Levites, you’ve taken too much upon yourselves. (Bemidbar 16:7)
We can learn a lot from how Moshe Rabbeinu handled the controversy with Korach.
Korach and his followers were real resha’im. One of the Thirteen Principles of Emunah is to believe that the prophecy of Moshe Rabbeinu is different and superior to that of all other prophets. Korach and his congregation denied this basic principle of faith. They were thus apikorsim and deniers of the Torah.
Not only that, but they disgraced and mocked that which is holy, and dragged along the whole Jewish people, to the point that Hashem said to Moshe and Aharon:
– “Separate yourselves from this evil congregation and I will instantly destroy them.”
Nevertheless, when Moshe came to reprove them, he did not speak harshly or curse them or put them down. He sufficed with saying רב לכם בני לוי – “Levites, you’ve taken too much upon yourselves.” He was telling them: please remember your eminence and the honor of your family and your tribe. You are all prominent people of illustrious lineage. Take this into account; don’t sully your good names by getting together just to stir up a quarrel among the people.
We could say that Moshe Rabbeinu, when he so replied, was acting in accordance with the following halachah mentioned in the Gemara:
There was an incident with a certain disciple of Beis Hillel who brought his burnt offering [on Yom Tov] to the Temple Courtyard with intention to perform semichah, to place his hands on its head and lean on it [before its slaughter]. A certain disciple of Beis Shammai [who held that it is forbidden to do this on Yom Tov] said to him, “What is this semichah?”
The disciple of Beis Hillel replied, “What is this silence?” [In other words, why don’t you remain silent?]. Whereupon the disciple of Beis Shammai silenced him with a growl and walked away.
Abaye commented: Therefore, when a Torah scholar hears his friend say to him a sharp word, he should not respond more sharply than what was said to him. Because one said, “What is this semichah?” and the other responded, “What is this silence?”
It was the same here, with Moshe Rabbeinu. When Korach and his followers came and said to him רב לכם – “You’ve taken too much upon yourselves,” Moshe answered them using their own words: “Levites, you have taken too much upon yourselves.” He didn’t say more than they did.
Naturally, when a person gets upset, he becomes like an erupting volcano. He bursts out angrily. Just look at how an ordinary argument sounds: one person shouts, “Why did you do that?” and the other shoots back, “And what about you? Who do you think you are? Yesterday you did this, and the day before you did that! Your father was a... your mother was a....” He drags up every old grudge and dumps it into today’s quarrel.
But Chazal say that when a person must respond to a sharp word addressed to him, because it is a situation where it is forbidden for him to remain silent, and he must answer back, he should not overstep the proper boundaries. He should say only what he needs to, and not say back more than was said to him.
This is why Moshe Rabbeinu, when Korach said to him, “You’ve taken too much upon yourselves,” answered back with, “Levites, you have taken too much upon yourselves.” Although he was obligated to respond, because of kevod haTorah, he said only that. About this is written – “The lips of a tzaddik know how to bring favor.”
