Parshat Devarim 5781
Rabbi Jablinowitz
The Gemara in Gittin 55B relates the story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza and the eventual destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. The Gemara relates that after Bar Kamtza was thrown out of the party he had been mistakenly invited to, he went to the Roman Cesar and told him the Jews were rebelling against him. In order to prove his point, he told him to offer a sacrifice and see if the Jews accepted it. When he offered an animal to be sacrificed, Bar Kamtza applied a blemish to the lip, or the eye, of the animal, rendering it pasul for use, though the non-Jews accept such sacrifices. When the Rabbis didn’t accept the Roman leader’s sacrifice, he accepted the claim of Bar Kamtza that the Jews were rebelling, and thus began the process of the destruction of Yerushalayim and the Beis Hamikdash.
Why did the destruction come about precisely in this manner, with a fight among Jews, and a non-Jewish sacrifice rejected by the Rabbis?
The Gemara in Succah 55B teaches in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, Oy Lahem L’Ovdei Kochavim She’Ibdu, V’Lo Yodim Mah She’Ibdo. Woe to the non-Jews who lost (with the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash), and don’t even realize what they’ve lost. When the Beis Hamikdash existed, the Mizbeach atoned for the sins of the nations of the world as well, as illustrated by the seventy bullocks brought over Sukkos. Now, who will atone for them?
The Maharal expands on this idea and says, that if the nations of the world knew how important the Beis Hamikdash was to them, they would have built it themselves out of gold. The Beis Hamikdash was the focus and completion of the entire world, and this is why a non-Jew can send a sacrifice to the Beis Hamikdash, as the Roman Cesar did. Therefore, though they didn’t appreciate the Beis Hamikdash sufficiently, they didn’t actively oppose it.
This is the reason Bar Kamtza suggested the Roman Emperor bring a sacrifice as a way of proving the Jews were rebelling. The Beis Hamikdash and the Mizbeach showed that the Jews really weren’t subservient to the Romans; the non-Jews needed the Mizbeach as well. And since the Beis Hamikdash belonged to the Jews, it indicated a superiority of Am Yisrael over the Romans.
This was particularly highlighted by the blemish Bar Kamtza inflicted upon the animal. He cut its lip or its eyelid which was not a blemish for the non-Jews. The nations only disqualified an animal missing a limb, only an actual lacking in the physical body. But the Jews, who focus on the spiritual, disqualify a blemish of the eye and the mouth, areas which connect to a higher level of functioning of the animal; its vision and its ability to make sounds. And therefore, the Cesar’s sacrifice was disqualified, indicating the Jews were in charge of the Beis Hamikdash and the Mizbeach, something which the non-Jews needed as well.
What ultimately destroyed the Beis Hamikdash was the baseless and senseless hatred among the Jews. Bar Kamtza, in a wickedly devious manner, used the Beis Hamikdash as a way of showing the superiority of the Jews over the non-Jews. But there is nothing superior about us when we fight. And the Mizbeach, which was the basis for unifying Clal Yisrael and bringing atonement through both individual and public sacrifices, could not continue to exist in an atmosphere of such division. More than the Romans, we brought the destruction upon ourselves.
We read in this week’s parsha that Moshe began teaching Torah to Bnei Yisrael (Chapter 1, Pasuk 5), Ho’il Moshe Be’er es Ha’Torah Hazos. The Sfas Emes teaches that the Torah uses the word Be’er to express his teaching Torah because the word Be’er represents the wellsprings of Torah. And we read by Yitzchak Avinu in parshat Toldos that Yitzchak kept digging wells and there were controversies and disputes over them. This lasted until we read (Bereishis, Chapter 26, Pasuk 22), Vayachpor Be’er Acheres V’Lo Ravu Aleha; finally Yitzchak dug a well and they didn’t fight over it. And the pasuk continues, Vayikra Shemah Rechovos. The word Rechovot expresses expansiveness. This was only experienced when they dug a well and they didn’t argue. Similarly, the Pi Ha’Be’er of Torah only exists when there is peace and no fighting.
We are during the climax of the period of Bein Hametzarim, right before Tisha B’Av. We feel closed in and frightened. We need to feel the experience of Rechovos, of expansiveness and connection to Hashem and to Torah. And this only happens when we fulfill V’Lo Ravu Aleha. When we don’t fight and we remove the senseless hatred, we have the space to move forward and be connected to Hashem and to each other. May we quickly resolve our differences and come together and merit the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash, speedily in our time!
Good Shabbos
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