We started off the week saying that by working on Bitachon we are working on a middah that is necessary for rebuilding the Bet Hamikdash.
Every generation that doesn’t have the Bet HaMikdash has to feel responsible for it, and we have to fix the areas necessary in order to bring it back.
If we asked the average Jewish person why the Bet HaMikdash was destroyed, they’d say it was because of Sinat Hinam/Baseless hatred, and therefore, we have to work on loving our fellow Jew.
But there’s a rule that if you want to really fix something, you have to get to the root of the problem. If your gardener simply mows down your weeds with a lawnmower, they’ll come back because you haven’t uprooted them. You have to get to the root in order to fix the problem.
The Gaon M’Vilna asks: What is the source of Sinat Hinam?
He answers: והוא מחוסר בטחון
Baseless hatred comes from a lack of Bitachon.
And he explains:
שכל השנאה וקנאה ממנו
All hatred and all jealousy comes from it.
Why don’t you get along with a person? Is it really for no reason? Even if he didn’t do anything to you, there’s a reason.
When we dislike a person, it’s often because he’s doing better in business than us, or because he’s more popular. Deep down we tend to dislike people when we’re jealous of them, when they outdo us, when they’re the life of the party. It hurts our self esteem and we get down.
But if we had full reliance on Hashem, we’d understand:
-that when we don’t have something it’s because Hashem decided it’s not good for us,
-that no one can take anything from us other than Hashem,
-that no one can affect our lives even a hairsbreadth without Hashem,
- That there could be no one in the world except me and I’d still have exactly the same lot.
Therefore, a lack of Bitachon is the cause of Sinat Hinam.
It’s important in any activity to understand what you’re doing, the three weeks included. We can’t forget the three weeks. Not going to weddings is not enough. You have to think about it. But people don’t like to be reminded of the three weeks. They don’t want to think about it. I like to say that G-d made the three weeks during the summer on purpose. He could have made it in mid-November or December when it’s dark and cold. Then your summer wouldn’t be disturbed. And this year, I’ve even overheard people complaining that the 17th of Tammuz and Tisha B’Av both fall out on Sundays. They say Hashem stole two of our Sundays!
Why? Because Hashem wants us think about the three weeks, to remember the Bet HaMikdash. He wants to rebuild it for us.
He misses us more than we miss Him.
As we have said in the past, we have a father/son relationship with Hashem. It’s just like the parent that misses their child at sleep-away camp more than the child misses the parent. Hashem says every single day, “Woe to the father that doesn’t have his children by his table”
G-d is misses us at His table.
This has to be on our minds, so we can rebuild. So what can we do? Exactly what we are doing right now: Work on our Bitachon, because that’s getting to the source of the sin. It’s the lack of Bitachon.
And as we said at the start of the week, our Bitachon needs to be internal, not external.
The first Bet HaMikdash was destroyed over sins that were external, revealed.
Idol worship, murder, promiscuity- these were all sins that are apparent and on the outside. They were corroded on the outside but their insides were good. And because their sins were revealed, the end of the Galut was revealed to them. 70 years. It was known.
The second Bet HaMikdash was destroyed over baseless hatred, which was internal, unrevealed. On the outside everything looked great. And because the sin wasn’t revealed, so to, the end of the Galut was not revealed either. We are still in it.
BeH by working on our Bitachon we will cleanse ourselves of baseless hatred and be zoche to rebuild the Bet HaMikdash.