SOLDIERS OF IDF VS ARAB TERRORISTS

SOLDIERS OF IDF VS ARAB TERRORISTS

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Today Begins the Three Weeks

The first Holy Temple was destroyed because of idolatry and 70 Jubilee cycles that were not observed, both heinous transgressions in Judaism. The punishment - 70 years of exile.
The second Holy Temple was destroyed because of baseless intramural hate, apparently a much lesser transgression than idolatry and desecration of Sabbatical years. Yet, 2000 years have gone by and we're still in exile. When will we ever learn? Hashem despises arrogance; when one person or group thinks that he's better than anyone else, that's sufficient arrogance to perpetuate the exile. The result? Another Three Weeks of lamentations.
Hashem doesn't need the lamentations of the "frum," the ones who think they're "holier than thou" and allow themselves the luxury of condemning/hating/snobbing/boycotting other Jews. Thank G-d my beloved rabbi and teacher Rav Shalom Arush is a beacon of unconditional love and demands the same of his students.
Loving another Jew doesn't mean that you necessarily agree with his practices or philosophy in life. Loving the other person is a simple commandment of Torah that Hashem unconditionally requires of all of us.
Just remember - our sages in Tikkun Chatzot (Midnight Lamentations) say that every generation who failed to rebuild the Holy Temple is as if they destroyed it. Categorically, intramural hatred is not only perpetuating the exile, but is causing Hashem to use drastic measures to wake us up and to prod us to act like brothers toward each other.
There's something else that I am sure of: the tragic and untimely deaths of the Fogel family in Israel and little Leiby Kletzky in New York are high-volume wake up calls to make us come together. Enough of these wakeup calls! Spiritually, those who disdain others are dangerous to the public.