Maintaining divergent customs in one synagogue

Hi,

"All division of custom in prayer and mitzvah activities, and contradictory rulings issued regarding communal matters performed in public in one synagogue, fall under the prohibition of 'You shall not split yourselves.' One could almost call this a mitzvah achieved through transgression! It is clear that this is not the choicest form of the mitzvah; just the opposite, we are obligated to maintain and make evident, in our every situation and service of the Gd of our salvation, the unity of the nation of Israel and its Torah, via which Gd is glorified among His people."

כל חלוקי מנהגים בתפלות, מעשי המצות והוראות חלוקות בענינים צבוריים שנעשים בפומבי בבית הכנסת אחד, הם בכלל אזהרות לאו דלא תתגודדו; וקרוב הדבר לומר שזה הוא בגדר מצוה הבאה בעבירה, וברור הוא שאין זה מצוה מן המובחר ואדרבה מצוה עלינו לקיים ולהבליט בכל מצבינו ועבודתינו לצור ישענו אחדות עם ישראל ותורתו, שבה מתפאר בעמו. 

(Rabbi Ben Zion Uziel, Piskei Uziel b'She'eilot haZman 2)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

Jewish Unity

Hi,

"Regarding Esav there were six people and they were listed as many "lives", as it is written, "And Esav took his wives, his sons and his daughters, and all of the lives of his house."

"Yaakov had seventy lives and they were listed as one "life", as it is written, "And they were, the whole life, those who emerged from Yaakov."

"Esav worships many gods, and so his people are described as many lives. Yaakov worships the One Gd, and so he is described as one life."

(Midrash, Vayyikra Rabbah 4:6)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

All together now

Hi,

"R’ Chana bar Bizna cited R’ Shimon Chasida: Any fast which does not include some of the Jews’ [former] sinners is not a fast, for the smell of galbanum is bad and yet it is included with the ingredients of the ketoret [incese].

"Abbaye brought this source (from Amos 9): ‘And He established His group upon the land.’"

(Talmud, Keritot 6b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Unity

Hi,

"‘Lo titgodidu’ - You shall not split into groups, but rather all of you should be one group, and so it is written, ‘And He established His group upon the land.’"

(Midrash, Sifri Devarim 96)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The Message of Hillel, in Koreich

Hi,

"The trait of Hillel, the lover of peace and pursuer of peace, who loves HaShem's creatures and brings them close to Torah, to the sacred preserve of the nation of Gd, the entire nation, will return to us.

"We will speak of peace to all of our scattered members and all of our factions, and the light of redemption which comes together with the mention of the Pesach and the Matzah, the signs of redemption, will sweeten for us the impressions of the bitterness of exile, and its spiritual and material pain, as symbolized by the Marror.

"Thus we will merit redemption, which will spread upon us the protection of peace and the light of truth - quickly, in our own times."

(R' Avraham Yitzchak haKohen Kook, Haggadah shel Pesach)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Personal Morality and Collective Morale

Hi,

On the issue of disobeying a military order as a matter of conscience, and the effect it may have on collective morale:

R’ Aharon Lichtenstein, 8/16/05 letter to R’ Avraham Shapira
With respect to values and principles that divide Israeli society, regarding which there is no consensus defining a particular initiative as patently illegal and immoral, selective refusal of orders is impossible. Refusal on the right invites refusal on the left, and vice versa. The result is a divided and disjointed army, part of which dissents and abstains from an initiative in one direction, and the other rejects initiatives in the opposite direction. The damage to the unity and cohesion of the army and to the readiness for mutual dedication and sacrifice is clear. And as a result, the IDF’s ability to carry out its missions and its power of deterrence
are eroded. One need not be a great general or statesman to understand the possible implications.

R’ Avraham Sylvetsky (grandson of Rav Shapira), 8/23/05 response to R’ Aharon Lichtenstein
Even if we disregard the underlying assumption upon which Kevod Torato’s question is grounded, surely in the case at hand the matter is even simpler. For Kevod Torato’s concern regarding an impairment of the strength of the IDF is shrouded in fog and not at all clear. Surely, Kevod Torato, shelita, would agree that it is almost an insult to the intelligence of the IDF soldiers that we should be concerned that they will draw an analogy from refusing orders on religious grounds to refusing orders in other contexts.
Moreover, irrespective of the religious aspect, is it not demeaning to our soldiers to assume that they are incapable of distinguishing between an order given during wartime as part of the defense efforts against the enemy and an order calling for an assault upon the property and lives of their Jewish brothers? Every soldier understands the difference between an order given in the context of the fulfillment of the role and mission of the Israeli army—defending the citizens of Israel against the enemy, regardless of the soldier’s personal political views—and an order that would not normally fall upon the IDF, and had never been included in the purpose for its establishment, and only because of technical difficulties was given over to the IDF, which is serving in this context as a manpower agency. It is exceedingly difficult for me to accept this diminution of the moral and intellectual level of our soldiers, as if they are incapable of making such simple and elementary distinctions.

(Tradition 40:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Natural unity of the Jewish People

Hi,

"The scattering of the Jewish people among the nations is unnatural; since they are one nation, it would be appropriate for them to stand united and be one. We find in nature that entities which are naturally united remain un-split and instead coalesce as one."

(Maharal, Netzach Yisrael, Chapter 1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai