Chazal describe how Own Ben Peles’s wife used her wisdom to extricate her husband from the machlokes in this week’s parsha, by asking him “What do you have to gain?” (meaning, you won’t get any honor anyway). There may possibly be a deeper understanding to this wise insight.

When I was a bochur in yeshiva, many times there would be a question raised and another bochur would say an idea to answer the question based on a premise that he saw in a sefer. My Rosh Yeshiva used to say “Now is not the time to give credit, by mentioning the name of the author. First, let us discuss the idea and the logic behind it while we are still impartial, for once we mention the name of the sage who authored the idea, our judgement already becomes tainted due to our reverence of the author. (Obviously, before concluding, we must factor in the greatness of those people and the profoundness of their Torah wisdom).

There is a story told about one of the mefarshim on the side of the page in Choshen Mishpat who was one of the sides in a din torah. He presented his own case to the dayan, and when the dayan came back with the final ruling, he ruled against this great man. When he asked for the reason of the psak, the Dayan quoted something from this man’s own pirush on Choshen Mishpat. When that happened, the litigant explained “I now understand the meaning of the words ‘ki hashochad yiaver einei hachamim’. These words not only apply to the judge, but even the litigants may be blinded by their personal interests. The slightest things can blind a person, to the point that the halacha says that the two litigants should not enter, with one in rich clothing and one in poor clothing because that can also affect the ability to judge in a balanced way.

When we hear of a machlokus between two people we also tend to prejudge, thereby making us imbalanced in our thought process. We do this even before hearing all the nuances that can make a difference in concluding who is right. This possibly may have been the idea behind Own Ben Peles’s wife’s advice. “Remove yourself from the machlokus, for you have nothing to gain anyways.” Meaning, there is an imbalance in your thought process (because you are in the ‘box’), which is clouding your vision, preventing you from seeing the truth.

The Chasam Sofer wrote in one of his letters on his war against the reform movement “I do not incorporate names in my letters, as it clouds the issue. Let the Truth be victorious over Falsehood, for it does not need external support.”