Don’t Let the Utensil Break
One of the seven Ushpizin ("guests") whom we invite into our Sukka during the holiday of Sukkot is Aharon, who "visits" the Sukka on the fifth day of the festival.
The Mishna in Pirkeh Abot admonishes, "Be among the students of Aharon the Kohen, [who was] a lover of peace, a pursuer of peace, a lover of people who brought them close to Torah." We are bidden to follow Aharon’s example of maintaining peaceful relations with people and avoiding strife and contention.
The importance of Shalom, peaceful relations among family and friends, can never be overemphasized. The reason why Judaism has always placed such great emphasis on the value of Shalom stems from the Mishna in Masechet Uksin, which states that there is no "utensil containing blessing" like peace. What this means is that Shalom is the "utensil," the receptacle, into which Beracha (blessing) can be collected. A person can achieve many great things, but if he does not get along with the people in his life, if he does not have Shalom, he is comparable to a broken utensil into which water is poured. No matter how much water is poured into the utensil, nothing will remain inside, because it will fall through the holes. When we don’t have Shalom in our lives, we cannot have any Beracha; any blessings we earn will simply "fall through the holes."
The classic example of a person with many qualities but who lacked the ideal of Shalom is Korah, a cousin of Moshe who instigated a rebellion against Moshe and Aharon. The story of Korah’s uprising begins with the words "Vayikah Korah" ("Korah took" – Bamidbar 16:1). Curiously, the verse never specifies what it was that Korah "took." Korah was a man of Mahloket (divisiveness), and did not live a life of Shalom, and so he did not "take" anything. Anything he did would not endure, since a person without Shalom does not have a receptacle to contain blessing. The Torah therefore could not describe Korah as having "taken" or achieved anything.
The role of Shalom as the indispensable prerequisite for Beracha helps explain why Aharon and his descendants were assigned the obligation to bless Beneh Yisrael. Before reciting the Birkat Kohanim, the Kohanim recite a Beracha thanking God "who has sanctified us with the sanctity of Aharon and commanded us to bless His nation, Israel, with love." This Misva was given to them because of "the sanctity of Aharon," the special stature he earned as a result of his commitment to Shalom. This quality ensured that Aharon was a receptacle of blessing – rendering him and his descendants the most worthy people to confer blessing upon others. In fact, the Birkat Kohanim ends with the blessing of peace ("Veyasem Lecha Shalom"), as if to say that only with the blessing of peace can the rest of the blessings be contained. By the same token, we conclude our Amida prayer with the section of "Sim Shalom," petitioning the Almighty for peace. We acknowledge that without the Beracha of peace, none of God’s other blessings have any value, because they cannot endure. Our prayer therefore concludes with a prayer for Shalom so that we will be capable of containing the blessings for which we prayed.
It must be emphasized that Shalom often comes with a price. In many instances, arguments with friends, neighbors and associates relate to disputes over money. We must remember that when we forego on money that we rightfully deserve in the interest of peace, it is money well-spent. Essentially, when we forego on money to ensure Shalom, we are spending money to fix the utensil, the utensil that enables us to contain all blessings in our lives. This is a very worthwhile expense to incur.
We should accustom ourselves to pursue peace, like Aharon, even when this entails sacrifice. Shalom between husband and wife, employer and employee, business partners, neighbors and congregants must be given a high priority. This is the way to ensure that our "utensil" remains intact and that we will be able to receive all the blessings we ask God each day to bestow upon us.
