Korach Did Two Things
The incident of Korach involves two main issues. First, Korach challenged Moshe Rabbeinu as leader and chief prophet.
This brings us to the Thirteen Principles of Faith as enumerated by the Rambam.
The sixth principle is summarized in the Siddur as follows:
I believe with perfect faith that all the words of the Prophets are true.
Right after that comes a principle that relates directly to our subject:
I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Moshe Rabbeinu, may peace be upon him, was true, and that he was the chief of prophets regarding those that preceded him and those that followed him.
It is a basic tenet of the Jewish faith that Moshe Rabbeinu’s prophecy has a special status. Moshe was not just another prophet. And Korach challenged this principle. He held Moshe to be like other prophets.
This principle is essential.
The second issue in the incident of Korach is the machlokes he stirred up. Korach quarreled with Moshe and Aharon. This is the issue we will focus on here.
A “Jewish” Aveirah
The Torah prohibits keeping up a quarrel.
The introduction to Sefer Chofetz Chaim enumerates all the prohibitions that a person transgresses when he speaks lashon hara. One of them is the prohibition on machlokes. The Rambam does not count it among the 613 mitzvos, but Rabbeinu Yonah and Sefer Mitzvos Gedolos do mention it as a Biblical prohibition, as does the Chofetz Chaim.
What I am about to say regarding machlokes may not contain much that is new to you. But it is extremely important, nevertheless.
Machlokes is a Jewish aveirah. There were controversies in all generations, in the shtetl and in the kehillah, and the results were always disastrous.
From a historical perspective, there is nothing that wreaked more destruction on the Jewish people throughout the generations, up to this day, than did machlokes. The factions and infighting among Jews were tremendously destructive, since they were even within families, inside the shul, between the closest people.
This is something unique to the Jewish people. The reason is that Am Yisrael is a special people, an intelligent people, a people that feels strongly about things. And Hakadosh Baruch Hu created each individual with his own character, different from others, so friction naturally arises. We are all thinking people. This causes a lot of machlokesim.
But Why is It So Bad?
There are sins more severe than that of quarreling. For instance, Hashem sought to wipe out the Jewish people after the sin of Eigel Hazahav. And He forbade them to enter Eretz Yisrael for forty years because of the sin of the Meraglim, and this totally changed the course of Jewish history. The sin of Korach did not change history.
On the other hand, machlokes is so destructive! It is what undid the Jewish people throughout the generations.
I once heard from a prominent rabbi who was an expert in Jewish history that every place where there was machlokes, great changes took place in the Jewish people; entire communities vanished from the face of the earth.
One example among many is from the period of the Gemara. There were two great yeshivos in Bavel: Sura and Nehardea. They existed for hundreds of years. Shmuel was rosh yeshivah of Nehardea and Rav was rosh yeshivah of Sura. After the end of the Talmudic era, these yeshivos were still there, and carried on. But then a vacuum suddenly arose. The Jewish people in Bavel became a non-entity.
What happened?
We don’t know exactly. What we do know is there were a lot of machlokesim, mainly between the Gaon and the Reish Galusa. The Reish Galusa was the governor of the Jewish people in Bavel, and the Gaon was the rosh yeshivah. Between them, and between the people around them, personal fighting was going on, and as a result, these great communities simply vanished.
Let’s try to understand this. If the rosh yeshivah was called “Gaon,” he must have known almost every word of the Gemara by heart; otherwise, he would not have been titled “Gaon.” These Geonim were almost on the level of Amoraim. The Reish Galusa, too, was on approximately the same spiritual level. Nevertheless, there was quarreling between them, and this destroyed the Jewish people. Until this day, there are machlokesim in yeshivos, and they destroy us.
Mitzvos and Aveiros
We need to realize that machlokes is an aveirah. It is forbidden just like the other aveiros in the Torah are. This is why it is so damaging.
The Torah has a whole system of mitzvos and aveiros. We all know that the quality of a mitzvah or an aveirah is not measured by its external form. Its true quality depends on its internal aspect, on what’s inside. So to speak, mitzvos and aveiros contain a lot of “explosives.” They pack a lot of power. The power of mitzvos is for the good, and of aveiros, not for the good.
For instance, we were commanded to wear a garment with tzitizis. Why?
“You shall see them, and remember all the mitzvos of Hashem, and do them.”
The tzitis serve as a reminder to do the mitzvos. When a mother sends a child to the grocery store, and wants him to remember to buy milk, she might tie a string on his finger as a reminder. This is human nature; when you tie something on, it helps you remember.
