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Understanding Antisemitism - 1






*Understanding antisemitism

I’ll use the Hebrew terms Ahavat Chinam and Sinat Chinam to illustrate our discussion.


Ahavat Chinam literally means “Love For Free” and it is unconditional love, love for the sake of love, love that is not based on the actions of the person you love, love that is not a reward for something the person has done for you.


Think about someone you love in this way, your partner, your child, your parent, your friend.


Can anything they do stop you from loving them?


You may not like someone because of their behavior, but you cannot stop loving them or caring about them.


Let us reverse what was said about unconditional love so that we can start to understand Sinat Chinam—the opposite of Ahavat Chinam.


Sinat Chinam is quite terrible.


Sinat Chinam literally means “Hate for Free” and it is a state of hating someone for no apparent reason and not as a result of something they have done to you.


Sinat Chinam is hate for the sake of hate.


Sinat Chinam is unconditional hate.


In the book of Psalms chapter 69 verse 4 we read.

4 Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head;

Those who would destroy me are powerful, those who oppose me with lies;

What I did not steal, I then have to restore.


This is the starting point of beginning to understand antisemitism.


Look at this amazing prophetic word from the book of Psalms in chapter 83 verse 4, written almost 3000 years ago.


4 They have said, “Come, and let’s wipe them out as a nation,

So that the name of Israel will no longer be remembered.”


Why would they want to do such a thing?


The tragedy of Sinat Chinam—hate for free—is that It really is hate without a cause.


The hater has to have a change of heart to a place of Ahavat Chinam—Love For Free.


Understand Israel.


Support, or even love, those who love life.










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