We continue discussing the negativity of Sinat Hinam/Baseless Hatred.
As we mentioned, when a person knows how dangerous something is, they put forth more effort to stay away from it.
The Reshit Hochma (a sefer written by one of the great Kabbalists from the time of the Arizal) writes in Shaar Hanava ( perek ד),
Most of the sufferings that come upon a person are from the sin of Sinat Hinam.
That is a heavy statement.
Based on this concept, the Chafetz Chaim, in his sefer Ahavat Yisrael, quotes the Gemara in Masechet Shabbat ( daf לב) which lists all kinds of horrible things that happen because of this sin.
He says that if someone were to hurt your child, has v’shalom, you’d go after the guy. But what happens when a person hurts his own child? That’s domestic violence, which is even worse.
He says that when a person is involved in Sinat hinam, he doesn’t realize that that is what he is doing. The Gemara and sefarim tell us that all the horrible diseases come because of the sin of Sinat hinam. That means that the person himself, Lo Alenu, might be causing these horrible things. How can he not be upset at himself?
Therefore, he says, a person has to stay far, far away from anything that has to do with Sinat hinam, and then you’ll have it good in this world, and in the next world.
Furthermore, the Derashot Haran tells us that Sinat Hinam is worse than the three cardinal sins, because with the three cardinal sins, people aren’t usually repeat offenders. Most people aren’t serial killers. If it happens, it’s usually in a fit of rage or passion. But he says that Sinat hinam isn’t an aberration or exception. It usually happens on a consistent basis. People may not even feel when they’re doing it. Thus, a person is far away from Teshuva, because he is so consistent in this sin, and therefore, it’s extremely hard to fix.
So we have yet another reason to avoid Sinat Hinam- because it is the cause of suffering, and if we keep on repeating it, it just gets worse.
We should all take heed and stay away from Sinat hinam, which is what we are doing when we work on our Ahavat Yisrael.