Ask The Rabbi

Ask The Rabbi

category:  Parents & Children

Family Feud

I am a child in a family where there is a feud between my parents and my uncles, and they are not on speaking terms for several years already, because one side became offended by the other side and vice versa. The children also did not have a connection, and if any children did want to cross the barrier and speak to their cousins, the parents would shout at us and say that this is lack of respect for parents, and we don’t care about it, and we must not have any contact with them. We don’t even know what happened then, years ago, and we feel intimidated and as though we are criminals if we have contact with them. Is it true that for the sake of respecting parents we must have a feud with our cousins?

In Parshas Korach there is a verse that states “And there shall not be the likes of Korach and his followers,” meaning that it is forbidden to continue a feud. We should learn from Moshe Rabeinu (our teacher Moses), who approached the main protagonists, Dosan and Aviram, to try to appease them and prevent them from continuing the feud.


You don’t have a problem with Kibbud Av v’Em (the mitzvah of respecting parents), because it is as if they would be telling you to transgress a mitzvah, because even being involved in a feud is an aveira (a sin), and the child is not expected to fulfill the command of the parent against the command of the Holy One Blessed be He.


It is desirable to do this in a wise manner and not offend the parents. However, even if they continue to be upset, efforts should still be made to effect peace among the family.

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