On Monday evening, August 8, Eshel Avraham hosted a virtual shiur with Rabbi Avraham Nissanian, Founder of Eshel Avraham, on the importance of working on having peaceful relationships with others. If a person leads a life with no jealousy or hatred, and with friendship and world unity, then he has longevity.
Sometimes it seems such a life is just a dream, based on what is transpiring in the world. This quality life is something that everyone can have, but to live like this, we have to work on our character traits. To have such a life, we have to know when to be silent and when to forgive and to forget. The result of this is a life of peace and blessing.
Before Yaakov Avinu died, he asked his children to gather, and he wanted to inform them when Mashiach would come. He told them how bad it is to have disagreements and separations. He told them to be united and that would bring redemption.
“When G-d leads the world beside am Yisrael together, then Hashem will bring His presence to Earth.”
In the times of the First Beis HaMikdash, when there was a Navi, a person could go to the Navi and he would reveal to them what they needed to fix with themselves. After the building of the Second Temple, there were no more prophets. Still, people could understand what they needed to fix. There was a bas kol that went out then.
In our time, we don’t have the ability to hear a Heavenly voice. So how can we know what we have to fix in ourselves?
The Torah teaches us what Hashem is asking from us. In the Torah you can find what you need to do to fix yourself. The Torah is good for the past, the present, and the future. Our Chachamim said, “Search in it and search in it, since everything is in it.”
He quoted a great rav who taught that the one thing we should focus on to bring redemption is our mitzvos bein adam l’chaveiro. We have to emphasize our relationships between our friends and ourselves.
The way Heaven behaves towards us is not according to normal rules. Hashem allowed the Mal’ach HaMaves to destroy, and good people suffered with those who were not good.
So, Rabbi Nissanian asked, “What do we have to do?”
We just fasted and mourned and cried. Did we take away something for the future? We need to take on doing something that we didn’t do yesterday, in order to bring about the g’ulah.
He shared that all a parent wants is that there is peace between his children, and that is what our Father in Heaven wants. He wants us to have peace amongst ourselves. Parents become very upset if their adult children fight or won’t speak to one another.
Hashem doesn’t take sides. All he wants is for us to live in peace with each other. It starts with me taking the first step towards peace. Hashem asks us to do what we can and to be m’vater in our private domain. If we are more considerate and understanding, this brings peace and harmony. “If you try, you will be successful.”
He spoke about how learning Torah and also working on peace with one another brings us protection from Hashem.
By Susie Garber