. There's the Taj Mahal. Even in Yerushalayim, the Belzer uh base knesset is very close in appearance to the base hamikdash. Baruch Hashem, it's a holy place, the base knesset, but it's not the base hamikdash. So, the issue is not the building. The building is a symbol of Hashem's shechina being with us. So, the most important thing is the pasuk, when Hashem first commanded the construction of the temple, which was the mishkan in the midbar. So, Hashem said, "Ve'asu li mikdash." Make for me a holy place, "Veshachanti besocham." So, I will live, I will reside in them. And it's a well-known chat, although it's not a Chazal, actually, but it's a well, well-known statement from different sforim, like the Shlah Hakadosh. He does not say, "Make for me a temple, so I will dwell in it." Make for me a mikdash. I will dwell in you. The real Beis Hamikdash is the heart and soul of the individual who brings Hashem into their lives. That's the statement from the safer Chareidim and set to music. Bilvavi mishkan evnech. In my heart I will build a sanctuary for Hashem. Asu li mikdash v'shachanti b'socham. Now, if that's true that the mikdash is symbolic of Hashem's shechinah within us, then how does the Beis Hamikdash get destroyed? When because of us the shechinah is not In other words, you just do it in reverse. When the shechinah is in our heart and our soul, we have this tangible Beis Hamikdash. When the shechinah is not in our heart and our soul, we lose that Beis Hamikdash. That's why the the the Midrash says about the Bayis Rishon, the first temple, that when Nevuchadnetzar destroyed the Beis Hamikdash, I mean, he was not here. I mean, his general destroyed it, but when under his rule the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, he was very proud because he said, "I destroyed the house of God. I vanquished God. I defeated the God of Israel. I'm more powerful." And God responded to him, "I wasn't living there anymore. You could not destroy my house. But I moved. You were destroying an abandoned building." The which means I can't give you a data, which means the actual carbon base and make this. Was not on the 9th of us. A physical building was burnt on the 9th of us. But at whatever critical point it was and I can't give you a date. That there was no longer the Shina within our hearts and our souls. I shall moved. But I shall we give us a forwarding address we still can direct our to feel us to our college borrow but he moved. When he moved anybody could destroy the building as he he told him that Netsar you're grinding up grain that's already ground. No no big deal. Don't think you're any big shot that accomplished anything. When I shall is not in the building. Any kid could just set it on fire. Not a big deal. So. The of it used to bring a beautiful but a beautiful but a very moving mattress. In purchase told us. You know it says when Yakov. I'm sorry yeah yeah we when Yakov impersonated Esau. And he went to uh. Went to Yitzhak looking like. Feeling being looking like Esau. So the passage says. The Yarak is Reyak big out of. Yeah Yitzhak smelled. The aroma. Of the garments. And he said this is the Reyak of the field. That I shall has blessed. So there are many many interpretations on this. But Rashi brings one result. That big out of. Garments. Without the vowels. Could be read bog out of. That Yitzhak saw the future Jews who would be treacherous who would be with Shayam. And he said. They too are blessed by God. Even the with Shayam of the Jews. And the Medrash gives a concrete example. It talks about a fellow called Yosef Mishisa. I'm not sure what Mishisa even means, but that that was the appellation. Yosef Mishisa was a bad guy. He was a Roman. He was a collaborator with the Romans. Just like there were Jews who collaborated with the Nazis, there were Jews who collaborated with the Romans. And when the Temple was being destroyed, Titus wanted to give him a reward for his services. He told him, "Go into the Beis Hamikdash. Take a treasure of your choice." There's a lot of gold got a lot of gold there. And whatever you take, you get to keep. This is our honoring you for your services. He went in. Talk about grabbing too much. He took the menorah. This is before the Arch of Titus. So, the Romans said, "Well, not that. You know, that's too much for you." So, they they took the menorah and of course that appears on the Arch of Triumphal Arch of Titus. So, they then said, "Go back and take something else." He said, "If I have angered my Creator once, I will not anger my Creator again." And they offered him all sorts of things. They offered him like 3 years of tax revenue uh from the Jewish population, etc. And he said, "No." And they finally threatened him. They said, "You go or we'll kill you." And he died a horrible death. He was tortured. And he died a horrible death rather