Sinat Hinam and Jewish Unity

Anonymous writes: It is said that Moshiach isn't coming because of sinat chinam, but what exactly is that? I mean, I know it's when we 'hate our fellow Jews for no reason', but is it the same as when one sect of Judaism discriminates against another? For example what about if you say "I'm an Orthodox, observant Jew, but my friend Joe Shmo is Conservative and I think he should become more observant"? Or, if I were to walk down the street of an extremely religious neighborhood in a non tzanua outfit, and others gave me looks and whispered to their friends? Also, what about in some places in Israel, where they are not very accepting of converts, just because they were not born as a Jew? Isn't this kind of behavior also sinat chinam? Why don't these people realize what they are doing and instead of differentiating between different kinds of Jews, just realize that we are all members of clal yisrael?

Dear Anonymous, thank you for sharing your thoughts on such a crucial issue facing the Jewish people today. I agree with much of what you have said and it is very inspiring to see that you are thinking deeply about these issues, and that you are so concerned with Jewish unity! Personally, I agree that although שנאת חינם literally translates into"baseless hatred", this can also refer to disrespectful comments made about other denominations within Judaism and/or other opinions within Orthodoxy. Many times, people will justify these types of comments, claiming that it is ok to say this if it's for the purpose of showing how we are "right" and those other Jews are "wrong". This is very dangerous, as today many rabbis believe that no one has the right to give "tokhekha" (rebuke) to other Jews. Rav Yehuda Amital (Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion) has an excellent article in a book entitled "Jewish Tradition and the non-Traditional Jew" where he states how when dealing with non observant Jews, one has to split between disagreeing with their actions while still respecting them as people and accepting them as fellow Jews. It is completely fine to think that someone else is wrong - just be respectful about it! (Another great author on this topic is Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, who writes a lot about the importance of Jewish Unity in a book called "One People?").

Another source you might find interesting (and is one of my favorite pieces of Torah to quote) is the Netziv (R' Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, 1817-1893 CE)'s introduction to Sefer Breishit. He explains that Sefer Breishit is referred to as ספר הישר after the greatness of the Avot who acted as ישרים (meaning: they dealt honestly and respectfully) with both other Jews with whom they disagreed, such as Lot, as well as non-Jews, such as Avimelech. He explains that this was NOT the case during the 2nd Temple period, where religious Jews would accuse anyone who had a different hashkafa/religious approach then them of being a heretic! Ultimately, G-d could not handle these types of "tzadikim", who cared more about bein adam l'Makom then bein adam l'haveiro, and it was because of these self appointed "tzaddikim" that the Temple was destroyed!

העמק דבר של הנציב - הקדמה לספר בראשית:
בחרבן בית שני... היו צדיקים וחסידים ועמלי תורה אך לא היו ישרים בהליכות עולמים. על כן מפני שנאת חינם שבלבם זה אם זה חשדו את מי שראו שנוהג שלא כדעתם ביראת ה' כצדוקי ואפוקורס...ועל זה היה צדוק הדין שהקב"ה ישר הוא ואינו סובל צדיקים כאלו אלא באופן דהולכים בדרך הישר גם בהליכות עולם ולא בעקמימות אע"ג שהוא לשם שמים דזה גורם חרבן הבריאה והריסות ישוב הארץ

Considering the fact that the Netziv himself lived at a time of great divide between religious and newly secular/enlightened Jews, these are strong words about the importance of Jewish unity to keep in mind! Achdut isn't a challenge if it's just with those you agree with, the question is how to have tolerance and respect with those Jews with whom we disagree the most.