Hello,
[I know that the following is not the dominant popular viewpoint; people tend to view Torah study as an intellectual exercise, and less significant than the social aspects of Judaism. This is all the more reason to cite this source for study.]
"Rav Huna and Rav Yirmiyah said in the name of Rav Shemuel bar Rabbi Yitzchak:
"We have found that Gd overlooked idolatry, sexual immorality and murder, but did not overlook the rejection of Torah. It is written (Yirmiyah 9), 'Why was the land lost?' And then the passage does not say, 'For idolatry, sexual immorality and murder,' but rather, 'For they abandoned My Torah.'
"Rav Huna and Rav Yirmiyah said in the name of Rav Chiyya bar Abba:
"It is written (Yirmiyah 16), 'They abandoned Me, and they did not guard My Torah.' Gd was saying: I wish that they had abandoned Me and still guarded My Torah, for through their involvement in Torah, its light would have brought them back to righteousness."
(Midrash, Eichah Rabbah, Petichta 2)
May we soon see the rebuilding of the Beit haMikdash,
Mordechai
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When Israel abandoned the Torah they abandoned all of it including the laws of ben adam lechavero. The first temple prophets railed against those who had no mercy on the poor widows and orphans. In the second temple baseless hatred was the cause of destruction. It was also said that another cause was "she-lo birchu al haTorah techilla. There are many perushim to this saying, but the best in my opinion is that if people would put the Torah and its learning before all else then there would be tikkun of society
ReplyDeleteWhen Israel abandoned the Torah they abandoned all of it including the laws of ben adam lechavero. The first temple prophets railed against those who had no mercy on the poor widows and orphans. In the second temple baseless hatred was the cause of destruction. It was also said that another cause was "she-lo birchu al haTorah techilla. There are many perushim to this saying, but the best in my opinion is that if people would put the Torah and its learning before all else then there would be tikkun of society
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