We all know the story of Kamsa and Bar Kamsa and how it led to the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash. But are we reliving that very same story in 2023?

The Talmud reports that Bar Kamsa was so hurt and upset that he was embarrassed publicly that he went straight to the Roman authorities and gave slanderous reports of disloyal behavior among the Jews. This fueled the Romans’ anger, and they proceeded to attack and destroy the Holy Temple.

In every election there are winners and losers. The left in Israel lost the election and they were very upset. As Ehud Barak said, they would find some way of dethroning this far-right coalition.

The elected coalition made a mistake of executing on what they campaigned on. That is, making Israel more democratic, by limiting the Supreme Court power to be no greater than what Supreme courts have in other democratic countries. Unfortunately the coalition did not do a good job of explaining to the citizens of Israel what they were doing. The left’s leadership thought they had an opportunity to dethrone the current government by telling their constituents as well as foreign governments that what the coalition was doing was destroying democracy. In addition, they played on the fears of the secular population that the current government Israel is creating a theocracy. Two bold lies that if repeated often enough people will believe. They then encouraged violent protests that have led to damage, conflict and hatred.

The left leadership became the Bar Kamsa of 2023, creating falsehood and riling up the public. Public demonstrations are a key component of any democracy. But anarchy and destruction are not.

Let us hope and pray that the left’s leadership will admit to their sin and that the government will clearly explain what it is proposing and create the appropriate environment for dialogue. We cannot allow the modern-day Bar Kamsas to destroy what has been created over the past 75 years.

Rabbi Paul David Bloom
Jerusalem