In a normal year, the Nine Days period is filled with reflection over the current state of interpersonal relationships. The primary reason for the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash was sin’as chinam, or baseless hatred. This year, however, global Jewish population is more united than I’ve seen in my lifetime. Obviously, this has everything to do with the events of October 7 and the subsequent wars Israel is fighting, and the increase in anti-Semitic rhetoric on college campuses and on streets all around the world. While we may be worried about what is to come, our unity as a nation is strong.
However, this does not mean that we have achieved the levels of ahavas chinam, or unconditional love, that we should. I cannot stress how much of a pet peeve this point is to me. And I did not know how prevalent it still is until I listened to a discussion between political commentator and renowned Orthodox Jew Ben Shapiro and Catholic apologist Matt Fradd. In discussing what happened to Jews when they were able to break free of the insulated shtetl life, Shapiro remarked that there were three basic ways one could go – the assimilationist route, where traditional Judaism is all but abandoned; the rejection of modern society, where the insulated life is still kept; and the merger of the two, where you take the technological and educational advances of the modern world, and merge them with the ancient tradition of Judaism and try to have them live hand-in-hand. The first group would be today’s Reform and Reconstructionist movements, the second would be today’s chasidic movement, and the last would be today’s Modern Orthodoxy.
However, it was one throw-away line when describing Modern Orthodoxy that brought me to thinking about ahavas chinam. In describing how Modern Orthodoxy practices, one of the indicators Shapiro highlighted was “having a job.” This line may be lost on much of the audience, but as Orthodox Jews, we are keenly aware of what this means. The implication here is that if Modern Orthodox people have jobs, chasidic people tend not to.
Now this is not to say that Shapiro thinks that chasidim do not have jobs; but perhaps it has been engrained in him over many years that perhaps they tend to live off of government subsidies, whereas his posh neighborhoods in Southern California and South Florida were filled with contributing members of society.
And do not think that this is exclusive to the Modern Orthodox world. I once worked with a chasidic man, who spent his first Shavuos in a Modern Orthodox community. He came back afterwards telling me how shocked he was to see people learning in shiurim and b’chavrusa all night long. In his community, he had always been told that the Modern Orthodox Jew kept basic things like kashrus, Shabbos, and davening, but they weren’t entrenched in Torah much more than that. Seeing this community was a tremendous culture shock to him.
How many of us look down at the Reform Jew for not being sufficiently religious? How many of us look at other communities and claim that they are probably breaking a dozen laws just to maintain their wealth and lifestyle? How many of us look at communities further to the Right religiously and think that they are living in the olden days?
It is this type of rhetoric and mindset that prevents us from achieving ahavas chinam. We cannot love each other unconditionally if we still harbor these thoughts of underlying derision. A Jew is a Jew, and if we can take anything into Tish’ah B’Av from the last year, it’s that those who hate us do not care if we wear a knitted or velvet kipah; they do not care if we drive to synagogue on Shabbos. And they do not care if we have a college degree. They see a Jew as a Jew. It is time that we do the same, so we can love each other unconditionally the way they hate us baselessly.
Izzo Zwiren works in healthcare administration, constantly concerning himself with the state of healthcare politics. The topic of healthcare has led Izzo to become passionate about a variety of political issues affecting our country today. Aside from politics, Izzo is a fan of trivia, stand-up comedy, and the New York Giants. Izzo lives on Long Island with his wife and two adorable, hilarious daughters.
