Avos 5:17

בס׳ד

אבות ה:יז

Any dispute engaged in the name of Heaven is destined to endure. But disputes not engaged in the name of Heaven are not destined to endure. What is an example of a dispute engaged in the name of Heaven?  The dispute of Hillel and Shammai. And one not in the name of Heaven?  The dispute of Korakh and his gang.

כָּל מַחֲלֹקֶת שֶׁהִיא לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, סוֹפָהּ לְהִתְקַיֵּם. וְשֶׁאֵינָהּ לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, אֵין סוֹפָהּ לְהִתְקַיֵּם. אֵיזוֹ הִיא מַחֲלֹקֶת שֶׁהִיא לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, זוֹ מַחֲלֹקֶת הִלֵּל וְשַׁמַּאי. וְשֶׁאֵינָהּ לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, זוֹ מַחֲלֹקֶת קֹרַח וְכָל עֲדָתוֹ:

        Rabbi Yohanan the Sandal Maker already taught us the distinction between gatherings of Jews in the service of Heaven and gatherings of Jews that, in the name of Heaven, pursue ulterior motives (Avos 4:11). Only the former can hope to achieve their purposes.  The same is true, we now learn, of communal controversy.

        Anyone who studies the teachings of the Sages - from mishnah, to midrash, to gemara - sees immediately that their tradition is one of constant dispute and controversy.  Dispute over great and small matters is not only encouraged, but the grounds of disputes and their ultimate implications are lovingly reconstructed and amplified in one talmudic sugya after another.  This mishnah now comes to teach the principle that distinguishes the productive controversy from the destructive controversy - all lies in the motives of the disputants.

        What is a dispute “destined to endure”?  Does it mean that the dispute will perpetually remain unresolved?  No.  It means that the parties to the dispute are each honestly committed to their position, and engage each other in order to fulfill the possibilities of Torah.  Not only does the topic of the dispute remain alive in the tradition, nourishing the reflection of generations who struggle to grasp it.  But the names of the disputants survive as well.  Their identities live on as we explore their words.  So we read everywhere in the Mishnah: “These are the words of Shammai.  But Hillel said…”  And so on with all the great Sages mentioned in the Mishnah and gemara.  Each disputed point of view is lovingly preserved in the event that, in the future, the tradition will fully grasp the view of even the minority position and realize that it should determine our practice.

        The contrast, of course, lies in disputes that have as their hidden agenda the desire for power, wealth, or self-assertion.  The primary example of this is the rebellion of Korakh and his gang against the authority of Moshe and Aharon. The entire story is preserved in the Torah (Bamidbar 16:1-35), but notice that neither the dispute, nor the names of Korakh’s supporters, are passed on in tradition.  Rather, they are frozen in the past as negative examples; their tradition dies with them, buried in the same “mouth of the Earth” that swallowed them and their arguments.

        How do we distinguish in our own day among the many disputes that divide we Jews?  Which are engaged in the name of Heaven and which not?  I wish it were just a matter of saying: “Whoever takes the most stringent position”. Unfortunately, this is no precedent since we know that Bes Hillel was consistently on the side of leniency in its disputes with Bes Shammai.  Rather than identify specific parties who struggle “in the name of Heaven” and those who do not, it might be more productive to focus on broad questions that all Jews now struggle over.

        I suspect that the enormous dispute between Orthodoxy and more liberal forms of Judaism over the halakhic status of women is just such a dispute engaged in the name of Heaven; one in which all parties are struggling in the depths of their souls to fulfill the will of HaShem. Similarly, I would say that the dispute dividing the world’s Jews about the solution of the State of Israel’s struggle with the Arab world is engaged for the sake of Heaven.  It is possible to take many sides in complete honesty, love of Israel, and without ulterior motive; and it is possible to misuse any side as an opportunity for creating division and hatred.  We must stand with all our energy where conscience guides us and trust ultimately that, as HaShem said of the disputes of Hillel and Shammai, “these and those are the words of the Living God!” (Bavli Eruvin 13b).

&&&