So we tie the strings of the tzitizis onto the edges of our garment in order to remember Hashem’s mitzvos. Tzitzis originally had strings dyed with techeles, because this is the color of the sky, and is thus indirectly associated with the Divine Throne of Glory.
Tzitzis by nature cause a person to remember, and simply speaking, this is the purpose of the mitzvah: to remember Hashem.
But if the entire content of the mitzvah of tzitzis is to remind, why does it have to be specifically tzitzis, and specifically on the corners of a garment? A person could tie a string hanging over a lense of his eyeglasses so it will be a constant, visible sign by which to remember Hashem. He won’t ever forget Hashem because every time he looks at anything, he will see the string.
There is a lot more to tzitzis than its external form. Tzitzis are a mitzvah, and, like Hashem’s other mitzvos, they contain tremendous power. They contain the fire of kedushas Hashem. So if the strings and their placement don’t satisfy all Halachic requirements, one who wears them will lack that power, that fire of kedushas Hashem. As a result, it will not help him to remember Hashem.
This principle applies to every mitzvah. For instance, we were commanded to take an esrog on Sukkos, and the Torah describes this fruit as a beautiful fruit, and we are to rejoice with it before Hashem.
But if we just take a different kind fruit that we think is beautiful, it has no value at all. Even if we take a bona-fide esrog, but it does not satisfy all Halachic requirements, it is nothing.
The same goes for Chanukah candles, whose purpose is to publicize the miracle. Let’s say instead of lighting a little candle that burns for half an hour, a person hangs a giant poster on his porch, publicizing the miracles of Chanukah for all to see. But that’s not the mitzvah. A mitzvah has a certain form in which it is to be performed, and only in that form does it have inner power.
It’s the same with prohibitions. For instance, Hashem commanded us not to eat pork. If a Jew eats pork, chas v’shalom, the inner aspect of the sin is infinitely worse than the outer form of eating this forbidden food.
This idea applies to machlokes as well. People sense that quarreling is destructive. If a person is in a fight with someone, he usually suffers greatly from it. But this is not the main thing. An unpleasant conflict between two people is just the external form. There is much more to it than this. Machlokes is an aveirah, forbidden by Torah law, like eating pork is. And an aveirah is a blazing fire.
This is true as well with aveiros of the bein adam l’chaveiro type. When it comes to sins against Hashem, we know that we don’t comprehend the full significance. We know that a mitzvah such as eating matzah has deep Divine qualities and vast powers.
What about forbidden behavior toward human beings? We tend to think that there is no more to it than what meets the eye. We think we know what it is all about. We measure the mitzvah or the aveirah according to our own understanding. But a mitzvah of the bein adam l’chaveiro type is no less of a mitzvah. An aveirah of the bein adam l’chaveiro type is no less of an aveirah. And an aveirah is fire!
The destruction caused by machlokes due to its being an aveirah is inestimably greater than the damage due to its eternal, practical form. If we would just understand this, it would totally change our lives.
If a person eats poison, it doesn’t taste good, but that’s not the point. Besides the unpleasant taste, it has a very destructive quality to it. It contains a chemical that causes internal damage that could be fatal.
This is how it is with machlokes. When a fight is going on, it doesn’t “taste good.” It is a bitter experience. This may be part of the problem, but it is not the main part. The main part is that it is prohibited by the Torah, so it has a very destructive quality that reduces everything to ruins.
Shalom Bayis is Your Obligation
By the way, this point is quite relevant to shalom bayis. We need to know that it is a mitzvah to love every Jew.
ואהבת לרעך כמוך , “You shall love your friend as you love yourself.” The word רע means “friend,” and one’s best friend is one’s spouse.
When a person wants to fulfill this mitzvah, he finds a way to engender love of his friend. But when it comes to one’s spouse, many people simply don’t get the point.
In married life there are ups and downs to the relationship. We need to know that this is part of the mitzvah of ואהבת לרעך כמוך. Any lacking or problem in shalom bayis is a lacking or problem in our fulfillment of a Torah-ordained mitzvah.
Husband and wife are not “doing a favor” to one another by promoting domestic harmony. A fully obligatory Torah mitzvah devolves upon them to find a way to love their spouse, and if they don’t feel love, they need to find a way to arouse it. For instance, the husband could give gifts to his wife, buy her clothing, etc. He owes it to his wife, and she owes it to him, because of the Biblical obligation of ואהבת לרעך כמוך.
There are ways to solve problems. You just need to have the desire to solve them. If you get used to a problem, you don’t look for a solution, and this is the big downfall. If we truly want something, we all can find solutions and techniques and workarounds to get there.
