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Short Summary
Main recommendation: Treat other people with compassion and loyalty, and avoid machlokes (strife), especially in business partnerships and family life. Rabbi Paysach Krohn illustrates this through his own life and his father's: how his family welcomed his late friend Shalom (his father's best friend), how Shalom showed sensitivity to a fatherless boy, and how Shalom counseled Krohn's friend against conflict with his business partners. The talk closes with a Rambam quotation warning that strife destroys body, money, and soul.
Key Points
- Shalom, Krohn's father's best friend, came to America after Krohn's father died, and the Krohn family took him in when few others knew him.
- Krohn recalls that Shalom wept silently on a bench at the port, overwhelmed by the loss of his close friend (Krohn's father).
- Krohn highlights the lasting pain of mourners whose visitors stop calling months after the shiva.
- He tells of Shalom's willingness to let the Seder run late for his mother's family, showing that patience with family outweighs schedule.
- Krohn advises against going into business with partners, since such arrangements often end in conflict, relaying this as advice Shalom gave to a friend involved in a camp partnership dispute.
- The Rambam's letter to his son warns that machlokes destroys the body, money, and soul.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions:
- When a partner dispute arises, consult a respected advisor before acting, as the friend did with Shalom.
- Avoid business partnerships where possible; the speaker suggests being your own boss, even if you earn less.
- Keep meaningful passages, such as the Rambam's warning about machlokes, written on a card in your purse or wallet and reread them when conflict arises.
- Stay in touch with mourners after the initial shiva period, when loneliness and depression often set in.
- The Seder described ran very late, past midnight, and Shalom ate the afikoman only then, a choice the speaker presents as a model of putting family first.
- The Hebrew verse "Hinei mah tov u'mah naim" (how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together) is cited to stress harmony, linked to Moses and Aaron.
- The speaker suggests that internal strife among Jews may be a reason Mashiach has not yet come.
Bottom Line
Harmony within families, friendships, and business relationships is presented as a moral duty with serious consequences, and the speaker urges listeners to practice patience and avoid strife.
