Peace and Harmony

Rav Meir Shapiro, zt”l, was a captivating speaker. The following speech, given to the Agudas Harabanim in Poland, is worth repeating. “There are two types of feelings of peace and harmony. The first—which stems from the heart and mind—comes from the pure springs of the nefesh, expressed in the verse, 'כמים הפנים לפנים כן לב האדם'. This is the kind of real peace that we all strive to attain. We are all waiting eagerly for the fruition of this peace. As the verse states, 'וגר זאב עם כבש ונמר עם גדי ירבץ'—‘And the wolf with live with the lamb and the leopard will lie down with the kid.’
“But there is another, lower kind of peace which emerges instinctively from camaraderie. For example, when people are caught in an unexpected downpour and rush quickly to the only available shelter, they feel a kind of connection.
“This is how we can understand the exchange between Bilaam and the nations when Yisrael received the Torah. When the nations saw the powerful unity that we achieved prior to matan Torah, They were unable to fathom how this could be and figured that matan Torah had to be a sign of impending danger which naturally brought the Jews together.
“This explains why they ran in fear to Bilaam, exclaiming, ‘Perhaps another flood is coming to the world?’ The non-Jewish nations only know about unity that is inspired by the instinct for self-preservation, not the absolute unity of being as one man, with one heart.
“Bilaam assured them that they had nothing to worry about since there was no impending flood, neither of water or fire. It is just that for the Jewish people there is a different type of unity— 'ה' עז לעמו יתן'. This peace is the strength of all Jews, to unite through dedication to Torah. The non-Jews responded, 'ה' יברך את עמו בשלום'—Hashem shall bless His nation with peace’—a different type of peace completely foreign to their experience.”
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“Loving and Pursuing Peace”

Rav Zelig Braverman, zt”l, learned together with a certain man who had very bad eyesight. One day, the chavrusah opened up his heart and told his tale of woe to Rav Braverman. “I have a very difficult time at home. My wife insists that I help her with the housework, but because of my poor eyesight this is impossible. She really needs the help however, and won’t take no for an answer. When she sees that I have not done what she requested she insults me terribly—it literally breaks my heart. I don’t know how to change the state of affairs. Please help me!”
A few days later, the chavrusah arrived in a much happier state of mind. “Rav Zelig, you must be davening up a storm. Today, my wife did not insult me at all. On the contrary, it appears as though she no longer has any complaints and my shalom bayis has returned.”
But the nearsighted man did not understand just how hard Rav Zelig had worked to restore their happiness. Rav Zelig had been observing their movements and had found that when the husband went to daven, the wife went out to shop. The moment he realized this he let himself into their home and got to work. During their absence Rav Zelig washed the dishes and did the floors—the very jobs the wife had demanded her husband do.
When the woman of the house came home, she figured that her husband must have done his chores after all, and the husband thought that she had seen how hard it was for him and had taken care of the tasks herself. Naturally, each admired the other for this sacrifice and peace reigned once again.
When Rav Shalom Shwadron, zt”l, told this story he remarked, “It is astounding to what lengths the gedolim would go to ensure that there would be peace in Jewish households. They were truly students of Aharon Hakohein who was 'אוהב שלום ורדף שלום'—he not only loved peace, he pursued it!”