As much as I love my nation and as proud I am to be part of Am Yisrael, I truly feel that we are INSANE. The Gemara is a component of the Talmud,the central text of Rabbinic Judaism. It comprises rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah(oral traditions). States the Talmud (Yoma 9b): "Why was the Second Temple destroyed? Because of Sinat Chinam, senseless hatred of one Jew for another." G-d is very forgiving of sins we might commit against Him, but He has much less tolerance for the sins we commit against our fellow Jews. The antidote to this senseless hatred is Ahavat Chinam . The Jews have to learn to love their fellow Jews and there is no hope for us until we all learn how to communicate with each other, and respect each other, regardless of our differences.
For the last month, the amount of Sinat Chinam in my neighborhood has made me want to scream and cry. The mud slinging. The slander. The gossip. Today the municipal elections take place. I have already fulfilled my civic duty and pray that G-d blesses whoever wins with tremendous strength and wisdom to renew and improve the reputation of my city.
To my holy brothers and sisters, let's stop the judgement. Let's stop the hatred. We must stop the slander and the gossip. Let's stop assuming the worst of the woman who doesn't cover her hair or who wears pants. Or the man who doesn't wear a kippa. We don't know what their accounting with G-d is. They may be much higher up on the mitzvah scale than we'll EVER be. We've seen G-d's wrath in every generation since the spies came back and told unfathomable lies about the Land of Israel. Our people cried and cried, as they believed the evil report instead of trusting G-d. Ever since that fateful night, Hashem, our Father in Heaven, kept His word that He would provide us a reason to cry for generations to come. The spies, the Expulsion from Spain, The Destruction of the Temples, The Expulsion from Gush Katif(more recently)....How much more proof do we need that we are insane?
We keep talking about Mashiach...We want him to come and to put an end to all the pain and the troubles that we experience. How can we expect him to redeem us in the state that we're in??? It feels like we haven't learned a single thing from our sins. And yet, there is NO DOUBT in my mind that Hashem is ready and eager to send us Mashiach. We just don't deserve him yet.
Let's change that. Let's make it a point to befriend people who are very different than us. Let's invite more people over to our homes for Shabbat and chagim. Let's be very generous with compliments and very careful and stingy with criticism. Let's bring joy, love and light into our world instead of bringing more darkness. Let's make Abaleh(our Father in Heaven) proud of us and proud of the achdut( unity) that we continue to build on a minute-by- minute, hour-by-hour, day-by-day, week-by-week, month-by-month and year-to-year basis. I for one, am looking forward to the day that Mashiach comes, because I will know that I did my share in making Abaleh proud of me.
With Love,
Cigal
tInsanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
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