Tisha B’Av: Hatred Without Cause
Growing up in Texas in a gentile home I didn’t know much about Jewish people. In fact, about the only thing I heard about them for the first 35 years of my life was what my father said: “They are just like us except they don’t believe in Jesus.”
Years later I heard a group of young Jewish people singing about their faith in Jesus and I was intrigued.
I thought, There are Jewish people who believe in Jesus? Who knew?
I became very interested in learning all I could about Jewish people. As a result, I read a book about how to share my faith with Jewish people and that changed my life.
Since that day, many years ago, I have tried my best to absorb Jewish culture and thinking. I talked to as many Jewish people as I could. I read books, went to movies, attended synagogue services, Holocaust Remembrance events, and circumcision ceremonies. I learned about holidays, biblical remembrances, foods, weddings, and funeral customs. I even had the privilege of visiting Israel many times.
However, a few years ago I came across a couple of terms from Jewish culture I had never heard before. The first was Tisha B’Av and the second was sinat chinnam. These terms aren’t as well-known as Passover, L’chaim, and shalom, but are very important in Jewish life.
Over the years I had learned enough Hebrew to know that Tisha B’Av is a date on the Jewish calendar. Tisha means nine and Av is the fifth month of the year. So, Tisha B’Av is the ninth day of the month of Av which falls in late July to early August. This year, 2021, Tisha B’Av begins at sunset on Saturday, July 17.
Recently, I came across an article entitled “Sinat Chinnam and the Destruction of the Temple,” by Rabbi Binyamin Zimmerman. I discovered some interesting facts that, I believe, are related to Jesus.
It seems that God worked an amazing coincidence on Tisha B’Av. History records that both Jewish temples in Jerusalem were destroyed by gentile armies on the same date about 656 years apart. Solomon’s Temple was destroyed on Tisha B’Av 586 BC by the armies of Babylon. The Second Temple was destroyed on Tisha B’Av in AD 70 by the Romans.
In his article Rabbi Zimmerman asked the question, “Why were the two temples destroyed?” He answered his own question by stating that the First Temple was destroyed because of idolatry which even included sacrificing children to false gods. When Rabbi Zimmerman explained the fate of the Second Temple, he noted there was no evidence of idolatry. Rather the Temple was destroyed due to the second term I did not know – sinat chinnam.
The words sinat chinnam mean hatred without a cause. At first glance, I thought the term related to antisemitism, but I came to find out from the article it means something quite different. Rather than hatred of Jewish people by outsiders, sinat chinnam refers to hatred of one Jewish person toward another.
Rabbi Zimmerman explained that the Torah allows Jewish people to hate enemies, but they must love their fellow Jew. However, a form of “hatred” was allowed toward another Jewish person if they were sinning or trying to lead others astray. One could hate another person’s actions with cause but must continue to love the person’s essence. Similar to “Hate the sin, love the sinner.”
Sinat chinnam is different than hating with cause; it is hatred without cause. Jewish people were forbidden to hate another Jewish person for no reason at all. Rabbi Zimmerman explained hatred without cause will result in a feeling of depression over another person’s success and a rejoicing in another’s failure.
Interestingly enough Jesus commented on this same issue when He told His disciples,
They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures ‘They hated me without cause’ [emphasis mine].
Jesus points out that the Jewish leaders hated Him for no legitimate reason. They hated Him because they were jealous of His success. They wanted Him to fail and wanted Him gone.
I noted two additional observations from Rabbi Zimmerman’s article.
First, the destruction of the Second Temple was more severe than the First. The First Temple was destroyed for 70 years, whereas the Second Temple has been destroyed for 2,000 plus years.
Second, the rabbi pointed out that the judgment resulting in the destruction of the Second Temple is ongoing today because Jewish people still hate one another without cause. Could the rabbi have missed the point that Jewish people by and large still do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah?
At the conclusion of the article, the rabbi stated he was looking forward to the day when ahavat chinnam reigns. Ahavat chinnam means “unconditional love” and it already reigns. For the New Testament teaches, “But God showed His great love for us by sending Messiah to die for us while we were still sinners.”[2] Unconditional love is available to those who believe in Jesus.
This Tisha B’Av let us strive to share ahavat chinnam with the Jewish people instead of sinat chinnam!
Written by Winn, LIFE Staff
Are there areas in life where you hate without cause?
What would it look like to replace that hatred with God-given unconditional love?
Have you accepted Jesus’ ahavat chinnam? If you’d like to learn more about God’s overwhelming grace, read Romans Chapter 5.
Endnotes:
[1] John 15:22-25 NLT
[2] Romans 5:8 NLT