The 101 Of Baseless Love

A captivating story is often the best way to enthrall readers. The following account is quite memorable and easy to repeat at the Shabbat table.

This anecdote revolves around Moshe, a chattan (groom), who was riding a bus in the holy land of Eretz Yisrael. During his journey, he happened upon a riveting conversation between two young men seated before him. “My wedding is next week,” one of the gentlemen began, “I truly yearn to visit a tzaddik (righteous scholar) for a blessing before my wedding!” the man continued mentioning a local sought-after sage. “Despite all my attempts, I sadly was not able to obtain an appointment with this great rabbi,” the man professed.

As Moshe overheard the young man’s tough situation, he began to ponder, “I am related to the great rabbi this man desires to meet, but should I intervene and help him out?” The debate persisted in Moshe’s mind for a few minutes before he finally decided that jumping to this man’s aid seemed wise. Moshe then tapped the man on the shoulder, “I apologize, but you were speaking loudly, and I heard your discussion,” Moshe started. “I understand you want to meet with this precise tzaddik. My uncle happens to be the son-in-law of this very virtuous rabbi. I can ask him to make you an appointment. With Hashem’s help, we can probably arrange a meeting before you walk down the aisle!” The man was quite thankful, and soon their chat turned into to a deeper dialogue. The two soon discovered that they were both getting married on the very same night, and in the very same hall, Atzulah as it is widely known! “Wow!” exclaimed Moshe. “I did not even know there were two halls in the location we chose!? I guess I will be seeing you there,” he concluded.

Later that night, Moshe repeated his discussion from the bus ride with his father. “What?!” said his dad, “there is only ONE hall in that venue!” The father quickly dialed the hall to find out more information. On the phone, the manager of Atzulah stammered, “We apologize, but you never gave us a final deposit, so we booked the ballroom with another family.”

What dreadful news to hear with just a week to go before the wedding was to occur! “The guests will be coming to a different wedding celebration!” the father kept mumbling incoherently. Without much choice and there was little time to make alternate arrangements, the family quickly settled on holding the affair at an auditorium, just two short blocks from the original marriage destination. Fortunately, the family was able to notify the many wedding guests and the chattan and his bride would once again be able to celebrate their big event on a full scale.

This narrative is the ultimate example of ahavat chinam. Ahava is easily translated as love and chinam takes this affection further. One can define this theme as love for the sake of love, understanding, and lifting one another out of despair, while working together to heal our wounds. When one chattan overheard another chattan thirsting for a brachah (blessing) from a certain tzaddik, had he chosen to ignore the circumstances instead of lending a helping hand, he and his kallah (bride) would have wound up at a hall with a different wedding underway and no plans for their fairytale evening. Moshe’s action of brotherly love ended up benefitting in unimaginable ways.

Now it is our turn to contemplate. When a person cares for others, can that action alone bring Mashiach? The answer is resounding YES! The destruction of the holy temple resulted because of one person. Now, if a lone individual has the capability to bring forth destruction, then so too, one being can bring the geula (salvation).

The Sefat Emet relates that the only yartzheit (memorial commemoration) stated in the Torah is that of Aharon HaKohen, because he passed in the Hebrew month of Av. The obliteration of the Beit HaMikdash, which occurred during this period, was due to sinat chinam (baseless hatred). Aharon was an ohev shalom v’rodef shalom (lover and pursuer of peace) and we must attempt to emulate this tremendous character trait. The modification needed to rectify the tragedies of the month of Av rest upon removing sinat chinam and replacing it with ahavat chinam (baseless love).

By Rabbi Yitzchak Aminov