FROM BASELESS TO BASED: A TISHA B’ AV LAMENT
Rabbi / Cantor Idan Irelander
During this period of mourning, we sit low, Not only because of what was destroyed, But because of our role in its destruction.
The Temples did not fall in silence. They crumbled to the sound of shouting; Not the battle cries of Babylonians or Romans, But the venom of brothers, The cynicism of neighbors, The cold judgment of one Jew against another.
Our sages called it Sinat Chinam, baseless hatred, But today we face a new kind of poison: Based hatred- Hatred that pretends to be rooted in justice, But is built on lies.
Our enemies tell us we are the oppressors. Some of us believe them. Outsiders say our longing for safety is aggression. They twist our past, They erase our pain, They infiltrate our own ranks, Turning Jew against Jew Until the walls we built for protection Are breached from within.
It isn’ t swords currently shattering the people of Israel; It is careless speech and inadequately challenged slander. No wall, however holy, can stand when truth erodes and compassion collapses.
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