Transcription
Ten days ago, a story happened to one of my friends in Ramot, Jerusalem. He lives in a two-room apartment, he has children. It's true that it's not easy to live, he is very happy. He studies Torah all day. Satan is happy about that. And one day, he gets the right to build two more rooms at his home. It's finally some air for the whole family. They will be able to live in a four-room apartment. But in the meantime, a new neighbor arrives in the building and he opposes the construction of the two rooms. In addition, he says that it would cause him pain, that it would annoy him, that he would have difficulty living with it. And everyone agrees with my friend about the construction of the rooms. He has the right, he has a right to build. But my friend refuses anyway to go to war with him. It's a bit incomprehensible for his children, for his wife it's okay. They will continue to live in a chicken coop. Not easy. And then, one day, a simple man, ignorant of the Torah, arrives at the study center where my friend studies, by chance, and he wants to learn the Talmud in memory of his deceased mother. So my friend dedicates an hour a day to him for learning the Gemara of the Talmud, they study together and in a few months, here they are, both finishing a chapter of a tractate of the Talmud. It's not much, but it's already good for the level of this person in question. And so my friend invites him to his 44 square meter apartment to celebrate. He dares to invite a man of this type to his home in 44 square meters with 10 people. The guest has never seen such a small apartment. For 10 people, it's terrible for him to see that. So at the end of the celebration, the man says to my friend, you know, I have several apartments, you gave one to each of my children, I offer you 10 years of free life in one of them. They are all seven-room apartments, and you will continue to rent your studio or your chicken coop. It will give you extra income. What a blessing, it's a blessing. He said I will not go to war against this person even though I have every right to. He received 7 free rooms for 10 years and a small blessing from Nassan. As Rabbi Aaron Liffman used to say, he who yields for peace never loses. The Temple was destroyed 1958 years ago because of what is called gratuitous hatred. And I just happened to read the text of a young Frenchman on the internet. He is about 30 years old. His words are literally vomit on a rabbinic authority who is perhaps three times his age. Of course, at his level, at 30 years old, in his place, at his age, he is very far from having all the tools to judge anything about the words of the great rabbi, but he does it anyway. Today, opportunities to produce hatred are multiplied. Social networks, the development of communication methods allow us to hurt anyone, anytime. Sometimes, I am asked why I didn't respond to this or that comment. Sometimes, I didn't see it. Sometimes, I saw it. And the truth is that a large portion of people on the internet are generally people who have time, they don't comment to get a response. They don't ask questions for an answer. They comment out of ego. They need to exist, they are jealous. And this naturally fuels debates that are not debates. It's hatred, it's emptiness. So for me too, like for each of you who reads me from time to time, the next time we feel like reacting to anything, not necessarily on the internet. Let's first ask ourselves if it's a word to build or just to exist. Amen.