Where are the Rodfei Shalom Today?
Here is an unfortunate example of a “disagreement not for the sake of Heaven.”
This is not the first time such conflicts have broken out in a Bet Midrash over the centuries. For example, in the 19th century, there was a terrible conflict in Yeshivat Volozhin between the students of
Rav Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (the Netziv) and Rav Joseph Dov (Yoshe Ber) Soloveitchik. However there, rodfei shalom (pursuers of peace) entered into the conflict, such as the Maggid of Vilna and negotiated a peaceful resolution. Where are the rodfei shalom today? What can we do to bring them back? For starters we can comemorate 9Adar: Jewish Day of Constructive Conflict, which marks another tragedy that took place in a Bet Midrash, between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai, when they temporarily abandoned their own principles of “Disagreements for the Sake of Heaven.”
Together, lets rewrite the end of these tragic stories!
