“Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Mishlei
The famous rabbi, Talmudic genius and prodigy, Rabbi Menachem Ziemba (1883–1943) (Hebrew: מנחם זמבה) who was gunned down by the Germans in the Warsaw Ghetto during Passover, wrote that there was no logical explanation for Anti-Semitism. He explains further in this video:
https://youtu.be/Gj7XmL4LZwI
If Rabbi Menachem, one of the greatest Jewish minds in history who experienced the Holocaust first hand, says there is no logical explanation for Anti-Semitism, then why should we think we can explain it? Where should we turn for a true understanding?
Furthermore, if the explanation given for the Holocaust is Anti-Semitism, but there is no logical explanation for Anti-Semitism, then how can it be a logical explanation of the Holocaust?
I believe an explanation does exist. As strange as it may seem, the explanation starts with a strange story In the Gemara (the rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah the Oral Torah).
Believe it or not, it is based on a story about a dinner party. This is used to teach about Tisha be’Av (9th day of the month of Av). If one follows through, there are further teachings regarding this banquet which lead to the discovery of an entirely new way to understand the Holocaust and Anti-Semitism through the millennium.
I am of course referring to the story of “Kamtza and Bar Kamtza." Reference for more on "Kamtza and Bar Kamtza” https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/72848
To understand the Holocaust one must look at the event in the greater context of Tisha B’Av. The Holocaust is one horrific happening in a sequence of other great tragedies befalling the Jewish people going back thousands of years. All these events in history are connected. They all occurred on the biblical Tisha B’Av.
- 586 B.C.E. The First Temple, Solomon's Temple was destroyed on the 9th Av by the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar. (Many Jews were subsequently forcibly exiled to Babylon).
- 70 C.E. Tisha b'Av (9th of Av) five hundred years later, the 2nd Temple in ancient Jerusalem was destroyed on the same date by the Romans.
- 135 C.E on the 9th Av during the time of the Jewish revolt against Roman rule, soldiers led by Rabbi Simon bar Kochba were massacred in their final battle at Betar. (Proportionately this was more Jews than were killed during the Holocaust.)
- 1096, 9th of Av the Crusades began during which 1.2 million Jews were killed.
- 1290 A.D. 9th Av England expelled the Jews.
- 1306 A.D. France expelled the Jews.
- 1492 The Golden Age of Spain came to a close when Queen Isabella and her husband Ferdinand ordered that the Jews be banished from Spain. The edict of expulsion was signed on the 31st March and the Jews were given exactly four months to put their affairs in order and leave. The Hebrew date of their leaving was to be the 9th of Av! (That was the date the Columbus was planned to leave Spain backed by a wealthy Jew. Columbus postponed his trip by one day to avoid bad luck!)
- 1670 A.D the Jews were forced out of Vienna Austria.
- 1881 A.D. 22 the Russian Pogroms started.
- 1914 Tisha B'Av marked the declaration of war by Germany on Russia, the two major powers from the two opposing alliances which fought in WWI. Many historians view WWI as one of the major causes of Hitler’s rise to power and the Second World War. In a very real sense, WWI was a direct progenitor of WWII and the Holocaust.
- 1942 On the 9th of Av, Heinrich Himmler presented the Nazi “Final Solution” to wipe out all Jews in Europe. In 1942, on this same day, the Nazis began to deport all Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to extermination camps.
[There are other tragic events on Tisha B’Av that I have not listed above.]
What is the likelihood of so many terrible events in the history of the Jewish people being associated to one date, Tisha B’Av? There is no logical explanation! And as Rabbi Menachem wrote as an observer and victim of the Holocaust, there is no logical explanation for Anti-Semitism.
“Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbors yourself. I am the Lord." Leviticus 19:17-18
My understanding is the fundamental reason for all of this is what Rashi describes as "Baseless Hate." I am talking about hate taken into the heart and nurtured into a grudge. Hate which becomes toxic and leads us to sin.
Baseless hate, as I understand it from my studies, is not your ordinary hate. It is difficult to explain the distinction in the space of this article. I will simply say that it is an unjustified level of hate which is based on "things" that one has severely over-amplified. I will describe it as an illogical level of hate.
Hate leads us to covet, lie and steal. Baseless hate leads people to bear fall witness. Hate leads to idolatry and adultery, to murder and the denial of God.
Hate is the force which climbs up and down the Ten Commandments.
Jonah Ritter
But here is the profound twist. The haters in the Rabbi's lessons are Jews, not gentiles! In other words, the Rabbis say the destruction of the Temple is the result of hate in the heart of Jews, not gentiles.
God's "chosen people" are a light to Nations. But the Torah is filled with times when Jews disobeyed God and lost faith. Throughout the Torah the Hebrews face near destruction, but for the Covenant and the intercession of Moses, we may have been.
We live in a time that seems to be filled with Baseless Hate. I see my fellow Jews justifying "baseless hate." To anyone who believes that history repeats or at least rhymes, I ask a prophetic question. If all this is so, and Tish B’Av is historic as well biblical, then what's to say there will not be another Tisha B'Av?
Tisha B'Av is the reason that Jewish Identity is a very long story of PTSD.
Justice Robert H. Jackson, Chief of Counsel for the United States, for International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, said the following in his opening statement:
"The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated."
“A person’s tongue is more powerful than his sword. A sword can kill someone who is nearby; a tongue can cause the death of someone who is far away.” Gemara
“Just as the learning of Torah equals all other mitzvas combined, so does speaking loshon hora equal all sins combined.” The Yerushalmi
Proverbs 6:16-19
Six things Adonai hates,
yes, seven are abominations to Him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that plots wicked schemes,
feet that run to evil,
a false witness who spouts lies,
and one who stirs up strife among brothers
I will leave it there . . . but I assure you that God will not.
Epilogue:
8.14.23 - Here is an excellent teaching I heard recently about Tisha B’Av.
Epilogue:
Rabbi Menachem Ziemba was a prominent rabbinic figure in Warsaw, known for his scholarly contributions and leadership during the Holocaust. In the 1930s, he was a vocal and influential figure within the Jewish community in Poland. One of his notable addresses took place during a gathering of Agudat Yisrael in the 1930s, where he emphasized the need for resilience and adherence to Jewish law even in the face of growing anti-Semitic threats.Unfortunately, specific transcripts of Rabbi Ziemba’s speeches from the 1930s are not readily available online. His later activities, especially his leadership and resistance during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, are well-documented. Rabbi Ziemba's calls for armed resistance against the Nazis marked a significant departure from traditional passive suffering and highlighted a new form of Kiddush Hashem (sanctification of God's name), advocating for the sanctification of life and the importance of fighting back against oppression.
Matthew 5:21-22 --
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’
22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.