We learn in maseches Sanhedrin (29a): "Rabbi Yossi the
son of Rabbi Yehuda said, `And he was not his enemy, nor
sought his harm' (Bamidbar 35:23) — from here we
learn that two Torah scholars who hate each other may not sit
together on one judgment."
I saw a remarkable explanation in the commentary Yad
Ramah on this piece. When two Torah scholars who hate
each other sit in judgment they have mainly the intention of
besting their enemy judge. Neither one tries to see if the
words of the other one are really correct, and this causes
the third judge to err as well. As a result, the judgment is
concluded incorrectly.
This teaches us an awesome lesson in the understanding of the
following verse: "For a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise"
(Devorim 16:19). Not only a bribe of money blinds, but
the bribe of a personal bias blinds as well. It brings forth
hatred of one's fellow man and causes him to seek only to
best the other, without trying to hear the other's point of
view.
Similarly, Yonoson ben Uziel explains that the words of a
judge who takes a bribe become foolishness and confusion. In
his words: "Because a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise
— for when they accept it, it causes them foolishness,
and confuses the righteous words in the judges' mouths in the
time of their [rendering] judgment" (Ibid).
When we look carefully at these awful and shocking things
that the hatred of one another can cause—the perversion
of justice, foolishness, and confusion of words—we
realize that all this results from a small irritation
(kepeidoh) that one has on the other. If they would
prevail over that kepeidoh and compromise with each
other, there would be no problem. However, when they do not
compromise, and this kepeidoh and the lack of
compromise cause more and more anger, it creates the horrible
trait of hatred that causes all the dreadful things mentioned
above.
It is very appropriate to cite here the illuminating words of
Maran HaMashgiach HaRav Yechezkel Levenstein ztvk'l:
"It is terrible and dreadful how much character traits
corrupt and destroy a person. All his Torah and self-
sacrifice do not benefit him in fulfilling the mitzvos
(Yalkutei Yechezkel, Middos 3).
"Wisdom, honor, greatness in Torah—everything becomes
rancid because of the foolishness of a little bit of bad
character traits that exist in a man. They rule over him and
his Torah and incline everything to the way of the traits"
(4).
His conclusion is frightening: "The person's intellect, his
Torah—everything is subjugated to one's character
traits. And so automatically a man's Torah is not Torah.
Torah with a bias is not Torah! There is no greater bias than
the bias of character traits . . . "
The "bias of character traits" is the bribery of a "personal
agenda" that destroys one's Torah and straightforwardness.
This happens due to the lack of compromise and the insistence
on standing on each tiny point of his fellow's words. Little
by little a huge quantity of hatred aggregates, causing a
perversion of justice, and then they transgress the
prohibition of thievery due to incorrect rulings. In his
bias, he cannot hear the words of his fellow.
***
All of the above enables us to understand well the
gemora in Bovo Metzia (32b) concerning the
mitzvah of unloading and loading the animal of burden. If two
situations were presented to a man, one of a friend and one
of an enemy: The friend to unload, and the enemy to load- -it
is a mitzvah to help load the enemy's animal. This is because
Chazal said it is preferable "to suppress his yetzer
hora," even though the unloading of the other animal
involves relief of the pain of living creatures.
Despite the pain to the other animal, Chazal said that the
mitzvah is to load the enemy's animal, in order to suppress
one's yetzer hora. Thus, you must help the one you
hate.
There is a deep matter here. The character trait of hatred
springs from a personal bias: He harmed me. This is the most
dangerous type of bribe. He harmed me personally, and so the
door is open to anything. All of one's Torah is forgotten, G-
d forbid. When this bias turns into a dangerous bribe, it
must be broken. Thus, Chazal said that the mitzvah is to help
the enemy in order to suppress the yetzer hora, in
order to break the bribe, the bias that could bring one to
the worst things. Help the enemy, and you will break the
character trait.
The way to break this character trait is to start at the
beginning, not to see everything as a disaster. We must
immediately seek some way of judging our fellow man favorably
the first time we feel some kepeidoh. Maybe I am at
fault as well. When this is still at the beginning, the
effort to prevail over the personal bias is easier. For one
must know, kepeidoh leads to more kepeidoh, and
this causes a vicious cycle to more and more kepeidoh,
until it leads to actual hatred, chas vesholom. When
we are aware of the danger beforehand and we know how to
prevail, life is joyous and full of happiness without
measure.
In conclusion, I wish to cite the precious words of Maran
HaMashgaich HaRav Yeruchom ztvk'l concerning the
posuk: "Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with
yourselves" (Bereishis 45:5). Yosef revealed himself
to his brothers for the first time and said to them: "I am
Yosef your brother whom you sold into Egypt" (Ibid.
3), and it would have been reasonable to expect them to
ask him for forgiveness. However, we see the opposite
. . . Yosef stands and seeks to appease them: "Now therefore
be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves."
Similarly, we find above that Yosef wept: "And he wept aloud"
(Ibid 2). The Midrash explains that this weeping was
to appease his brothers as well. He took the blame upon
himself— maybe he was the cause of the sale into
slavery as well. He told them, "Be not grieved;" he did not
want them to feel guilty (Daas Torah).
Maran HaMashgiach's marvelous lesson is very important for
our path in life. How much we have to learn from this! As he
concludes in his remarks: "This matter is very astounding and
there are many lessons in it for us . . . "
