Matos: 5786 - Rabbi Zechariah's humility destroyed the Temple due to his refusal to take a stand. A leader must act with determination and responsibility to save the nation, without concern for external considerations, as…

00:00 Speaker 1 Please.

00:02 Speaker 2 We are in the midst of the Nine Days, on the eve of Rosh Chodesh, the eve of Shabbos Chazon, when we mourn the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. On Tisha B’Av, it is customary to study Tractate Gittin, which contains the account of the destruction of the Second Beis Hamikdash. The Gemara tells us of one of the causes: “Jerusalem was destroyed because of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza.” The Gemara tells the story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza. Many people ask: What happened? A man made a feast. Kamtza was his friend, and Bar Kamtza was his enemy. He sent his servant to invite Kamtza, but the servant made a mistake and brought Bar Kamtza. People ask why Jerusalem was destroyed because of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza. Bar Kamtza did something—he went and informed on them to the emperor. But what did Kamtza do wrong? Why is the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash attributed to him as well? He didn’t do anything. Why blame him? “Jerusalem was destroyed because of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza”? One explanation given is that a true friend doesn’t wait for someone to come and invite him. He comes on his own. Yes, Kamtza waited for someone to come and invite him. In any case, the Gemara tells us that Bar Kamtza arrived at the feast, and the host, who was his enemy, asked him, “What are you doing here?” Bar Kamtza said that he had been invited, so he came. It turned out to be a mistake. The host told him to get up and leave. Bar Kamtza said, “Don’t embarrass me. Now that I’m here, I’ll pay you what I can.” The host said no. Bar Kamtza said, “You know what? I’ll pay for half the feast.” He said no. “I’ll pay for the entire feast. Just don’t embarrass me.” The host said no, took him by the hand, and threw him out. So Bar Kamtza said to himself: Since

02:21 Speaker 2 the Sages were sitting there and no one protested, apparently they approved. So he decided to take revenge. He went to the emperor and said, “The Jews have rebelled against you.” The emperor asked him, “Who says so? What proof do you have?” He said, “Try sending an offering for them to bring in the Beis Hamikdash, and see whether they accept it.” So the emperor sent a choice three-year-old calf with Bar Kamtza. What did Bar Kamtza do? On the way, he put a blemish on it. What kind of blemish? On its eye or on its lip. Why those places specifically? Because among the non-Jews, that is not considered a blemish in an offering, but among Jews it is. He brought it to the Beis Hamikdash, and they realized there was a problem. The Gemara says the Sages wanted to offer it. Why? Because peace with the government was at stake. If they did not offer the sacrifice the emperor had sent, they would have a problem. They would be provoking the government that ruled over them. But Rabbi Zechariah ben Avkulas said, “People will say that blemished animals may be offered,” so they did not offer it. Then they said, “Perhaps we should kill Bar Kamtza, because he will go back and accuse us of not offering the sacrifice, and the Jewish people will be in danger.” Rabbi Zechariah ben Avkulas said, “People will say that someone who blemishes a consecrated animal is put to death.” That is not the halachah. And from this came the destruction of Jerusalem and the Beis Hamikdash. The Gemara says that Rabbi Yochanan said: “The humility of Rabbi Zechariah ben Avkulas destroyed our home, burned our Sanctuary, and exiled the Jewish people from the Land of Israel.” People ask: Why does it say “the humility of Rabbi Zechariah ben Avkulas”? What does humility have to do with this? His piety, his righteousness, perhaps—but what does humility have to do with it?

04:40 Speaker 2 What does it have to do with this—“The humility of Rabbi Zechariah ben Avkulas destroyed our home”? Where is the humility here? There is a very, very important point here. The truth is that, according to halachah, they could have offered that sacrifice. “It is a time to act for Hashem; they have set aside Your Torah.” If a great Torah authority in Israel had understood that the situation endangered the Jewish people, they could have offered it, because “It is a time to act for Hashem; they have set aside Your Torah.” Another course would have been to kill Bar Kamtza. So, from a halachic standpoint, they could have killed him. Why?

05:20 Speaker 3 He was a pursuer.

05:21 Speaker 2 Because he was a pursuer—a pursuer endangering the entire Jewish people. So it would have been permitted to kill him. But what did Rabbi Zechariah ben Avkulas say? In effect, he said that to issue a ruling like this, they needed a great Torah authority who could step forward. He thought this of himself too, but out of humility he held himself back. “Who am I to rule that this sacrifice may be offered? Who am I to rule that Bar Kamtza may be killed?” Because of his humility, he did not step forward and speak clearly and explicitly. And what followed from that? It destroyed our home, burned our Sanctuary, and the Jewish people were exiled. In other words, it was precisely because of his humility. If he had acted... And that is why we saw that when an issue of the utmost importance to the Jewish people arose, the Rebbe was not intimidated by anyone. He did not let anything hold him back. He cried out loudly and said the truth, what needed to be said. He did not let anything hold him back. There are great Torah leaders who consider whether something is, as they say, “politically correct,” whether it is appropriate or not, what people will say. But we saw that a true leader, a leader of the Jewish people, is not intimidated by anyone and says the truth as it must be said. When matters of the utmost importance are at stake, he is not deterred by anything; he cries out and says the truth. We saw this in the struggle for the integrity of the Land of Israel and the integrity of the Jewish people, in the question of “Who is a Jew?”—how the Rebbe fought on these issues without being deterred by anything, saying the truth as it needed to be said. And we see this also in Parshas Pinchas. Pinchas, after all, was the one who came to Moshe Rabbeinu and said, “You taught us the halachah. You told us, ‘Zealots may strike him.’” He acted, and he saved

07:17 Speaker 2 the Jewish people. So when a situation calls for taking matters in hand and not being deterred by anything, one has to say so. That is why we say it was his humility that brought about the destruction. May it be Hashem’s will that we merit the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash very soon indeed.

07:33 Speaker 4 Amen.