{"id":54571,"date":"2023-07-21T10:51:27","date_gmt":"2023-07-21T10:51:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/?p=54571"},"modified":"2023-08-13T11:34:05","modified_gmt":"2023-08-13T11:34:05","slug":"a-halachic-definition-of-sinat-chinam-how-to-overcome-it-and-a-reason-of-logic-why-to-love-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/a-halachic-definition-of-sinat-chinam-how-to-overcome-it-and-a-reason-of-logic-why-to-love-others\/","title":{"rendered":"A Halachic Definition of Sinat Chinam, How to Overcome It, and a Reason of Logic Why to Love Others"},"content":{"rendered":"
Rabbi Dovid Hirsch shlita<\/i>,\u00a0mara d\u2019atra<\/i>\u00a0of Kehillas Bais Yosef, provided a halachic definition of what\u00a0sinat chinam<\/i>\u00a0means, removing any doubts as to whether one is practicing it. He said that\u00a0any kind of hatred that doesn’t fall into the category of where the Torah permits one to hate a\u00a0rasha<\/i>\u00a0is “free” and unsanctioned hate. Now, it’s quite a simple equation \u2013 only a Torah defined\u00a0rasha<\/i>\u00a0can be hated.<\/div>\n
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What is a Torah defined\u00a0rasha<\/i>? The starting point is with the verse (Leviticus 19:17),\u00a0Lo tisna et achicha bilvavecha\u2026 \u201c<\/em>Do not hate your brother in your heart\u2026\u201d On this verse, the Ohr Hachaim notes that there are exceptions, where you can hate a fellow Jew. This is based on the verse, (Exodus 23:5), Ki ro\u2019eh chamor sonecha rovetz tachat masa\u2019o<\/i>\u2026 \u201cIf you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load\u2026\u201d The Talmud (Pesachim<\/i>\u00a0113b) derives from this verse, based on the word \u201csonecha<\/i>,\u201d \u201chated,\u201d that if you see someone perform certain sins then you are permitted to hate them.<\/p>\n

Which exact sins can you hate a person for? The halacha says (see Choshen Mishpat<\/i>\u00a034:2) that one can hate one who transgresses a Torah prohibition that has upon it a death penalty or\u00a0malkut<\/i>, lashes. (Your rav should be consulted for a more involved and comprehensive analysis of this topic and how it should be applied. However, this captures one basic track as to how to see a\u00a0rasha<\/i>.)<\/p>\n

The challenge now becomes how to overcome that large space of where one can’t practice\u00a0sinat chinam<\/i>, namely when the person isn\u2019t a halachic\u00a0rasha<\/i>. Though one knows the halachic parameter, how in fact can one succeed in practicing it? Rabbi Yaakov Harari,\u00a0rosh yeshiva<\/i>\u00a0of Ohel Torah, gives an\u00a0eitzah<\/i>\u00a0on how to remove it from one’s heart. If one feels any kind of unsanctioned hate towards someone, one should list and focus in on one good trait that they can find in that person. When you do this in earnest, you will come to appreciate them and have an affinity towards respecting and loving them.<\/p>\n

There’s a logical reason as well why to love your brethren. I came across it in a\u00a0sefer<\/i>. If one can imagine a father and ask: what brings the greatest joy to him? One answer will be when his children get along, and we are referred to as G-d\u2019s children, as the verse says, (Psalms 103:13), Kerachem av al banim<\/em>\u2026. \u201cAs a father has compassion for his children\u2026\u201d It\u2019s rational to say that any child that is peaceful and close with his other siblings brings feelings of satisfaction to the father. A sibling that can’t love and get along with his other siblings brings dissatisfaction and pain to the father. Therefore, seeking peace and love with all our brethren will bring inordinate feelings of love back to us from the Heavens.<\/p>\n

The famous question is asked, that at the time when the first\u00a0churban\u00a0<\/i>was taking place, the Jews noticed that the\u00a0keruvim<\/i>\u00a0were hugging each other (Yoma<\/i>\u00a054a). This seems to contradict another Gemara (Bava Batra<\/i>\u00a099a) that says when the Jews were not following G-d’s will the\u00a0keruvim<\/i>\u00a0wouldn’t even face each other? How then to explain the embrace during destruction? Perhaps the answer can be that at the time of the first\u00a0churban<\/i>\u00a0there was unity; there was no\u00a0sinat chinam<\/i>. For this G-d embraced us, and said I will never let such a people go.<\/p>\n

Let us find one positive trait in our fellow person and by doing this we can, as the Zohar (Vayechi<\/i>\u00a086:2) says, awaken G-d in the heavens, based on the principle\u00a0itaruta d\u2019ltata<\/i>; for the\u00a0itaruta d\u2019layla<\/i>, an awakening from below, from this world, brings an awakening from Above, from G-d\u2019s world. In this way we can be vessels of peace and the final words we say in\u00a0Shemoneh Esrei<\/i>\u00a0can be fulfilled: \u201cOseh shalom bimromav hu ya’aseh shalom aleinu v’al kol yisrael v’imru: amen\u00a0<\/i>–\u00a0\u00a0May the one who makes peace on high bring peace to us and to all of Yisrael And we say: Amen.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rabbi Dovid Hirsch shlita,\u00a0mara d\u2019atra\u00a0of Kehillas Bais Yosef, provided a halachic definition of what\u00a0sinat chinam\u00a0means, removing any doubts as to whether one is practicing it. He said that\u00a0any kind of hatred that doesn’t fall into the category of where the Torah permits one to hate a\u00a0rasha\u00a0is “free” and unsanctioned hate. Now, it’s quite a simple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133844,"featured_media":54573,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[360],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fast-of-tisha-bav"],"yoast_head":"\nA Halachic Definition of Sinat Chinam, How to Overcome It, and a Reason of Logic Why to Love Others - Jewish Holidays<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/a-halachic-definition-of-sinat-chinam-how-to-overcome-it-and-a-reason-of-logic-why-to-love-others\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Halachic Definition of Sinat Chinam, How to Overcome It, and a Reason of Logic Why to Love Others - Jewish Holidays\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rabbi Dovid Hirsch shlita,\u00a0mara d\u2019atra\u00a0of Kehillas Bais Yosef, provided a halachic definition of what\u00a0sinat chinam\u00a0means, removing any doubts as to whether one is practicing it. 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