Every year, around Tisha B'Av, the Talmudic story of the barn burners in Jerusalem on the eve of the destruction comes up in public discourse. The problem is that everyone accuses their ideological opponent of being the barn burner of today...
First of all, the clear lesson of this sad story is that the result is destruction and exile for all. In the end, it is less important to find out who was right, and whose arguments were stronger and more convincing. When the Jewish barns are burning, the only ones who are happy and excited are the haters of Israel.
We all have the responsibility to avoid descending into such a terrible reality, where in the heat of conflict, barns are set on fire.
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
The real mother
King Solomon already taught us the way to find out who the real mother is. The woman who says, "It shall not be mine nor thine - cut it off," is not the baby's natural mother. She is driven by feelings of hatred and jealousy, and the fate of the child interests her less. In contrast, the real mother is willing to give up on her friend, provided that her child, the fruit of her womb, lives. She cries out in excitement: "Give her the living child, and do not kill him.".
Today's 'barns' are the security, economic, and political assets of the state. It is permissible to debate the correct policy, both in matters of the Land of Israel, and in questions of religion and state, and in connection with the 'deal' of the kidnapped, and in the correct relations between the authorities. But it is forbidden under any circumstances to 'burn' the vital assets of the people and the state in an attempt to thereby settle the internal debate.
There is ample evidence that our enemies have been closely following the discourse that took place among us last year and have concluded that this is the time to attack us, when we are in a crisis and a time of weakness. Although they did not anticipate the rapid renunciation of the people, and the determined emergence of all segments of the public to fight the satanic evil that has risen against us; still, the damage to security, economic, and social assets was interpreted by them as an opportunity to strike us.
Therefore, it is clear that this tool of 'burning barns' must be outside the toolbox of internal debate. Anything that harms the entire nation and its vital interests, both in domestic systems and in foreign relations, cannot be a legitimate tool in the struggle over opinions and worldviews.
Disruptive hatred
And it's important to remember one more thing: Every sensible person understands that 'burning barns' is a terrible and terrible thing, but when the level of hatred and hostility rises, judgment becomes distorted. Like a person whose anger rises to destroy and he sets fire to his house. Later, when his anger subsides, he will regret to the depths of his soul the deed he did, but at the time of his anger he does not grasp the serious meaning.
Unfortunately, harsh and incomprehensible expressions have recently entered public discourse. People have been investigated for much less than this in the past, and things have been condemned from wall to wall. This is another problem, of selective enforcement by law enforcement. But it is clear that these expressions express severe hostility, which also disrupts judgment.
Let us return to the proper course of substantive and respectful discourse, and then we will also find the way to solve problems and deal with the challenges. And this will be the correction for the causes of destruction and will bring redemption.