than enter the Beis Hamikdash a second time. Now, the question is obvious. Obviously, he had no problem going in the first time. He went in to you the menorah. He was not a righteous person. He was an evil person. So, what happened? Why did he change? The Rebbe used to say, because being in the base of Miktash changed him. Being connected to godliness changed him. It brought out the hidden Elokush, the hidden godliness of his soul. If you went to the base of Miktash, you were transformed. You were different. You were a different person. What you were before you went in isn't the way you were when you went in. And by the way, there's a remez to this in the Navi Yechazkel. The Navi Yechazkel has prophecies about the third base of Miktash, the future base of Miktash. And when he describes the architectural design, which is complicated really to match it up. Now, Tanach doesn't have pictures. That's the problem. I mean, ArtScroll will give you pictures, but even that depends on commentaries, right? So, the actual text, it's very, very difficult, whether it's the Mishkan, whether it's the first base of Miktash, whether it's the third the third base of Miktash, it's difficult to reconstruct it exactly. But, one of Yechazkel's rules is very interesting. The base of Miktash has many gates, 13 gates, one for every tribe. And if you don't know what uh tribe you belong to, there's a 13th gate for everybody. But, the rule is, if you entered by one gate, you must leave by another gate. Do not leave by the same gate that you entered. And symbolically, there's no reason that's given for that. But, symbolically, that's a powerful message. You don't come out the same way you went in. You got to be changed. You got to be transformed. I don't go out the same way you went in. I just take that those words, and you see what it means in a spiritual sense. So, this is our avodah. Our avodah is to rebuild the Beis Hamikdash that was destroyed. But what does it mean to rebuild the Beis Hamikdash was that was destroyed? Does it mean we bulldoze the mosque Al-Aqsa and the mosque of Omar? Halachically, the answer is no, although some would disagree with that. Halachically, the Rambam says very very clearly that the actual physical construction of the Beis Hamikdash is a job of Mashiach when he reveals himself. And Rashi says even more dramatically that we don't even build the third temple at all. Comes down min hashamayim. So, our job is not to build a physical Beis Hamikdash at all. So, in what way do we build the Beis Hamikdash? By making our heart and our soul a place for the Shechinah. And the more of us that do it and the deeper the avodah that each of us goes through, there will at some point, and I can't tell you what the critical mass is. There will be a critical mass. When there is just as vi'asu li mikdash v'shachanti betocham, it works the opposite. Shachanti betocham, asu li mikdash. When the Shechinah dwells in you, you have a Beis Hamikdash. So, our job is to rebuild the Beis Hamikdash, but not by bricks or mortar or stone or gold or silver, but by making ourselves have lives that are worthy of being a place where Hakadosh Baruch Hu comes in. And as the Kotzker Rebbe used to say, "Where does God live?" And his answer is, "God live lives wherever you let him in." You let him in, he lives in you. You don't let him in, he's very polite. He's not going to push his way in. He He's giving you life anyway, that that much is true, but he's not going to push his push his way in. He goes where he's invited. I said that's our job. So, uh here's the thing. Everyone knows uh the one on Gemara, this is not certainly no chiddush to anybody, that differentiates between the first Beis Hamikdash and the second Beis Hamikdash, that the first Beis Hamikdash was destroyed because of the worst of aveiros that existed, idolatry, sexual immorality, murder. These are the big three aveiros that a Jew must give up their life before they transgress. So, the first Beis Hamikdash had the worst of the worst. The second Beis Hamikdash that was destroyed 490 years later, day to day, Tisha B'Av, Tisha B'Av, 490 years later by the Romans, most of the Jews were halachically observant. So, why was the Beis Hamikdash destroyed? So, the Gemara's answer in Maseches Yoma, there are actually other answers and I hope to get to it, is because of sinas chinam, groundless hatred between Jews. And the Gemara says the following observation, bo ureh, come and see, the first Beis Hamikdash that was destroyed for the worst of aveiros, was only destroyed for 70 years. The second temple was built 70 years later. Right right around the time of Ezra, one year before Ezra came. The second Beis Hamikdash that was destroyed for sinas chinam. Well, the Gemara already remarked it had been more than a thousand years and we just add almost 2,000 years