Parshas Naso: Making Peace – With EVERYONE

Rabbi Ben made a friend in India by offering to help him with his sugarcane press. By making peace even with people very different from us, we make a kiddush Hashem, sanctify G-d's name, and make a good name for Jews everywhere!

Life brings lots of opportunities for conflict.  That’s just the way it is – you can’t please all the people all the time.  And you’re not going to get along great with everyone.

Traveling makes this little fact of life so much more noticeable.  After all, most of us choose to live in communities and associate with people who share our same interests and values, more or less.  So the amount of opportunity for conflict is reduced in most ordinary life.  However, in travel you are constantly coming up against people and places and societies that are often completely contrary to what your own values, beliefs, and interests are.  You have normal human nature to deal with, plus all these extra opportunities to disagree.

Yet in the Torah, we learn that making peace is a high priority, one of the highest values.  In fact, it is highlighted in this week’s Torah portion.  It’s a task emphasized specifically for and by Aaron, the high priest.   Our spiritual leaders are the people held to the highest standards because they are the ones tasked with bringing us closer to G-d.  So when a task is given to them specifically, it must be very important indeed.

When we travel, we go to great pains to try to get along as well as possible with the people and the society we’re visiting.  Even when their beliefs and values may be quite contrary to ours – such as travel within a polytheistic society (like Hindus) – we try to get along as well as possible with them.  Making peace and pursuing peace is such a high value that we have to make it one of our top priorities.

Not only is it a mitzvah to make peace, but it is also a kiddush Hashem.  It helps to sanctify G-d’s name in the world and it makes a good impression on others.  Nobody who has been reconciled after a fight is angry at their mediator – they are grateful for the relationship that has been saved.  So if we as Jews can do this no matter where we are in the world, we make a good name for Jews everywhere – and for our G-d.

This week, let’s all try our best to pursue peace, even if it means finding some common ground with someone we might not normally get along with! Shabbat Shalom!

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