We continue to discuss the magnitude of the sin of Sinat Hinam /baseless hatred. As we have mentioned, the Bet HaLevi says that the sin of Sinat Hinam is so terrible that it brought the destruction of the Bet HaMikdash . Rav Yehezkiel Levenstein, in his section on Yirah and Mussar, says that if a person has Sinat Hinam, “ He has no connection, no dealing with God.” He says that people walk around thinking that they are generally good. They may have some issues, they might fight with their neighbor or this one and that one, but they think that they are basically good people. They think that they have a nice relationship with God. That is a mistake. Rav Yehezkiel bases this on the fact that the Bet HaMikdash was destroyed. The Bet Hamikdash was God’s connection to the Jewish people, so if Sinat Hinam destroyed the Bet HaMikdash, that means it destroyed God’s connection with the Jewish people. Sinat hinam caused God to leave us. This works the same way with the individual. When an individual has Sina , he has no connection to God. That is a very powerful statement. We all want to have a connection to God. And we all somehow think that we’re ok. Rav Yerucham Levovitz explains that we have to give up our lives for the three cardinal sins of Avoda Zara , adultery and murder, because God can’t exist with them. Therefore, it’s better to die than to commit these sins. Why can’t God exist with these sins? Because they are all the ultimate of hate. Murder is the ultimate of hate, adultery, destroying a marriage is ultimate hate, and avoda zara , worshiping another deity, is also the ultimate in hate. What is it that God can’t live with? He can’t live with the ultimate hate of these sins, whereas with a regular sin, God can still exist. Shaatnez is bad, but there’s still room for love. Sinat Hinam weighs in like all three of these sins, because it is Hate . As we said previously, hate is the antithesis of Hashem. That’s why they can’t survive together. We must understand how detrimental this sin is, so that we will be more careful to stay away from it. People like smoking, but look how bad it is. I like salt, but look what it does to my blood pressure. I like sugar, but look what it does to diabetes etc etc. Once we realize how bad Sinat Hinam is, that it cuts off our connection to God, we will start working on fixing it. Have a wonderful day.