now. So, you see what sinas chinam is. But in reality sinas chinam is hard to define. sinas chinam hatred for no reason. Who on earth hates anybody for no reason? I mean, you know, you ask anybody in the world. I mean, I ask Hamas, are are you in favor of hating people for no reason? Even they're going to say, "Well, no, I don't hate people for no reason. I have reasons." So, everybody has reasons. So, what are Hazal telling you? Even if you think you have reasons, you don't The reasons aren't good. The reasons are not sinas chinam. All of those things, the rivalries the disagreements, the putting people down, not caring creating cliques rejecting people because if they're to the right of me, they're fanatics. And if they're to the left of me, they're apikorsim. Right? That's how people often look at their religious orientation. If they're firmer than me, they're fanatic. If they're not as observant as me, they're apikorsim. It's where I am, whoever the I is speaking. Which is emes. All of this is sinas chinam. And this caused the churban Bayis Hamikdash. I've said many times already, forgive me for repeating that if there was any silver lining in the tragedies of October 7th it was a wake-up call because if you remember before October 7th the country was being torn apart with this judicial reform debate that somehow became a religious secular issue. I mean, that's that itself is very difficult, but it did become a wedge issue of religious secular. And people I mean I mean now it looks so small compared to to what we're going through, but at the time it was not small. People were talking about the end of the state of Israel, the collapse of the democracy, uh capitalists with with major investments were talking about pulling out million tens of millions of dollars. Khyalim were saying they were not going to report to miluim or even to active duty. Baruch Hashem they did, but who knows if that emboldened Hamas because of the statements they weren't going to report. And people were saying there's no way the society would last. So came the tragedy of October 7th. And what happened was there was a new found unity in Am Israel. Religious secular, we were one nation. Now all the tzitzis campaigns and uh there were chareidim who enlisted in the army and chareidim who didn't enlist in the army still brought food and medicine and and helping out making tzitzis, whatever it would be. And there was a new respect for all segments of Klal Yisrael that everybody does their part, we're on the same page, we're going through the same thing. Like Benjamin Franklin said, we got to hang together or else we will surely hang separately. And there was mamash that feeling that we hadn't had in many years. It's really really sad that it took those calamities to bring it out, but it brought it out and that in turn brought us closer to Geulah. It brought us closer to Geulah. But like an elastic rubber band, you stretch out the band, but at some point it just snaps back to where it is. What I feared would come to pass is unfortunately coming to pass. And that is we get tired after a while. We get battle fatigued. This struggle has been going on really, really long and now we have the new struggles and the like. And as a result, we kind of revert to our old bad habits. The divisiveness, the backstabbing, the condemnations, the name-calling, the coldness, the indifference. Baruch Hashem, we haven't snapped back to as bad as it was. There's still Baruch Hashem, a lot of beautiful, beautiful achdus that exists. So, I don't want to suggest that we haven't progressed in some degree. But we've lost a lot of the progress that we've made. Sin'as chinam is like this cancer you you know you think it's in remission or you think the chemotherapy is controlling it. And then what happens is it just rears its ugly head. You thought you got rid of it. You didn't get rid of it. It comes back, polarizes, divides. And I want to make a point that sin'as chinam is not only what you might call hot sin'as chinam. There's also cold sin'as chinam. Hot sin'as chinam means you know, you're an Amalek, you know, whatever it is. Cold sin'as chinam is simply indifference, callousness, not caring beyond your group. This is my group. This is who I care about. I mean there was I can't I I I want to get into this because God forbid I myself don't want to be guilty of of Russian horror at this time. It's it's not not right. So, I'm not going to mention any names, but there was a a fairly prominent rabbi who was making a speech against the military service and this and that. Okay, whatever the ideology ideological issue was, but at some point one of the Yeshiva students brought up the question. But what about feeling the pain of the Khayalim called no say oh to go to a funeral? Good. Now, there was even if the position is we don't enlist in the army