the Gemara tells us about different "sins" or bad behaviors that caused the batei mikdash to be destroyed, whether it was sinat chinam, baseless hate, lashon hara, the transgressions of the three cardinal sins, etc..
I used to think those gemaras were telling us higher religious lessons, morals. We were no longer deserving because of our sins, because we spoke lashon hara or harbored enmity towards other Jews that was unjustified or whatnot, and we need to correct all that within us to become deserving again.
Not discounting all that, but in today's reality I see it very differently now. I now understand, I think, what the Gemara meant when it said those reasons for our losing the mikdash, and they are far more practical and pragmatic than just telling us higher moral lessons of how to behave and earn merit. They are very practical. When there is baseless hate or lashon hara or whatnot, there is incessant fighting. The extremists on both sides continuously increase their anger and hatred to the other and take things increasingly more extreme until things just blow up and society gets destroyed.
I see that happening today. Maybe we havent gotten to that point just yet, but it seems we may be headed there, unless things somehow get walked back. The extremists on both sides scream at each other, protest, take actions that hurt the other and also hurt the state. At some point, if it continues, things will fall apart and it wont be [just] a Divine punishment, but will be a direct cause of the sinat chinam going on, a direct cause of the lashon hara, that led to more and more increasingly extreme behavior. All this hatred and extremism will lead people to taking actions that they are sure is what God wants them to do, they are sure it is in the best interests of the State, it is the right and moral and ethical way for society to function, but it will just end up tearing everything down.
------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel
------------------------------------------------------
