Last week (the 6th of Av) marked the 50th anniversary of man’s landing on the moon.
At the time, Rabbi Yosef Kahaneman, one of the founders of the yeshiva world in Israel and a Holocaust survivor who lost many members of his family, was sitting in his home in Bnei Brak. When people came to his house and told him man had reached the moon, he opened a curtain, pointed to people walking in the street, and said: “Man reached the moon. But man to man he has yet to reach.”
This story is still relevant; indeed, it is even more relevant than it was 50 years ago. Rabbi Kahaneman saw the viciousness of Germany, a most advanced country in terms of culture and science, and reminded us that technological achievements are not everything.
The destruction of the Holy Temple occurred due to violence, corruption, estrangement, apathy, lack of sensitivity, and lack of faith. This is the basis of everything – human relations – the real good relationship that man must develop with other people and with himself.
Sometimes it’s easier to reach the moon than to reach another person.