Moshe Rose Up and Went to Dathan and Abiram
Moshe rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram... The Ohr Hachaim asks, why does the Torah say that Moshe arose? Was he sitting previously? Why? Why are we supposed to know this?
The possuk (Mishlei 18:12) says לִפְנֵי שֶׁבֶׁר יִגְבַּהּ לֶׁב אִיש וְלִפְנֵי כָבוֹד עֲנָוָה – before a break, a person’s heart is arrogant, and before honor comes meekness. When a person is about to suffer a fall, he acts with arrogance, but before Hashem gives a person honor, the person acts with meekness and humility.
Moshe degraded himself, insulting his own honor to pacify his two nemeses, even when he was right. This denigration is called an arising. It was this willingness to suffer embarrassment and degradation that caused Moshe to end up on top, with a miracle created to clear his name and announce that Moshe’s prophecy is truth.
The lesson from this is that chasing honor and respect is futile. A person’s greatest success comes from when he lowers himself. And Dasan and Aviram, who received the great honor of forcing Moshe Rabbeinu to come to their house, ended up the victims of the plague.
