Given the unprecedented unity among our people nowadays since the outset of the Gaza war, the following essay is fitting.
The pasuk says יחדהנה מה טוב ומה נעים שבת אחים גם , how good and how pleasant is the dwelling of brothers, moreover, in unity.
How pleasant it is to Hashem when Jews get along. The word גם seems unnecessary.
Tehillim 133:1.
There can be Jews sitting together but since each has their opinions, sentiments and outlooks, there is a unity lacking. It of course is greater when they are in unity although they have different views and opinions.
The pasuk can be understood as how good and pleasant it is to Hashem when Jews sit together (שבת אחים ) although (גם ) they have differences, as יחד is an acronym for עות דלוקי חש י, there are differences of opinion.
It has been said, “We don’t have to agree with each other but we have to be there for each other.”
In a similar vein, R’ Dovid Kviat (1920-2009) explained the word גם in this pasuk. The Gemara tells us that Beis Shamai rules that if one gave a zonah wheat kernels as her payment and someone made them into flour or olives made into olive oil or grapes into wine, it is still prohibited for a Karbon. Why does Beis Shamai hold it is prohibited even after they have undergone a change? Because it says the word גם there in the pasuk and this comes to include their changed forms—גם לרבות שינוייהם . The word גם in הנה מה טוב ומה נעים שבת אחים גם יחד includes שינוייהם, Jews of all types—Askenazim, Sefardim, Chassidim, etc. Someone once said, “Differ with people’s opinions but not with people.”
R’ Asher Weiss once described the perfect Jew: One with a chassidisheh heart, a litvish mind, the integrity and honesty of a yekke, the purity of a Hungarian, kavod hatorah of a sefardi and the love of Eretz Yisrael of a dati-leumi Jew.
A Chabad rabbi told a Jew who observed Shabbos, Kashrus and a few other mitzvos that we agree on many more issues than we disagree on. And the things that we agree on are much more important than the things we disagree on. We agree on the value of human life. We agree that Hashem is unique, that He created the Universe and that the continued existence of the world depends on His Will.
We may sometimes let little differences get in the way of our unity.
We must internalize that what connects is far more important and vital than what divides us. If a person is Jewish enough for the Nazis to send him to the gas chambers then he is Jewish enough to be loved.
R’ Kalman Krohn was once in a cab in Israel driven by an anti-religious driver. Although R’ Kalman tried to be amiable, the driver was curt and abrupt. Suddenly, in the middle of the ride, R’ Kalman told the driver “We are brothers.” With antipathy, the driver tersely retorted “We are not brothers. You are religious and I am not.” R’ Kalman replied, “My rebbe taught me that we are brothers.” Who is that, the driver inquired. The response: “Hitler. He didn’t differentiate between those who were religious and those who weren’t. He killed them all.”
The Ahavas Yisrael of Viznitz would say that one must be good to everyone but not with everyone!!! That is to say, one must be friendly to everyone but not be friends with everyone.
R' Asher Weiss Ahavas Israel R' Moshe Shapiro R’ E.Wasserman
