Parshat Tazria-Metzorah 10’ (5770): Baseless Love Will Bring Redemption

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Parshat Tazria-Metzorah 10’ (5770): Baseless Love Will Bring Redemption

Holy Friends, Chodesh Tov! It is the BRAND NEW month of Iyaar!

Lashon HaRah, commonly translated as slander, was and continues to be the gravest sin that the Jews actively do, regardless of observance and piety. The Torah tells us "You shall not wrong one another.”[i] The Torah implies in this verse, regardless of one wronging you, we are still to remain composed through their misguided conduct, and we do not wrong them.

The Sages tell us:

“Why was the First Temple destroyed? Because of three things that occurred during that time: Idolatry, sexual behavior, and bloodshed... But the Second Temple, while the people occupied themselves with Torah, Commandments and Kind Deeds, why was it destroyed? Because there was baseless hatred. This teaches that baseless hatred is equated with three sins: idolatry, provocative sexual behavior and bloodshed.”[ii]

The Time between the First Temple’s destruction and the Second Temple’s inauguration was seventy years. The three cardinal sins caused only seventy years of exile, while baseless hatred is the source of our present day 2,000 years of exile. We must understand this a little deeper. Why is baseless hatred compared to them all, and if they are equal, how come there is such a radical difference in time?

Baseless hatred is when I say: “my kids can’t play with your kids because they go to “x” school.” It’s when I say: “I won’t pray with “x” person because they affiliate with “x” community of people. This was the Downfall of the Jewish people, and this is the main reason we still mourn in sackcloth, awaiting a redemption that we ourselves prevent. The Prophet Isaiah says “And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity: and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. “[iii] Pride, Isaiah says, is the source of evil and sin. When I speak about someone badly, it means that I have pride in myself to do so. This is an evil trait that every single one of us must eradicate.

The Sages teach us that the “baseless hatred” was in reality Lashon HaRah. Lashon HaRah means that I forget about G-d at the moment that my unpleasant thoughts become words. Let us not forget “[iv]God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” If we insult ourselves, if we insult our friends, our enemies, our Jews, our non-Jews, we are in fact, insulting G-d. The Torah commands us “"One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin"[v] This commandment, referring to the speaker of Lashon HaRah, must be clear: even if I have a friend that is so mean to me, and doesn’t respect me, and has bad habits, if I speak about his faults, I am spitting at G-d.

Reb Eliezer Cohen gives a perfect analogy for why the three cardinal sins only demanded seventy years, but while baseless hatred and Lashon HaRah has kept us without light and without a temple. In prisons, there are two types of criminals: One type of criminal has committed a crime because of an overwhelming desire for something. For example, one would rob a bank if they had a desire for money etc. The second type of criminal is one who has committed a crime because he believed that he was correct, that the money, etc, was rightfully his.

The Glory of G-d is hidden from us today, because we think we are correct with speaking badly about another. We say: “they wronged me, so it’s justified”. We remain in exile until we cure our minds from the falsehood Lashon HaRah. When we do so, we bring ourselves to a state of humility and not pride, and this is why this week’s Torah portion says regarding one who has Tzaaras[vi] “His garments shall be rent, the hair of his shall be unshorn, and he shall cloak himself up to his lips and he is to call out: “contaminated, contaminated!’”[vii] When we recognize that G-d is in control and that He is the source of all Beings, then anything we have to say against another falls stagnant and undesirable.

If baseless hatred destroyed the Temple and brought us into exile, then "Baseless Love will Bring Redemption."
This week I will try to: Focus very carefully on this middah (attribute) and I will aspire to eradicate it. I will keep in mind that speaking badly about anyone is a form of Lashon HaRah, and that theTemple’s destruction and the present exile was caused by all Jews (regardless of how religious) who spoke Lashon HaRah. I will prevent myself from speaking badly and I will rebuke others for speaking badly (even if we may feel embarrassed to do so) STOP IT BEFORE IT STARTS!!!

[i] Leviticus 25:17
[ii] Tractate Yoma 9b
[iii] Isaiah 13:11
[iv] Genisis 1:27
[v] Deut. 19:15
[vi] Biblical Leprosy caused by Lashon HaRah
[vii] Leviticus 13:45

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