Shemirat HaLashon שמירת הלשון

From all of our elaborating until now on the greatness of the punishment for lashon hara in this world and the next, it should be understood how much we must distance ourselves from the sin of machloketh. For aside from the sin itself, which is a grave one, as we shall explain, it is a potent cause of other grave sins, namely: vain hatred, lashon hara, rechiluth, anger, verbal wronging, "whitening of the face" [in shame], revenge, bearing a grudge, vain curses, undermining a person's livelihood, and, sometimes, even desecration of the Name, G-d forbid, an extremely grave transgression. And it is also common to come through this to the sin of flattery, whereby one gains adherents for his quarrel, as we find with Korach, as Chazal have said (Sanhedrin 52a) on the verse (Psalms 35:16): "Because of the flattery of the quaffing of a draught, he has ground his teeth against me" — Because of the flattery they accorded Korach for the drinks that he plied them with, the plenipotentiary of Gehinnom ground his teeth against them." And machloketh also leads to levity, to mock the opposing party and thereby draw adherents to one's counsel. And all this was the conduct of the first man of machloketh — Korach, as we find in Midrash Rabbah, Korach. And it is known that the punishment for levity begins with suffering and ends with destruction, as Chazal have said. And more than this. It is found that when the yetzer entices one to strengthen the machloketh and to draw men to his counsel, and he fears lest they turn away from him and leave him by himself, the yetzer entices him to create a strong bond [of unity] by means of an oath. All this we find in the Midrash and in the Gemara in respect to Korach, Dathan, and Aviram. And see, my brother, how much blindness there is in this. For the oath is close to being a vain one, their having sworn to transgress a mitzvah [See Yoreh Deah 236:2, and the Shach there, section 4]. And even if he fulfills his oath, it still does not leave the category of "a vain oath" [See 238:5]. And the severity of the punishments for a vain oath is well known, the Holy One Blessed be He not absolving one for this, as it is written (Shemoth 20:7): "The L-rd will not absolve one who takes His name in vain" [See Shevuoth 39a]. I have written all of this only to show to all the great "blindness of the eyes" that inheres in this. And even if in the beginning he does not intend such evil, still, in the end, he will not be absolved of the aforementioned transgressions, as should be clear to anyone with a knowledge of the world.

And the yetzer hara has one stratagem in this area whereby he can ensnare even the "perfect man." And that is to instill him with anger and [a quest for] triumph, and then all obstacles will become a smooth path for him. For the yetzer hara will then show him many heterim. And aside from permitting him to speak lashon hara and rechiluth and ona'ath devarim [verbal wronging] and to "whiten one's face" [with shame], his yetzer will spur him further [to believe] that it is forbidden to pity such persons [i.e., his opponents] and that it is a mitzvah to pursue them in all ways.

Now if we came to explain the great harm of machloketh, the time would end and the subject would not end, as the Rambam writes in his will: "Prophets have prophesied and wise men have ratiocinated and elaborated on the harm of machloketh and have not reached its end." But I shall adduce some apothegms [on the subject] in short, so that the thinking man can reflect in general on the sin of machloketh.

This is the language of the Midrash Rabbah on Korach: "R. Berechiah said: 'How severe is machloketh! For the upper beth-din punishes only from twenty years and above, and the lower beth-din from thirteen and above; but in the machloketh of Korach, one-year-old infants were swallowed up in the depths of Sheol, as it is written (Numbers 16:27): '…and their wives and their sons and their infants… (Ibid. 33): …went down — they and all that was theirs, alive into Sheol.'"

Our Rabbis taught: "Four are called 'wicked': one who raises his hand against his friend to strike him (even though he does not strike him), one who borrows and does not repay, one who is brazen-faced, and is not ashamed before one who is greater than he, and a man of machloketh, as it is written (Ibid. 26): 'Depart, now, from the tents of these wicked men' [Korach, Dathan, and Aviram]."

And if so, how much should one be ashamed of himself when he knows in his soul that he is the cause of the machloketh. For if one's friend calls him "wicked," even between the both of them [i.e., not in public], where he is not put to [public] shame because of this, still, he will pursue him to his very life because of this. How much more so, this one, who caused himself to be called wicked because of this [machloketh] — how much shame and humiliation will be his lot above thereafter, when his [formerly] good name is bruited thus above in the Heavenly assembly before thousands of thousands and tens of ten thousands of holy encampments! As the holy books write, all of a man's affairs are proclaimed and publicized above in the presence of all [aside from his punishment for the machloketh itself]. And this is the intent of (Avoth 2:13): "And do not be [called] wicked in your own presence."

