Mussar HaTorah
19 Tamuz, 5769 Vol. 10, No. 37 Parashas Pinchas
When someone is jealous, he can convince himself of the validity of the most absurd ideas. Machlokes is such a dangerously powerful force that it can take even these frivolous claims and use them to stoke the flames of dispute and discord into a full-blown conflagration. The Ralbag is telling us that we must be aware of this lethal potential and take steps, well in advance, to avoid even the smallest possibility of the beginnings of a machlokes. This extends even to preempting the most irrational claims, the most far-fetched ideas that would be immediately discarded by an impartial, clear-headed person.