Collective behaviour: the need to stick together

One of the great things about Pirkei Avot is that it speaks to everyone. I recently found this piece on the need for collective activity by Hannah Smith on the radical jewschool website. It contains the following passage:

United we stand

Yet how are we to decide which collective behaviors lead to justice? Once again, Judaism offers collaboration in response. Pirkei Avot says it best:

“Do not render decisions alone; There is but One who judges alone. Never say to your colleagues, “You must adopt my view”; the prerogative is theirs, not yours to coerce.” (Pirkei Avot, 4:10)

“Uproot yourself to live in a community where Torah is studied; Do not delude yourself that the Torah will come to you. Only with colleagues can your studies be fortified. Do not rely on your own understanding.” (Pirkei Avot, 4:18)

I am always encouraged to see how Avot retains its relevance and its immediacy in contemporary debate. While I may not always agree with the political, social or religious stance taken by others, I always feel that -- for as long as they cite Avot in support of their arguments -- we have some common ground on which we can debate the issues.

For the record, there's another mishnah in Avot that is worth invoking here: Hillel (Avot 2:5) urges "Do not separate yourself from the community". The downside of collective action is that it requires collective decision-making and the achieving some form of consensus -- but there are always people who exist at the edge of consensus, for whom abiding with a majority decision and staying within their community can be a hard and painful decision.