Baseless vs Free

A couple thousand years ago (66-73 ce) the Jewish people were attacked by the Romans. Their temple was destroyed, and they were exiled from their homeland. 

The Jews have been in exile ever since.  

“Why are we still in exile?”, you might ask. There’s no shortage of people giving lectures and sermons on what they think the reason is. 

If you search for the reason you’ll likely find everything from intermarriage and immodesty to lack of proper intent and belief in God. 

I’d like to take a minute to employ some “First Principle Thinking” though, in order to reach an opinion of my own on the matter. 

In order to understand why we’re still in exile, it would make sense to start at the beginning, and ask why the Jews were exiled in the first place?

Thankfully, there’s an ancient Jewish tradition in the Talmud as to the reason we were sent into exile. 

The Rabbis taught that it was due to שנאת חינם, usually translated as “Baseless Hatred”. 

If we were approaching the study of Talmud dogmatically, and simply believing everything we were told, this would conclude our search for an answer.  Luckily, I’m not the dogmatic type. I’d therefore like to analyze and dare I say even “question” this teaching. Firstly, I’d like to understand what “Baseless Hatred” even means?

Are you aware of any thoughts, emotions, or actions that are “Baseless”? 

We may not always realize why we do things, but every psychoanalyst out there would say that there’s always a root cause or a trigger.   

Stop and ask yourself who or what you have strong emotions towards. Now think about the reason why. Were you able to find someone or something in your life that you love or hate for no reason? Is there anyone or anything that you have strong feelings towards “baselessly”?

Moreover, one of the most fundamental beliefs in Judaism is that everything has a source. In essence there is no such thing as “Baseless”. 

So what were the Rabbis in the Talmud saying?

In my estimation, the answer to this question is incredibly simple. For the entire problem is built on the premise that the Rabbis said the Temple was destroyed because of “Baseless Hatred” — but they never said that. Rather, as mentioned earlier, the Talmud writes that it was due to ״שנאת חינם״. 

The word חינם, when literally translated, is usually translated as “Free”.

We say something is “Free” when you don’t need to give anything in order to get it. It’s not that there isn’t a reason for the hatred; it’s that you don’t need to actually do anything wrong in order to receive it. שנאת חינם is to hate someone even though they didn’t “pay” you to hate them — even though they have done you no harm.

It’s not that you don’t have a reason to hate the person, rather that they haven’t personally provoked you to hate them. To hate someone based on their background, religion, culture, race, gender, looks, etc. would fall under the category of “Free Hatred”. To hate someone because they are doing better than you or because you have a gripe with their parents, spouse, siblings, or perhaps even their opinions — would be the same. To hate someone who has never done you any evil — is “Free Hatred”.

Over the years I have interacted with all different types of Jewish communities and although overall I have had mostly pleasant interactions, there has always been some שנאת חינם here and there. The unaffiliated Jew who treated me as less than because I was learning in a Yeshivah full time. The Rabbi who yelled at me because I was no longer dressed like a typical Yeshivah boy. The Zionist who slammed the door in my face because my Yeshivah didn’t say Hallel on Yom Haatzmaut. The West Bank settlers who had special rules for me because I’m not married (one even going so far as to tell me they don’t want me as a neighbor). The Rabbi who scolded me for my long hair. The Rebbetzin who yelled at me for wearing sandals to a wedding. The Sefardi who screamed at me for walking around barefoot. All these are examples of שנאת חינם. It’s not that they didn’t have reasons, it’s that I didn’t do anything wrong.

Their hatred isn’t baseless, it’s free.

They hate me for a reason — it’s just invalid.

Chances are you’ve heard plenty of reasons as to why we are still currently in exile, but it stands to reason that the failing for which we were sent into exile in the first place, is the same failing that is preventing us from redemption.

We must do a better job at translating words and defining terms in order to properly view reality. If we keep reading things the way we want to, we will never learn anything new. In the lack of new information, things are bound to stay the way they have always been.

May we all understand what the Rabbis have been trying to teach us for thousands of years, and merit the final redemption.