We are two days past Tisha B’Av, and the lessons should still be on our minds.
This year, I saw an astounding lesson in the story of Kamsa and Bar Kamsa, an important lesson in Emunah and Bitachon.
Why was it necessary for this story to be brought down? While this was the catalyst for the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash, that’s not why it was destroyed. There was much more Sinat Hinam behind it.
But there is one part, at the end of the story, which is important for us: When the host threw Bar Kamsa out of the party, the rabbis didn’t say anything. Of course, we know that Bar Kamsa was not the best of people. He ended up snitching to the government and caused the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash with his treacherous plan.
But the rabbis didn’t say anything, and by doing so, they were basically agreeing that Bar Kamsa should be thrown out of the party.
Why is this important? Our rabbis teach an important lesson in Emunah and Bitachon, which is that anything that happens to us because of our deeds, we are really in agreement with. We might not be able to admit it, or see straight, but anything that happens to us, we really decided that it should happen to us. We see this from the famous story of David Hamelech and Batsheva. David Hamelech didn’t really do anything wrong, as the Gemara says, Whoever says that David Hamelech sinned is mistaken.
Nonetheless, he was given a mashal of a man who had many sheep. When a guest came to visit, there was a poor man who owed him money. So instead of slaughtering one of his own sheep for the guest, he took the poor man’s only sheep and slaughtered it.
The prophet then asked David Hamelech, “What should be with the wealthy man that takes the poor man’s last sheep?“
And David Hamelech answered, “He deserves a horrible punishment.“
He didn’t really do anything terribly wrong. He had a right to take the sheep. He was owed the sheep. But, come on, you have more sheep for yourself!
In essence, David Hamelech was deciding that when he took Batsheva, although it might have been legal, he had other wives and he did not need to do that. He was deciding his own court case, so to say.
The rabbis tell us that in our lives, the same thing happens.
You might be sitting at a table, having a discussion about somebody or some thing, and you might say, “That is so horrible! How dare they they speak lashon hara like that!”
But the truth is, you speak lashon hara as well. You are actually deciding your own destiny. And so, what happens to you, believe it or not, you agreed with! You were the one that said it should happen. Of course, when it happens, you ask, How could God do this? But deep down, you agreed. It was fair.
That is what happened in this story. When the rabbis decided that the host had a right to throw Bar Kamsa out of the party because of what he did, they were, in essence, saying that the Jewish people had a right to be thrown out of Eretz Yisrael, because of what they did. They decided that it was all right for the host to throw the unruly guest out of the party. So too, God is the Host and we were the unruly guest. And the rabbis decided that that was what was supposed to happen.
When you think about it, this is an amazing concept. Anything that happens to us, we ourselves agree that it’s just. It says that after 120 years, we will all say, “God’s judgment is just.”
Whatever God does is righteous and just. We don’t always see it that way, especially not in this world. We don’t have all the facts, and we don’t have all the details. But we have to know that if we were asked, we would say, God is just, and God is righteous. That is one of the lessons of the Bet Hamikdash‘s destruction: We agreed that this is exactly what should have happened. It’s a heavy lesson. Sometimes we look at life and its events as unfair and unjust. But we decided that that is exactly what should happen.
B’Ezrat Hashem, only good things for everybody.
Have a wonderful day.