Most people advocate for themselves, promoting their self-interests. When self-interests turn to hate for others, it erodes the psyche of a healthy mind and only kills the hater. Rather than being consumed with negativity, it makes so much more sense to be engrossed with loving and nurturing oneself and your loved ones. The choice between light and darkness is obvious, but logic and common sense get twisted for some individuals.

Thousands of years ago the Moabite king, Balak, hired a prophet named Bilam to curse the Jews. The Jews had defeated two super powers of the time, Og and Sichon, and now their advance toward Israel was rapidly approaching the land of Moab. The obvious question was why didn't Balak simply request Bilam to give the nation of Moab a blessing to overcome the advancing Jewish armies? Why did the Jews require a curse that would cripple them?

The answer is painful and irrational, but a somber reality that has been proven again and again throughout history. Evil prefers the demise of good, even when given the opportunity to ensure its very own salvation.

Holocaust historian, Lucy Davidowicz, demonstrates this preference for decimation over self-preservation showing that the Nazis favored using the trains for sending Jews to Auschwitz over dispatching much needed supplies to German troops on the front battle line.

For megalomaniacs, Hitler and Saddam Hussein, their lasts words in this world were not loving and endearing goodbyes to their family and friends, but rather a spewing forth of bigoted hatred towards the Jews. When morality is juxtaposed against and threatens evil, hate is the absurd preferred defense mechanism.

Tomorrow is the beginning of a three-week period where we mourn when Jerusalem was surrounded by the enemy and our ancient Temples were destroyed. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, of blessed memory, often commented that the Temple was destroyed because Jews hated each other for no reason. It is traditionally a sad time, but the antidote to this malady is to love each other for no other reason than that we all belong to the same family. Evil despises goodness because light is a menace to darkness. Bringing love, concern and compassion to those who need it the most consistently triumphs the foulness of evil and brings forth the dawn.