This Shabbat is part of the three Shabbatot between the 17thof Tammuz, when the walls of Jerusalem were breached by the Babylonians and later the Romans, and the 9th of Av, the date that the Temples were destroyed.
It is the saddest time in our calendar as the Temple, the centre of worship, commercial activity, government and administration, was laid waste. What caused this catastrophe, what were the reasons for the destruction of the Temple, an event that changed the nature of our religion, culture and society forever?
From a historical and political perspective, the reasons are complex and very interesting. However, our Rabbis processed the destruction through a very different lens. Our Rabbis were not historians or political commentators; they did not see the destruction of both Temples as a result of poor political leadership in Judea. They were convinced that the destruction of the first Temple was due to “avodah zara”, idol worship, and the second temple “sinat hinam”, baseless hatred.
There is a way in which the Rabbinic view does allude to and shed light on the political situation at the time of the second Temple, but it was not their focus. They were more interested in pointing out the consequences of what happens both to the individual and the collective when people are acting from a place of baseless hatred, anger, jealousy and selfishness.
They wanted to show how individual actions could have a disastrous impact on the collective. And this is what is important for us today, this is their wisdom, their insight and lesson for us that transcends the specifics of their particular time and place.
The most famous parable or midrash that tries to account for the destruction of the second Temple comes to us from our Midrashic tradition. It tells of a wealthy man who lived in the 1st century CE. For an upcoming party, he sent his servant to deliver an invitation to his friend, a man named Kamsa.
However, the servant mistook the name Kamsa and instead went over to the house of someone named Bar Kamsa and invited him. Okay not so bad, right? One extra guest! The only problem was that Bar Kamsa was a sworn enemy of the wealthy host. Bar Kamsa came to the party, and when the host saw him arrive at the door, he was horrified and ordered him to leave.
Bar Kamsa, attempting to save face, tried to make peace with the host, first offering to pay for the food he would eat, then for half of the expenses of the party, and then for the entire party. He just did not want to be humiliated. The host refused.
Humiliated and disgraced publicly, Bar Kamsa vowed revenge against the host and even against the Sages present at the party who were silent. Bar Kamsa not only blamed the host but also the Sages present who should have counselled the host to exercise compassion, generosity and forgiveness. Enraged, he then visited the Roman general who controlled the region and told him that the Judeans were preparing a rebellion against the Roman Empire. The story continues, one thing leads to another, a revolt takes place and is crushed, and the Temple is destroyed.
This parable and others like it were written by our Rabbis to demonstrate what happens when “sinat hinam”, baseless hatred, takes root. They were invoked to teach us what happens when people are out of control, when they can’t forgive. When we lose the ability to exercise compassion and cannot see past our own anger and ego, we are incapable of seeing the bigger picture. The Rabbis even indite their own, “the Sages were silent.”
Again, like in so many other instances, the Rabbinic tradition here describes the human condition with such clarity. They have focused on the essence of why there is so much pain and sadness in the world. While grounding the parable in a particular time, place and circumstance, they have also lifted it out of that specific event and brought it into the ever unfolding present, where life happens, where all of the pain and sadness get played out each and every day, in our lives.
During these three weeks, we’re commanded to feel that brokenness and the pain it engenders. After Tisha be’Avpasses, the path towards healing can begin. But for these three weeks, we sit and reflect upon how our anger, thirst for vengeance, inability to forgive and alienation from one another all contribute to the brokenness in our lives and in our world.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi George Mordecai