The Distraction of Bickering
转诇诪讜讚 讘讘诇讬 转注谞讬转 讬:讘
讗诇 转专讙讝讜 讘讚专讱 (讘专讗砖讬转 诪”讛), 讗诪专 专讘讬 讗诇注讝专: 讗诪专 诇讛诐 讬讜住祝 诇讗讞讬讜: 讗诇 转转注住拽讜 讘讚讘专 讛诇讻讛, 砖诪讗 转专讙讜 注诇讬讻诐 讛讚专讱.
Babylonian Talmud Ta’anit 10b
“Do not be quarrelsome on the way.” (Genesis 45:24) Rabbi Elazar said: Joseph was telling his brothers: Do not engage in halakhic discussions, lest you quarrel on the way.
In an age in which bickering about halakhah鈥攊ts particulars and its generalities鈥攈as become the Achilles’ heel of the Jewish community, Rabbi Elazar’s words resound. The midrash in BT Ta’anit goes on to qualify his statement; clearly the rabbis were concerned lest this teaching discourage the sharing of words of Torah. By the end of their discussion, they have qualified his teaching as referring only to Torah scholars analyzing halakhic teachings, not to reciting or reviewing them.
The overall principle is an important one, however. Within communities, the bickering of any ritual committee can turn into a community-wide sparring match. On the larger scale are interdenominational arguments, such as those over the right of women to pray at the Kotel or the question of whose conversions are halakhically acceptable to whom. Each of these issues is important, to be sure, but more important is the overall health of the community and our relationships to other Jews. The principle that “all Jews are responsible for one another” (Sh’vuot 39a) should remind us that halakhah is supposed to bring us to leading lives infused with holiness; halakhah should not become the distraction which causes us to lose our way.