and I'm not going to debate that right now. But at least recognize the sacrifice. Recognize the pain. And unbelievably so, unbelievably so, the statement was made, "Why should you feel their pain? They're not your group. They're not your people." Th- This was frankly unbelievable to me. If somebody were to say I I I really don't want to get into debates here. If somebody were to say, "I don't believe Yeshiva students should be drafted." That is a You can agree or disagree. I don't really care right now. But that is a debatable, discussable position. You can debate it. But to say, "I don't care what happens to them cuz they're not they're not my group." Th- Th- That's That's incomprehensible. There is no possible way that that can be justified. Huh? Say it again. Yeah, a hundred That's a very good very good That's a very good proof. We feel sorry for sister's mother every Rosh Hashanah. You know, the hundred hundred colors. So, again, maybe the rabbi was misunderstood, maybe I misunderstand. I'm not interested in in singling anybody out on that. But all I'm saying is this is what sinat chinam is. Sinat chinam is not only active hatred, but the indifference to what's going on outside of my particular group. Sinat chinam is predicated on us versus them within klal Yisrael. And there is no us versus them. There's only us. Now, that doesn't mean That doesn't mean every idea is legitimate. Obviously, there are ideas that a person opposes, debates, argues against. And that's legitimate. That doesn't mean you roll over. But you do so with a basic respect and a basic love for the other person. And this is true even pragmatically. Once again, forgive me for repeating. I I I often uh quote a pasuk in Shir HaShirim and in Mishlei HaMelech, the wisest of all people. K'mayim panim el panim kein lev adam l'adam. As water reflects the face that you show it, so too the heart of a person reflects what you show that person. What is the pshat? When I look at a reflecting pool of water, whatever I show the water is what I see in the water. I smile at the water, I see a smiling face. I frown at the water, I see a frowning face. Water reflects back what you show the water. The heart of another human being reflects that which you show that human being. I show a person respect, I show a person love, I show a person validation, I show a person hakaras hatov for whatever it is that they're doing, they will be open and receptive to whatever it is I'm doing. They will appreciate my contribution, whatever it is, because I appreciate their contribution. If on the other hand the religious look at the secular and call them Amalek, Russia, and the secular look at the religious and call them para or Haredi as in the religious but they Haredi and call them parasite, where are you going to get in a confrontation Amalek versus parasite? It just descends and descends and descends lower and lower and lower and lower into an endless cycle of invictiveness. So, haMelech was smarter than anybody around today, that's for sure. And he said just as a matter of human relations, when you have hakaras hatov, you have gratitude and you have respect for the other person, they will come to see your viewpoint as well. Then we see how counterproductive is even pragmatically the sinas chinam rhetoric is. And especially during this time of year, when you need to think about it, this time of year where we're trying to rebuild the Beis Hamikdash. And at the same time in this time of crisis. Because it's a well-known idea that when there is dissension, when there is machlokes in Am Yisrael, we become vulnerable to the machlokes of the nations of the world against us. When there's unity within Am Yisrael, there is a protection. For many years, I haven't seen it the recently, but for many years there was a an annual survey in the Israeli papers, some of the Israeli papers, where people were asked to list what they considered to be the greatest problems in the State of Israel. And of course, well, this year of course the list would be skewed in a certain direction, but over the years, obviously security issues, terrorism, uh atomic bomb, you know, whatever it be, water, uh cost of housing, we have a a lot of problems, uh religious secular tensions, uh one year it was even cost of cottage cheese, which was very very uh disheartening, or the lack of butter, sometimes there are shortages of butter for some reason, uh and the like. But, you know, the number one problem that was listed more than anything else, and this is true whether it was Haredi, Dati Leumi, Hinoni, Misorati, Ashkenazi, Sefardi, Hasidic, Misnagdic, whichever group you go to, the number one problem they listed was disunity among Jews. So, we have a good instinct. We have a gut sense that all of this machlokes is going to turn around and bite us, destroy us, harm us, harm us