In a village near Koshnitz, a dispute broke out
between the Hasidim and the Mitnagdim.
The Hasidim, which was the smaller group, decided to form their own
congregation. This was made known to R.
Yisrael, the Maggid of Koshnitz. He
invited the heads of the Hasidim and said,
"There are serious punishments in the Torah for sinners, but we do
not find that we are obligated to separate ourselves from them. Only in one place in the Torah do we find
"separate yourselves from this community," and this is in the dispute
of Korah. They wanted to introduce
divisions within the camp, as it says in the Targum, "and Korah divided," and whoever
wishes to make divisions between Jews, we are commanded to separate from
him. (Ma'asey Ha-Tzadikim) Rabbi Carl Astor
“To say the right thing at the right time, keep still most of the time.” John W. Roper Those who get in trouble most often are those cannot seem to keep still, remain silent. Life teaches many lessons. Among the best lessons of life is one my father taught me at an early age was, “If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing.” The contributions we make to life via our mouth are many and varied. Most of the time, I reckon, they are not contributions at all, but things that diminish the richness of life.
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