Strategy 4 Peace

“I was wrong” . . . “I shouldn't have acted that way and I'm sorry”.

These words can calm down almost any inflamed situation.

The problem is that it can be challenging for the people embroiled in a fight to begin the process of reconciliation by apologizing on their own.

One thing an objective third party can do to ease the process is to approach each person individually and apologize on behalf of the one fighting with him.

(When doing so you can sometimes accomplish more than the person who owes the apology because the listener will not be as aggressive with you as with the one who actually owes the apology.)

Aaron used this strategy to achieve peace between quarreling parties among the Jewish people. His success with peacemaking is why the entire Jewish people mourned him to a greater extent than Moshe.

"The entire house of Israel wept for Aaron for thirty days".

Rashi: "The men and the women, for Aaron had pursued peace."

Numbers 20:29