spiritually, for sure, and unfortunately even harm us in a physical sense, as well. So, we have to think about this very very carefully. Now, I know, you know, Mark Twain once remarked about the weather, everybody talks about the weather, but nobody ever does anything about it. And uh we could substitute sin'at chinam for weather and have the same statement. Everybody talks about how bad sin'at chinam is, and you know, it's kind of like, okay, so we got to talk about that uh during the three weeks until Tisha B'Av, okay. Then we get that out of the way. Okay, Elul's coming up, okay, we got to talk about teshuvah, you like, you know, we kind of look at these things as topics for certain times of year to be discussed, and then we don't really give it thought afterwards. We don't really think about it afterwards. And you know, I include myself in the in the indictment. But, we have to think about the idea of building people up, respecting people, gratitude. How can hatov, appreciation. And if sometimes people say, "Well, I'm a religious Jew. Why do I have to show appreciation to the secular so they'll appreciate me? Why don't they appreciate me so then I'll appreciate them? Why do I have to be the first one?" The answer is because somebody has to be the adult in the room. That's all. If you have Torah and you have mussar and you have middos and you have guidance, then yeah, we got to take the first step. I mean, this this is a problem in marriage counseling all the time, right? Somebody says, you know, "Show your wife, you know, that you love her and she'll love you back." So the person says, or whichever side it is, "Well, why can't the other one show me love and I'll love him back?" The answer is somebody got to do something or else nothing ever gets done. So, be the initiator. Seize the moment. Look at the opportunity. Because in reality, there is so much goodness in the klal Yisrael. Remember Yosef Meshisa, the greatest rasha. I think I mentioned the story recently, the Baal HaTanya writes that in every Jew, there are hidden reserves of love of Hashem, fear of Hashem, reverence of Hashem. You don't have to learn it. It's there already. It gets covered over. But there're going to be occasions where that comes out. That's going to come out. That's why Daniel Pearl, who intermarried was not observant in any way, he was the one that was beheaded by ISIS, or Al-Qaeda, I don't remember, but uh you know, they they videoed it. His last moments on earth. And he they wanted him to renounce his Judaism and embrace Islam. And he said, "I am a Jew." That was it. It came out that moment. So there's greatness. You know, I want to mention going back a little bit Parshas Pinchas. I wasn't here I I should have been here at the time of Pinchas. So, actually, you didn't get to hear from me on Parshas Pinchas, the notion of zealousness. But, I just want to say one thing about zealousness. And that is um in order to be a zealot for God's glory, if that requires violence, if that requires strong words, if that requires put-downs, it has to be something that you hate. It can't be something that you love. If you love exposing people's shortcomings, then it's none of your business to do so. If I'm so basic, you used to talk about the difference between true zealots and false zealots. And he compared it to a housewife who bought a cat because her house was infested with mice. Now, both the housewife and the cat are hopeful that if there are mice, the cat will catch them. But, the housewife and the cat are different in this way. The housewife would be much happier if there wouldn't be any mice. The cat would be sorely disappointed. A true zealot does not find joy in exposing people, in ridiculing people, in embarrassing people, in shaming people. Sometimes may maybe rarely maybe it has to be done. But, it's done with sadness and it's done out of love for all of Israel. It's not done because you like to expose people's shortcomings. The zealot who just wants to expose, to criticize, to embarrass, to humiliate, is like the cat. That's not a spiritual zealousness. In this way when to share with you a beautiful beautiful voice from Rav Kook. And Rav Kook himself exemplified this measure of loving every Jew unconditionally. And I want to point out that it's interesting. There's a famous statement of Rav Kook. It is a famous statement. But I'm not sure if it really expresses Rav Kook's ultimate philosophy. The famous statement of Rav Kook was that if the Beit Hamikdash was destroyed because of irrational, groundless hatred, it's only going to be rebuilt through irrational, groundless love. If the churban came because of sinat chinam, it'll only be rebuilt because of ahavat chinam. That's a very nice statement, but I I tell you the truth, I don't think it encap- encapsulates the essence of Rav Kook's own philosophy. It's