Fighting Divides, Peace Unites

Thoughts and prayers go out for the safe return of Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Frankel, and Gilad Shaar to their families. ה ישמור צאתם ובואם מעתה ועד עולם - ה' ישמרם מכל רע

Parshat Korach

by Rabbi Avi Billet

The Kozhnitzer Maggid was known to be a pursuer of peace.

            

It happened that a terrible fight broke out amongst the Jews living in a city close to Kozhnitz, which caused some kind of “breakaway” in the community .

            

The Maggid gathered the leaders of the rabble-rousers, the hotheads of one of the fighting groups, and told them the following:

            

“There are three cardinal sins in the Torah – such as idolatry, murder, etc… The Torah spells out the devastating punishments for these sins.  But there is never a warning in the Torah to separate ourselves from those who commit these terrible sins.

            

“Only one time do we find a warning in the Torah to, ‘Separate from this group of people,’ and that is specifically when it comes to the story of Korach and his congregation.

            

“All they wanted to do, as Onkelos translates, is to make a fight, to stoke the coals of machlokes.

            

“People who want to foment machlokes (fights) in the community – from them we are warned and obligated to separate.”

            

In this past week, since the kidnapping of three teenagers in Israel, we have seen a unity in the Jewish community that has surpassed any reasons we may otherwise have for disagreeing with one another. This is a beautiful thing.

            

What is sad, however, is that it takes such a troubling episode to unify the Jewish people. This has happened before. In more recent history, the captivity of Gilad Shalit, the kidnapping of Nachshon Wachsman, and a hundred years ago, through the blood libel tales surrounding the personalities of Mendel Beilis and Leo Frank.

            

While the Jewish people as a whole may understand God differently and view Torah and/or observance differently from one another, Jewish Peoplehood is one thing that we cannot afford to break apart on account of fights.

            

The OU’s recent Jewish Action magazine had a number of articles responding to the Pew Research Center’s recent survey of Jewish Americans. One of the themes raised by a number of the contributors is that the Orthodox community – while it has a remarkably high in-marriage and retention rate – hasn’t done enough for Jews of other denominations. The synagogue is too intimidating and not inviting enough to those who are not “in the know.”

            

The “kiruv world” has its merits, as it reaches, in some cases, the unaffiliated and the marginally affiliated. But the rest of us have a lot of work to do to spread positive feelings about our faith and our peoplehood, as well as about Torah and inclusivity.

            

Rabbi Efrem Goldberg quoted Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein who wrote in Tradition of Spring 1982, ”Can anyone responsibly state that it is better for a marginal Jew in Dallas or in Dubuque to lose his religious identity altogether, rather than drive to his temple?”

            

The Kozhnitzer Maggid would explain that it is better to have peace that is not for-the-sake-of heaven (a cold peace) than a machlokes-lshem-shamayim (a fight for the sake of heaven – i.e. for the honor of God). If people would just extend a hand of unity and peace, the Maggid would explain, the hands would join together and reach the Heavenly Throne.

            

Let us fight against the appeal of the Korachs who will fight tooth and nail for every detail of what they stand for in order to disenfranchise Jews who view things differently. By all means we need to know what we stand for and we must have standards and lines we don’t cross. But we must also have lines we do cross and barriers that need not be so high, so that we can engage with our Jewish brothers and sisters in a manner that promotes peace in our ranks, not just in troubling times or in times of challenge, but when things are going well as well.

            

We wish, hope, and most importantly pray for a positive outcome from the evil kidnapping which took place in Israel. May God bless the IDF, the incredible families that are experiencing what no family should ever have to endure, and of course the boys themselves – Gilad, Eyal and Naftali, that the IDF should meet with success and the families should be reunited in safety and peace.

            

And may the nation of the Jewish people find the strength to be united as one at all times as we learn the ultimate lesson from Korach. Fighting divides a people, and Peace unites a people. Amen.