KEDOSHIM - ONE THIRD

March 16, 1999

“You shall not steal, you shall not deny falsely, and you shall not lie to one another.  You shall not swear falsely by My Name, thereby desecrating the Name of your G-d - I am the Lord.  You shall not cheat your fellow and you shall not rob.  Leviticus 19:11

You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you shall reprove your fellow and do not bear a sin because of him.  You shall not take revenge and you shall not bear a grudge against the members of your people;  you shall love your fellow as yourself - I am the Lord.”  Leviticus 19:17

There is a cryptic Gemorah in Messechet Shabbos (89b) that needs explanation.  Hashem turns to Avraham, and says “The Jewish People are sinning.”  For some reason, Avraham doesn’t provide a defense.  Hashem then turns to Yaacov with the same complaint, and Yaacov also doesn’t speak out in defense.  It’s only when Hashem turns to Yitzchak that He hears a spirited defense of the Jewish People. 

What could this mean?  With enemies rising up to harm us in every generation, to paraphrase the Haggadah, certainly we would expect all of our Avos to defend us to the n’th degree. 

We’ll begin our explication with another question.  It says in Messechet Yuma (9b) that the second Bais Hamikdosh was destroyed because of Sinas Chinum, causeless hatred.  The story of Kamzta and Bar Kamtza recounted in Gittin gives an example of Jewish hatred for fellow Jews causing disaster. 

Another reason for the destruction of the Bais Hamikdosh is told in Baba Metzia.  In a section about returning lost articles (26b), it says that if you see someone lose a coin in the sand, ‘ke-din’ - according to the law - you do not have to return the coin because the person most likely has given up hope of finding it the sand.  However, ‘lifnim meshuras hadin’, going beyond the law, it obviously would be a good deed to return the coin. Reb Yochanon later states (30b) that the Bais Hamikdosh was destroyed because the Jews didn’t go ‘lifnim meshuras hadin’, they didn’t go the extra step in being more honest than what was required.

Certainly squabbling with other Jews and not being extra honest is problematical and not ideal, but why should that be given as the reason for Hashem destroying our Holy Temple, Hashem’s residence in the world and the center of our religious life? 

An answer to these questions is alluded to by a Gemorah in Yuma (86a).  It says there that there are four levels of sin.  The first three levels involve various abrogations of positive or negative commandments, and in each a mixture of repentance and possibly divine punishment wipes the slate clean.  The fourth level, however, is much more serious.  This level is Chillul Hashem, the desecration of Hashem’s name.  If a person, chas ve shalom, is guilty of this sin, only death wipes the slate clean, repentance and punishment do not bring forgiveness. 

The Gemorah then gives two examples of Chillul Hashem.  The first is of someone who buys on credit and gives the impression, however erroneous, that he won’t pay the debt.  The second example is of someone who doesn’t talk softly, and perhaps shouts at someone else. 

Why are these the worst possible sins?  The answer is because others observing the Jew exhibiting this behavior might say: ‘If this is what a religious person does, then probably religion doesn’t mean much, and by association, the Almighty can be discounted.’ 

The whole reason for the Jewish People is to sanctify Hashem’s name in the world, giving Him more respect through our actions.  If we do the opposite, chas ve shalom, we not only anger Hashem, but we call into question our very reason for being.  We reduce the holiness of the world, and push people farther away from Hashem and redemption, which is the reason for the world’s existence. 

This puts the issue of ‘bain adam le chavero’, between man and man, in a new perspective.  If we don’t hold ourselves to a high standard of honesty and getting along with others, it’s not only a ‘sin’ for which we may be punished, but we are shaking the very existence of the world and the reason for our being here.

Now we can tie the strands of the answer together.  The two examples of Chillul Hashem involve honesty (giving the impression of not paying for something) and getting along (talking to others gruffly).  These are the very same reasons given for the destruction of the Bais Hamikdosh.  Keeping such a coin and being guilty of Sinus Chinum is so serious because they involve Chilul Hashem.  If other people watch Jews involved in such activity, it bleeds away holiness from the world and leads to a discounting of Hashem.  In such an environment, the Bais Hamikdosh is superfluous.

This explains the enigmatic story involving the three Avos.  Each of our Avos represent a ‘mida’, a characteristic.  Avraham represents Chesed, kindness towards other people.  When he saw the Jews guilty of Sinas Chinum, he could not defend them by pointing to the mida of kindness that he represents.  Yaacov represents Emes, truth.  When he saw the Jewish people keeping coins that belonged to others, even with a modicum of justification, he couldn’t defend them by speaking about his mida of honesty. 

Yitzchak represents Yira, awe, Avodah, worship.  Most observant Jews are proud that  we excel in this area.  We daven three times a day, we are scrupulous about Kashrus and Shabbos.  In shul we follow our minhagim, rituals, of avodah with alacrity.  We learn our holy books as an act of devotion to the Almighty, the source of these holy books. This is Bain Adam le Macom, religious worship of Hashem, represented by Yitzchak on the Akeidah, offering himself completely.

But these Gemorah’s are telling us that it is far from enough.  It represents only one third of what we need to do.  Not being scrupulously honest and not getting along with others represent the other two thirds, and leads to Chillul Hashem when others see us involved in such unbecoming behavior.  

We want the Bais Hamikdosh to be rebuilt speedily and in our days.  We must devote ourselves with fervor to reach the highest standards of the other two thirds of what is expected of us.