kind of because like this, the connotation of saying the Temple gets rebuilt with ahavat chinam is kind of saying, but the other person, whoever that is, you're really worthless and I have no reason to love you. But I'll love you anyway. That actually is not Rav Kook's philosophy. Rav Kook's philosophy was not the idea, I love you even though you're worthless. Rav Kook's philosophy is, you're not worthless. There's goodness there. There's greatness there. There's beauty there. Maybe I don't automatically see it. Maybe you don't always see it. It's there. And again, Rav Kook himself comes from the about of your family. So, there are echoes of the about Tanya that he was Yeah, he was a big talk. He was not about of course, but he was uh a big tone of the writings of the elder Remi. And this is Rav Shneur Zalman's big idea that in every Jewish person there are reservoirs of holiness. So, that's why the statement, which I've said for many, many years, I'm a little less comfortable saying it because it's not really about him. It's about seeing the value. Seeing the goodness. Seeing the goodness. But in this case, I just want to end with a word from Rav Kook. And that is we know that it's really the even though it's eight said to have 18 blessings, we know that during the week it actually has 19 blessings. Originally it was 18. And a 19th was added in the days of Rabban Gamaliel in Yavneh after the destruction of the base of the dash. And Rabban Gamaliel said we need a blessing against the meaning against the heretics. Now, historians still debate exactly what is the audience or what are the target that he was aiming at. Many say it was the early Christians, early Jews who were professing Christianity, who were still intermingling in synagogues, and proselytizing and the like. So, the blessing is not in the 19th position, but it is the 19th blessing that was added to the pronouncing a curse on heretics, informers, uh people who persecute the Jewish people, and the like. So, the describes how this blessing was written. It was written after the rest the rest of Esrei was already written, and he says, "Who will be able to write a bracha against the heretics?" And they're looking around and looking around, who could write the bracha? Till they find a rabbi who was known as Shmuel HaKatan. Shmuel HaKatan means Shmuel the humble. And he has pride of authorship. He wrote the bracha v'lamalshinim al tehi tikva. This is the Gemara in Brachot. So, Rav Kook asks the obvious question, what is so difficult about writing a bracha against the heretics? I mean, whoever wrote the other brachot could write this one, too. So, number one, what is Rabban Gamliel saying, "Who is capable of writing this bracha?" Number one. And number two, if you needed a special author, what was special about Shmuel HaKatan that he would be the author? So, Rav Kook says the following. The bracha v'lamalshinim is very different than the rest of Shmona Esrei. All of Shmona Esrei asks Hashem for blessings. Give me knowledge, help me do teshuvah, give me parnassah, give us redemption, rebuild Yerushalayim, accept our prayers, bring peace. Okay? We ask God for brachot. Davening is not about cursing people, it's not about punishing people, it's about asking God to bless us. The one bracha, and the only bracha in Shmona Esrei, that is focused on cursing, on punishment, on retribution, is this bracha. But, says Rav Kook, when you ask God even to destroy evil, to destroy evil, you don't come with anger, resentment, and hate. Your motivation has to be love for the Jewish people. And therefore I want them to be protected from those who harm them. And if your kavana is tainted with hatred and anger the prayer becomes an unacceptable prayer. Because that's a poison in the soul. So Rabban Gamliel is basically has the following problem. The bracha has to be written by somebody who doesn't act out of hate but acts out of love. But we've suffered so much from the Romans, from the Christians, from the heretics. Who is capable? It's like saying, write write a prayer against the Nazis. Who could write or Hamas? Who could write such a prayer and not be consumed with hatred? That's why he said we I can't find the right author. Ah. So Shmuel HaKatan finally qualified. Now we don't know a lot about Shmuel HaKatan. It's very interesting. We know he was an enormous tzaddik. The Gemara in Sanhedrin tells us that one time many sages were seated in the room and a voice from heaven came down and said there is one person here who is worthy of having the Shekhinah rest on him like Moshe Rabbenu. And everybody in the room looked at Shmuel HaKatan. Phenomenally great tzaddik. Very humble, the word katan. But it's interesting and this is an interesting study in its own right that sometimes the most famous of the righteous in Chazal have very little