It was the malady that brought down Our Jewish Temple on Har HaMoriah over 2000 years ago. Tomorrow we (sort of) relive those days, on the 17th of Tammuz.
[…] Unfortunately, we are seeing a very similar situation today. You don't need to be a scholar of political science or have a PhD in sociology to realize that by far the biggest problem in the Land of Israel, and the Jewish world as a whole, is lack of unity which leads to divisiveness, infighting and even hatred. There are factions of Ashkenazim, Sephardim, secular, religious; among the religious there are the Hassidim, the Misnagdim, and the religious Zionists. A weakened, disunited Jewish nation is easy prey for the both anti-Semites and the enemies of Israel.
The paradigm for all that is happening today can be found in the Roman era.
- Hellenized and assimilated Jews. They welcomed the Roman presence and profited by it. They were angry with other Jews who resisted Roman domination.
- The Sadducees. For the most part, these were wealthy Jews who denied the Divine origin of the Oral Law. They dominated (and corrupted) the Temple hierarchy, and were willing to cooperate with the Romans to keep their power base. They saw other Jewish factions as troublemakers.
- The Pharisees. These were mainstream Jews who wanted nothing to do with the Romans, but they were pragmatic. They wanted Judaism to survive and short of giving up their religious principles were willing to make the best of the Roman domination. They disapproved of the other Jewish factions ― those that tried to curry favor with the Romans and those that advocated open rebellion.
- The Zealots. They were comprised of several different groups of nationalistic extremists. Amongst the zealots was a group called the Sicarii (meaning "dagger") who derived their name from the concealed daggers they carried that were used to murder their political opponents. They were incensed at the Roman presence and were angry with other Jews whom they saw as actively or tacitly cooperating with the Romans.
- The Biryonim. This was the criminal element often masquerading under the guise of nationalism. They sided with the Zealots.
- Splinter sects. These religious groups (such as the Essenes) held extreme views and opposed both the Sadducees and the Pharisees. For example, the Dead Sea Sect (famed for the Dead Sea Scrolls) expected the world to end shortly and went off to live in the desert to escape the depravity and corruption of city life and to prepare for the End of Days.
Jewish sources list 24 separate factions. Their conflicting views were a symptom of a disease afflicting the Jewish people at this time. The rabbis call this disease sinat chinam ― "senseless hatred" of one Jew for another Jew.
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It was a very chaotic time, the 1st and 2nd Centuries in the Land:
Out of this chaotic time ― marked by virulent anti-Semitism and cruel oppression of the Jews ― were born a number of splinter sects, whose members believed that the Apocalypse was at hand. Finding a receptive ear among the disfranchised, these sects preached that the ultimate battle of good versus evil would soon be fought, followed by the Messianic redemption of humanity. […]
Nevertheless, at this tumultuous time, the Jews were more susceptible than ever before. The countryside was alive with charismatic healers and preachers, and people flocked to them hoping to hear prophecy that the years of strife and suffering were at an end.[…]
Jewish Followers of Jesus
Who were the Jewish followers of Jesus?
The members of the Jesus sect were clearly religious Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. They could not have believed that Jesus was "god" and remained Jewish, as such a belief would have been complete idolatry in Jewish eyes and would have appeared closer to the Greco-Roman pagan beliefs where gods took on human form and had relations with humans.
SOURCE: Snipets from https://aish.com/48949046/
1 comment:
Actually, there cannot be unity as far as Am Yisrael is concerned when you have Jews siding with the wrong groups, people, etc. We Jews today are mainly from the Pharisees but had to contend with the ones who cause the disunity and sinah. Those were most of the ones mentioned above in this post and those that followed yeshu were the ones who didn't want to be bothered by the Oral Law. Torah consists of both the Written and the Oral Laws; one without the other is meaningless and cannot be. Those who separated from the Jewish people like the Tzdokim, etc. who didn't want to accept the Oral Law m'Sinai were most likely the souls of the Erev Rav.
Unity and ahavat chinam will be when G-D fearing Jews from different sects (Chasidic, Sephardic, Yesivish, Ashkenazic, Teimani, etc.) will unite together; that is what H' wants from us. The ones who have become secularized, assimilated are the ones who will need to realize that it is the Torah that binds us together and without that as our source of life, their Judaism is worthless and they are the ones that usually cause most of the infighting and try to distance themselves as much as possible from the Torah Jews; & also because of the erev rav within our midst.
Unity and ahavat chinam will come, b'ezrat H', when we decide that we are one family and there is only One Torah which will unite us. How religious a Jew is, is not what binds us but our
Emunah and Trust in Hashem; each one heeding the Torah within his own capacity. Just like in every family where there are a few or more children, each one is different from the other but are all tied to the same family and the same love for each other.
The coming of Moshiach tzdkeinu will unite us as one as we were at Har Sinai.
maivin
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