And Satan himself provokes men of machloketh, as we find in Gittin 52a: "There were two men whom the Satan was wont to provoke to argument every Sabbath eve. Once, R. Meir chanced to be there and he prevented them [from quarreling] for three Sabbath eves, until he made peace between them, at which they heard Satan saying: 'Woe unto that man [i.e., unto me] whom R. Meir evicted from his house!'"

And, in Yalkut Korach: "Come and see what machloketh does. For 'machloketh' acronymically (without the vav) is 'Makkah' [a blow], 'Charon' [wrath], 'Likui' [defect], 'K'lalah' [a curse], 'Tachgith' [destruction (klayah)] to the world." And according to the greatness of the eminence of the man of machloketh, so will be his punishment (as we find in Tanna d'bei Eliayhu 18). And, therefore, it is written in Parshath Korach (Numbers 16:2): "…chiefs of the congregation, designates of the time, people of name" — to emphasize the greatness of their sin.

Chazal have said (Reishith Chochmah, Sha'ar Ha'anavah 4): "In three instances the Holy One Blessed be He overlooked idol worship; but He did not overlook machloketh. First, in the generation of Enosh, when men began to serve idols, as it is written: 'Then they began to call [idols] in the name of the L-rd.' But, because there was peace among them, the Holy One Blessed be He allowed them a hiatus. In the generation of the flood, however, because there was machloketh among them, so that they stole and plundered from each other, the Holy One Blessed be He did not relent, as it is written (Ibid. 6:"13): 'Because the earth was filled with violence by them, etc.' Second, in the generation of the desert when the Jews came to make the golden calf, the Holy One Blessed be He forgave them; but when they lapsed into machloketh, the Holy One Blessed be He did not overlook it. For wherever you find 'and they protested' [vayalinu] of machloketh, you find a great smiting, the most extreme instance being the Korach rebellion. Third, the image of Micah. Because there was peace among them, they were given a grace period, as it is written (Judges 18:30): 'And the children of Dan set up the image; and Yehonathan, the son of Menasheh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.' But when the tribes contended with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and there was no peace among them, they became scourges to each other. When the one sinned, the Holy One Blessed be He would bring the other upon him and exact payment from him, as it is written (II Chronicles 13:17): 'And Aviyya and his people slew them with a great slaughter, so there fell slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.' And when the tribes of Judah and Benjamin sinned, the ten tribes came and exacted punishment of them, as it is written (Ibid. 28:6): 'For Pekach, the son of Remalyahu, slew in Judah a hundred and twenty thousand in one day.'" We are hereby taught that men of machloketh become instruments of destruction, one to the other.

Grave is machloketh, for it places one's life in danger. For the quarrel between the shepherds of Avram and those of Lot led them to separate from each other, as a result of which Lot went to Sodom and was almost destroyed along with them.

Grave is machloketh, for it leads to stripes, as it is written (Deuteronomy 25:1): "If there be a quarrel between men…" Peace does not come from a quarrel. (Ibid. 2): "And if the wicked one incur the penalty of stripes…" What caused him to receive stripes? The quarrel.

Grave is machloketh for it leads to death, as it is written (Exodus 21:22): "If men grapple and strike a pregnant woman…" (Ibid. 23): "And if there be death [in the woman], then you shall give a life for a life." What caused this? The quarrel.

And our sages have said (Derech Eretz Zuta 9): "If there is machloketh in a household, in the end it will be destroyed. If there is machloketh in a synagogue, in the end it will be disbanded. What is more, in the end it will be laid waste. If there is machloketh in the city, there is bloodshed in the city. Two Torah scholars who live in the same city and, similarly, two courts in the same city, if there is machloketh among them, they are destined to expire. Furthermore, a contentious court is the destruction of the world. Know this to be so, for so long as there is peace in the lower tribunal, there is peace in the higher tribunal, as it is written (Amos 9:6): 'He builds His chambers in the heavens.' When? (Ibid.): 'when His bond is founded upon the earth." That is, when Israel are united in one bond and live in peace with one another.