In Netiv Hashalom the Maharal quotes a verse in Mishlei, "There is deceit in the heart of those who sow evil. To those who give counsel in peace there's joy."
We usually think controversy is a response to an event that occurred. People are distraught about a situation. They harbor a conflicting view of what should have happened as opposed to what is happening.
But the Maharal suggests a different idea. There are people who deliberately foster conflict. They plant
madanim
. The Gra explains that
madanim
comes from the root word
din.
Baalei machloket
cause people to judge one another. They are called sowers of iniquity. A plow turns the earth so that seeds can be planted. Similarly, there are people who feel a need to dig deep and find negativity in order to instigate controversy. Conflict energizes them and gives them a feeling of superiority.
Part of the mindset of a person who loves conflict is deceit.
Baalei machloket
have to be devious in order to create a climate where it seems to the observer that the conflict is about ideology, when in fact it's personal.
Machloket
isn't the byproduct of this person's act, it's the goal.
Machloket
comes from the root word
l'chalek
, to divide. The Hebrew word for sanctity is
kodesh
. It's opposite is
chol
which can also be translated as sand. Sand doesn't stick to itself. The individual grains remain apart. Impure things remain separate. Holy things express unity. That doesn't mean that all individuality is lost but rather that there's something that binds everything together. Achdut means commonality of goal and purpose, mutual respect, and cognizance of the significance of each individual.
The opposite of
achdut
is
pirud,
separation
,
where there are borders that don't relate to each other. The Maharal understood the singularity of Hashem and that His creation mirrors His unity. Everything in the world has purpose and its contribution is defined by its boundaries. The earthworm makes holes in the ground and thereby allows air to circulate in and out of the earth. If there were no worms, the earth would pack against itself and nothing could grow. But in order for the worm to contribute to the earth it cannot become the earth. It has to remain a worm. Borders are what make true
achdut
possible. Each part of creation has to be itself in order to contribute to the whole.
Machloket
happens when people lose vision of this.
The simple meaning of
tov
(good) is something that does its function. Therefore a good person according to the Rambam is one who actualizes his humanity and potential. Maharal takes it a step further and says it is one who mirrors Hashem's image. If we are fashioned in the divine likeness it means we have something of Hashem's
achdut
, of the ability to rule the world and see its interconnectedness. In that sense we are greater than anything else that was created. According to the Rambam, the opposite of a good person is someone who chooses to be inhuman. From the Maharal's perspective it would be someone who doesn't see the underlying unity in the world, and therefore has to devalue everything that's not him so that it won't threaten him.
The Midrash says that on the second day of creation Hashem made a separation between the higher waters- the spiritual source of things - and the lower waters - the physical manifestation of the spiritual source. A space remained between them. That space is the area of our free choice. One can choose to unify both sources or ignore the higher source. Hashem did not say
ki tov
on the second day because it was a day of separation. This teaches us that
machloket
by definition is evil. It distorts Hashem's plan and image.
The
pasuk
in Mishlei goes on, "To those who give counsel in peace, they will have joy." Peace by its nature equals wholeness. Wholeness, seeing everything in its place, brings on a feeling of completion and joy. I was in Meiron on Lag Baomer recently. There were close to a half a million Jews there of every stripe and color. Everyone was streaming towards Rashbi's tomb and and it was unbearably crowded. There are two ways I could've looked at this. One is to say, "Who are all these people to crowd me and why are they all pushing? Why am I uncomfortable?" The other is, "They all want what I want, those few minutes at Rashbi's
kever
. They're all like me." Thinking this way won't make you physically comfortable. But it could transform a potentially divisive experience into one of
achdut
and love.