When I first came to Vancouver I went to public school for the grade two year. At that school there was a group of popular kids let lead by one specific individual girl. For some reason there was another girl at the school who the the "Queen Bee" did not like. So, she did absolutely everything that she could to make the other girl's life miserable. Every day she would force all of her friends, me included to ignore, exclude, and bully the poor girl. It later turned out the " Queen Bee" was the only one who had something against that girl. Everyone else simply followed for no valid reason. You might be wondering; "Why?" "Why would someone do something like this for no reason?" I'll tell you: peer pressure.  

It is important not to give into peer pressure. That is true not only for individuals but for entire nations or even countries.  

This week we read parashat Vayikra. In this parasha, the Israelites are commanded to sacrifice animals and food products in honour of God. Rambam explains in his book (Guide of the Perplexed) that the reason why the Torah commands animal sacrifice instead of prayer is simply because that is what all of the other nations were doing at the time. The Israelites simply did not want to be the odd ones out. It seems that the Jewish nation was actually giving into peer pressure by their neighbours. Even though this example was on a national level it still serves us as a reminder that others can influence our behavior either positively or negatively.