impact on the halakhic process, meaning you know, we don't like have halakhic statements of Shmuel HaKatan that entered the mesorah. Same thing with Yonatan ben Uziel. Hillel had 80 talmidim. The least significant was Yochanan ben Zakkai who was a major halakhic force. The other 78 79 including Yochanan ben Zakkai were much greater than Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai. And yet it's almost as if they were not involved in worldly matters. They were not so involved in Halacha L'Maaseh. They were they were above it. Shmuel HaKatan was above it. So we don't know a lot about him. But in Pirkei Avot we have one statement of Shmuel HaKatan and it says Shmuel HaKatan Hayah Omer. Now when Pirkei Avot says Hayah Omer it doesn't just mean he said it once. Hayah Omer, this was his motto. He used to say it. And the motto is not even his words. It's a pasuk in Mishlei. But he always said it. Binfol oyivcha al tismach. Do not rejoice when your enemy falls. Remember that's what Hashem said to the angels who wanted to sing a song of praise as the Egyptians were drowning. And Hashem said, "Maaseh yadai these are my creatures drowning." Do not say song. And Hashem quoted this pasuk ahead of time. Binfol oyivcha al tismach. Which means we rejoice that there's less evil in the world for sure. We rejoice that the Jewish people can be spared whatever persecution they're going through. But we don't take personal glee in the destruction of human life. I know that mamish this week we had the targeted assassination which kind of was putting us in the immediate danger right now. Okay, so was that the right decision? Okay, I'm not going to I'm sure I'm not going to opine on politics or the like. I mean but in some ways, you know, what it whatever we kind of created the danger, but but ultimately everything's from God Hu. anyway, so things would happen one way or the other. But here here would have Cook's point. Why was Shmuel HaKatan the right person to curse out the heretics and the informers and the apostates? Because he did not take personal glee in their downfall. His kavana was a love for the Jewish people, not hatred for others. And therefore, in fact, I should say that one of the things I always have felt that should be the one of the greatest points of pride for us in Israel is the fact that when the IDF as part of the rules of engagement tries to minimize civilian casualties, sometimes at great risk to themselves, when these civilian casualties occur, assuming they're innocent, I know that's that's a whole debate in and of itself, which I'm not going to get into, we feel a lot worse about it than Hamas. Hamas obviously doesn't care about our casualties. That's That's Hamas doesn't care about their casualties. In fact, they rejoice when more of the Palestinians get killed because that makes Israel look worse and that gives Hamas more currency in the world. They rejoice. It's a simcha. I think it's a tremendous point of pride that we regard the loss of civilian life as a tragedy. A tragedy that maybe we can't avoid because Hamas places, you know, all of its resources in the middle of schools and hospitals and residential areas. So, what are you going to do? But, we don't rejoice. We don't dance. We don't sing. We don't say how wonderful it is. We try to fulfill the idea that when your enemy is destroyed, you don't rejoice. You do what you have to do. We're not pacifists. We don't turn the other cheek. Those who try to kill us, we kill. And there's a mitzvah to do so. So, we're not talking about not pursuing the objective. But, you don't laugh about it. You don't joke about it. You don't have that gleefulness about the loss of life. And that is why only Shmuel HaKatan was able to write the Birkas HaMinim. This interpretation came from Rav Kook, of course, who exemplified this attitude in every aspect of his life. And particularly at a time when we think about Sinat Chinam and what that means. Of course, Rav Kook was even applying it to non-Jews and real enemies. But, even if you know, that's going pretty far. That's a stretch. But, if we're talking about our fellow Jews, that's not so much of a stretch to recognize their goodness, to recognize their value, to appreciate the beauty of the Jewish soul. And if more and more of us can move in that direction, we make our heart and soul a place for the Shechinah. And then we have V'Shachanti B'Sochan. And through V'Shachanti B'Sochan, we will be Zocheh to V'Asu Li Mikdash. So, may even this Tisha B'Av uh not be a fast. There's still a chance we'll get out of the fast this year with Binyan Beit HaMikdash. If Chas V'Shalom we're not Zocheh this year, may it be the last Tisha B'Av of tightness. And as as the Navi Zecharya tells us, it will be a day of Sasson v'Simcha, a day of joy and redemption. May we be zocheh to experience that. Thank you.