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| Image: Blue Mountains, Sydney Australia |
R. Shimon ben Gamliel said" "The world endures on account of three things: judgment, truth and peace." [Pirkei Avot 1:18]
Man's body is a miniature world [Tikunei Zohar 69:101a]. One of the things that preserves this world is peace.
A contentious person is always in pain. At work he gets embroiled in arguments; at home he fights with his spouse. There is friction at his table and tension in his sleep.
A peace-loving person, in contrast, is calm and secure. Everyone likes him; no one makes trouble for him. He is happy to see others, and others are happy to see him. He eats in serenity and enjoys restful sleep.
That is why peace is called שׁלום - shalom. The word can be broken up into שׁלו "tranquil" and ם for מנוחה - "rest".
from the writings of the Ben Ish Hai
3 comments:
Thank G-d I'm learning this , my husband and I through our nightly study of Torah and Chofetz Chaim - Shimirot HaLashon.. We will never finish this book.
What makes a contentious person? What makes a peaceful person? Is it DNA? Is it conditioning in childhood? Is it inherited? Is it the middot given by Hashem? The peaceful one to help rectify others, the contentious one to rectify oneself with tikkun?
One does tikkun for the outer world, the other does tikkun for his/her inner world.
Save a life, understand the mechanism of tikkun.
The contentious one also provides the testing ground for those working on their middot , striving to come closer to Hashem.
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