Why was the Second Temple destroyed? The Sages in Yoma 9b noted that the people at that time studied Torah, observed mitzvot and performed good deeds. Their great failure was in sinat chinam - baseless hatred. It was internal strife and conflict that ultimately brought about the Temple’s destruction.
How may we rectify this sin of sinat chinam? Rav Kook wrote, in one of his most oft-quoted statements:
“If we were destroyed, and the world with us, due to baseless hatred, then we shall rebuild ourselves, and the world with us, with baseless love — ahavat chinam. (Orot HaKodesh vol. III, p. 324)
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