Baseless Hatred and the Three Cardinal Sins

Why was the First Temple destroyed? Because of three (evil) things that were prevalent there: idolatry, illicit sexual relations and bloodshed. However, the Second Temple, when people were engaged in Torah, mitzvot and acts of kindness, why was it destroyed? This is due to the fact that during that period there was baseless hatred. This teaches you that baseless hatred is the equivalent to the three (severe) sins: idolatry, illicit sexual relations and bloodshed.

                                    Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 9b

            The Talmudic comment raises a number of questions, among which we shall deal with two:

1] What is the definition of “baseless hatred?” Apparently, there is no hatred which is totally without a reason (whether or not that reason has real validity).

2] Is baseless hatred truly of equal gravity to the three cardinal sins, for which a Jew is expected to forfeit his life?

            Pitron Torah (a compilation of Midrashic material from the Gaonic period [7^th – 11^th centuries]) refers to the “baseless hatred” of Joseph’s  brothers. [Parashat Tzav, p.24] At first glance, this is a perplexing comment, given that the Torah provides us with the reasons Joseph’s brothers hated him:

When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not bring themselves to speak peaceably to him.                                                                 Genesis  37:4;

“Are you really going to reign over us,” his brothers asked him. “Are you really going to rule us?” So they hated him even more because of his dream and what he said.                                                         Ibid. 8

Thus, the verses present three reasons for the brothers’ hatred of Joseph: 1] their father’s blatant preferential treatment of Joseph over them; 2] Joseph’s dream; 3] Joseph’s words to them. How then, can this hatred be called “baseless?” The Midrash teaches that any hatred among Jews is by definition, “baseless.” We must understand that that which unites us as the Children of Israel is vastly more important than the minor things which separate us from each other.        

            Rabbi Ovadya Yosef writes:

It was because of the sin of baseless hatred that the Second Temple was destroyed, and any form of hatred is deemed baseless hatred, for any rationale for hatred is empty an illusion. Yalkut Yosef, Laws of the Priestly Blessing, 128, note 2

            Olelot Ephraim (Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz, author of Kli Yakar, [1540 – 1619]) phrases our second question thus:

Any intelligent person must pay attention to this statement, which is difficult to comprehend: that the absence of peace (i.e., baseless hatred) is as grave as idol worship.

Did our Sages truly intend that baseless hatred is as severe as a person putting his hands around the neck of another and choking him to death? Is it indeed as grave as illicit sexual relations or one who worships idols?

            Tractate Derech Eretz (dated to the Talmudic period, edited in the Gaonic period) teaches:

The Sages said: “When there is discord in a city, there is bloodshed … when there is dissension in a home, there is lechery. [7:34]

            That is, baseless hatred has the potential to lead to bloodshed and to illicit sexual relations.

            Concerning the third of the cardinal sins, idolatry, our Sages [Midrash vaYikra Rabba 9:9] note that “shalom” (peace) is one of God’s names; thus, baseless hatred, which is antithetical to peace, drives out God’s name from within Israel, and as such, it is equivalent to idolatry.

            Based upon the above, we can understand that our Sages’ equation of baseless hatred and the three cardinal sins is intended to warn that baseless hatred has the potential to lead to violations of the gravest three sins.

            We may note that our Sages comment is a major understatement. The first destruction, brought about by violations of the three cardinal sins lasted only seventy years. (Seventy years after the destruction of the First Temple, the Second Temple was dedicated.) However, the second destruction, caused by baseless hatred has continued and continues for one-thousand, nine hundred and seventy-eight years. Indeed, we have a Midrashic source which states that: “baseless hatred is graver than idolatry.” [Tractate Kallah Rabbati (from the Gaonic period) 5:1]

            The 14^th century Torah giant, Rabbi Nissim of Gerona, comments that the severity of baseless hatred lies in the fact that, by definition it cannot provide any benefit whatsoever.

            If a person murders another, there is a reason (excepting a true sociopath), albeit not a valid one. Similarly, if one chooses to worship idols, it is for some perceived gain. Certainly, illicit sexual relations are motivated by utilitarian reasons. Not so one who hates baselessly. Thus, we can understand the severity of baseless hatred as being grounded in the likelihood that it will lead to violating the three cardinal sins while providing no benefit for the sinner.

            In closing, we may note that the reason the second destruction has continued is the simple fact that our generation has not rectified the sin of baseless hatred, and our Sages taught:

Every generation in which the Temple is not rebuilt is considered as having destroyed the Temple, and what is the reason? Since they have not repented. Midrash Tehillim 137:10

Since our generation has not repented the sin of baseless hatred, we must see ourselves as the generation which destroyed the Temple. 

            We have the power to rectify the sin which caused the Temple’s destruction, and thereby usher in the Third Temple.