שָׁלוֹם

Through humility and lowliness, one merits Torah, and through Torah, one merits to bring penitents and converts close to Hashem, blessed be He. Through this, the glory of Hashem, blessed be He, is elevated and magnified, and fear [of Heaven] is perfected, and through this, one merits peace (14, 2, 5).

And there are two types of peace: there is peace in one’s bones, for first one must ensure there is peace in his bones, for sometimes there is no peace, as it is written (Psalms 38:4), “There is no peace in my bones because of my sin.” And through fear [of Heaven], one merits peace in his bones, and then he can pray, and through prayer, one merits universal peace, peace in all the worlds (there, 8).

The rebukers of the generation increase peace in the world and also make peace between Israel and their Father in Heaven (22, 1).

According to the peace in the generation, so too can one draw the entire world to the service of Hashem, blessed be He, to serve Him with one shoulder. For through the peace that exists between people, they speak with one another, and they investigate with one another what is the purpose of the entire world and its vanities, and they explain the truth to one another, that in the end, nothing remains for a person except what he has prepared for himself after his death for the eternal world, for neither silver nor gold accompanies a person, and so on. And through this, each person casts away the falsehood of the idols of his silver, and he continues and turns himself to Hashem, blessed be He, to His Torah and His service, and brings himself close to the truth. But when there is no peace, Heaven forbid, all the more so when there is strife, Heaven forbid, then they do not gather together, one with another, and one does not speak with his fellow about the purpose. And even when they do gather together sometimes and speak together, one’s words do not enter the heart of his fellow due to the victory, strife, hatred, and jealousy. For strife and victory do not tolerate the truth, as explained elsewhere. Thus, the primary distancing of most people from Hashem, blessed be He, is due to strife, which has increased now due to our many sins, may the Omnipresent have mercy (27, 1).

Through the rectification of the covenant, one merits peace (there, 6). One must seek peace, that there be peace among Israel, and that each person have peace in his traits, that is, that he not be divided in his traits and experiences, that there be no difference whether in his good times or his hardships, that he always find Hashem, blessed be He, in them. And this is merited through Torah and through the tzaddikim, who are called peace. Through this, one merits to love Him, blessed be He, in every place, whether in his good times, and so on, and to love his fellows, and there will be peace among all Israel (33).

To increase peace, one must increase charity (57, 6). Through strife, heresies arise, and through this, one cannot pray with intention. But when there is peace, the heresies and skepticism in each person’s heart are nullified. For when there is peace and they gather together, one can turn his fellow from his evil opinions and remove the heresies and skepticism from his heart. But through strife, they do not gather together to speak one with his fellow to turn his mind to the truth, and even when they speak together, one does not hear the words of his fellow due to the victory of strife, as mentioned above in entry 4. Thus, the primary faith depends on peace (62, 2).

To merit peace is through studying halachic authorities. And through this, one can pray with intention with all his heart (62, 2).

The essence of peace is to connect two opposites, therefore do not let your thoughts alarm you if you see a person who is completely opposed to your opinion, and it seems to you that it is impossible in any way to maintain peace with him. And similarly, when you see two people who are truly opposites, do not say that it is impossible to make peace between them, for on the contrary, this is the primary perfection of peace: to strive that there be peace between two opposites, like Hashem, blessed be He, who makes peace in His heights between fire and water, which are two opposites. And to merit peace is through giving one’s life for the sanctification of Hashem, and through this, one merits to pray with intention [see Tefillah] (80).

One must seek peace, that there be peace among Israel, and that each person have peace in his traits, that is, that he not be divided in his traits and experiences, that there be no difference whether in his good times or his hardships, that he always find Hashem, blessed be He, in them. And this is merited through Torah and through the tzaddikim, who are called peace. Through this, one merits to love Him, blessed be He, in every place, whether in his good times, and so on, and to love his fellows, and there will be peace among all Israel (33). The way of Hashem, blessed be He, is to look at the good deeds that are done, and even though there is also something not good in them, He does not look at this, all the more so a person, who is forbidden to look at his fellow with ill intent, to specifically find what is not good in him, and to search to find flaws in his fellow’s service. On the contrary, he is obligated to look only at the good and to search to find merit and goodness in him always, and through this, he will have peace with everyone (Likutay Moharan II, 17). When the generation does not guard their mouths from evil speech and other flawed speech, through this, the worthy ones of the generation stumble, G-d forbid, into pride, and this is the aspect of the exile of the Shechinah (58, 10).