Page 440 - EFI-RAV ZILBERSTIN_VOL 8.EFI-RAV ZILBERSTIN_VOL 8.1A
P. 440

Pg: 440 - 14-Front 21-10-31

         teaches us that evildoers always sought company for their ideas, since
         it is difficult for a person to sin on his own, as is explained in the sefer
         Ohr Chadash (parshas Korach).

            Human nature seeks to avoid being isolated and being different to
         everybody else. If a person ends up in such a position, of being alone
         among other people who have complaints against him, either because
         his behavior is undesirable or because his views are unpopular with
         other people, he looks around, seeking a way to get colleagues to join
         him and cooperate with him, or even simply for company, as friends
         who will come to his defense and who, just by keeping him company
         will banish his isolation, as though agreeing thereby that he is not a
         loner but that there are others who endorse his conduct or his opin-
         ions and his approach.

            Chazal said, “Yerushalayim was destroyed on account of Kamtza
         and Bar Kamtza” (Gittin 56a). The Maharal of Prague (Chiddushei
         Aggados, Gittin 55b) writes: “It is worthy of reflection – what did
         Kamtza do? Of what was he guilty, leading to responsibility for the
         destruction of Yerushalayim being attributed to him? However, you
         should be aware that because there was baseless hatred and discord
         among that generation – and usually in a place where there is baseless
         hatred one party to a quarrel takes himself a friend to quarrel with
         the person who that hates him – he whose friend was Kamtza, their
         very friendship [having been contracted with the object of isolating
         Bar Kamtza,] was essentially discord. That friend was therefore
         called Kamtza, for their only intention was to bond together in order
         to quarrel with others.”

            From the Maharal’s comments we learn that had the person
         hosting the event not had a friend called Kamtza, he would never
         have dared do such an outrageous thing, throwing his enemy – Bar
         Kamtza – out of his house and embarrassing him in public, because
         he would have been concerned that his guests would criticize for such
         cruel behavior and all those close to him would have criticized him.
         The celebrant was only able to be so bold and resolute because of
         his evil friend Kamtza, who empowered him in his brazenness and
         obstinacy.

424  1  Medical-Halachic Responsa of Rav Zilberstein
   435   436   437   438   439   440   441   442   443   444   445