Segulos Without Mitzvos Are Useless
When Korach led a revolt against Moshe and Aharon in an attempt to overthrow their leadership, Moshe suggested that the dispute be resolved by challenging Korach and his followers to prepare ketores [incense], which they would offer to Hashem. Aharon would do so as well, and the person Hashem truly selected to serve Him would survive, while all the others would perish. As Moshe had warned, Korach and all his supporters were killed, while Aharon’s offering was accepted.
When the Jewish people saw what had happened, they reacted by accusing Moshe and Aharon of causing their deaths. This false allegation kindled Hashem’s wrath, and He threatened to destroy the nation with a mageifah [plague]. Moshe quickly instructed Aharon to take a fire pan containing ketores and fire from the mizbayach into the midst of the Jewish camp to atone for them and stop the plague.
How did Moshe know that Aharon offering incense would protect the people from danger? Rashi explains that when Moshe was in heaven to receive the Torah, each of Hashem’s ministering angels taught him a secret. The lesson he learned from the Malach HaMaves [Angel of Death] was that ketores has the ability to stop a mageifah.
As Moshe commanded him, Aharon proceeded to bring a pan containing incense into the Jewish camp to bring an end to the plague (Bamidbar 17:13). Rashi writes that when Aharon attempted to forcefully stop the Malach HaMaves from killing any more people, the angel claimed that he was an emissary of Hashem and should be allowed to continue.
Aharon replied that he was on a mission from Moshe, to which the Angel of Death responded that he was acting at Hashem’s behest while Aharon was only an agent of Moshe, in which case he should prevail. Aharon rebutted this argument by saying that Moshe would not tell him anything unless it came directly from Hashem.
Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman points out that this dialogue is difficult to reconcile with Rashi’s prior comment that the Malach HaMaves was the one who personally taught Moshe the secret of using ketores to stop a mageifah. If so, when Moshe and Aharon attempted to implement the technique that he had revealed to them, why was he so resistant?
Rav Aharon Leib answers that this episode teaches us that even if a segulah comes from heaven, it can only improve a situation if it involves a mitzvah. A random segulah that a person sees marketed will not help him change the strict justice he is experiencing unless it is associated with the performance of a mitzvah. Thus, when the Malach HaMaves saw Aharon with incense, he was unimpressed and told Aharon that a segulah without an accompanying mitzvah is worthless. Only when Aharon explained that he was following orders from Moshe, whose instructions always emanated from Hashem, was the angel persuaded, for if Moshe told him to do so, there was surely a mitzvah involved.
Rav Yisroel Reisman adds that although nobody today offers ketores to try to change his lot, this message is still extremely relevant to our gullible generation. It has become commonplace for advertisements to promise that if a person generously donates to their cause, he is guaranteed to experience miraculous salvation. Pursuing such newfangled approaches is a misguided recipe for disappointment and heartbreak. There are no spiritual shortcuts in life, and the only segulos on which we can depend are those that involve tried and true mitzvos such as learning Torah, heartfelt prayer, sincere teshuvah, and helping others in need. (R’ Ozer Alport)
