This week in the Parsha we learn one of the most important messages in the Torah, the danger of Machlokes – fights, quarrels and arguments.
Korach, his followers with all their families were swallowed up alive into the ground. The 250 members of the Sanhedrin that brought the Ketores – sacrifice of the sweet smelling spices burned to death from a Heavenly fire.
There are many points that we need to understand in this story. Let us try and take a few.
Firstly, how did so many Jews follow Korach? What did Korach have to offer that convinced Klal Yisrael to take his side?
Secondly, Chazal tell us that every day the Mann fell in the dessert. If a person was a Tzaddik his Mann fell next to his door step. The less of a Tzaddik the person was the further away the Mann fell. If so why didn’t everyone look where the Mann of Korach fell? It for sure couldn’t have fallen next to his door.
Korach had great claims in the way Moshe and Aharon were leaders taking all the spiritual greatness for themselves. Korach shouted that they all deserve to have such greatness. All the Jews were by Har Sinai, they all heard Hashem, so they can all be great. They don’t need Moshe over them.
If we imagine that it was a petty argument; well it wasn’t so simple.
Our Rabbis tell us that many times a Neshama comes down to this world, but does not fulfill its purpose. Hashem gives the Neshama another opportunity and it comes down in a Gilgul. Many of us living today were already in this world in earlier generations but have come back down to this world again to rectify whatever we never managed in our previous life. The Yismach Moshe, Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum zt"l from Ihel claimed that he remembered that during his previous life he was at the time of Matan Torah in the desert. He also remembered the argument between Korach and Moshe Rabbeinu. His students asked him which side he took? The Yismach Moshe replied that he stood by the side. He explained that it wasn't a simple fight. On one side were Moshe Rabbeinu and Aharon Hakohen. On the other side was Korach with 250 members of the Sanhedrin - the High Court with such convincing arguments. Korach demanded that everyone should receive higher spiritual levels. He wanted all the Jews to fight for Ruchniyus - spirituality.
Now let us look at the second question about the Mann. The chances are that if Korach’s Mann fell far away, he surely had students and followers who ran quickly to bring it for their great leader. They for sure would have had an answer why his Man fell so far away.
But the Midrash tells us that no Mann fell that day. The Mann fell in the merit of Moshe Rabbeinu. One of Moshe’s seven names was Yered an expression of falling because the Mann fell in his merit. Now that there was arguments against Moshe Klal Yisrael lost their merit for the Mann so there was no Mann that morning.
They got a message from Heaven. Their food stopped. A message that they were in a danger, to die from hunger. So what did Korach answer to this?
No Mann, for sure Moshe is to blame! He is causing the whole fight.
That is the power of Machlokes to twist things around completely and lose one’s clarity completely.
The truth is we see a similar story later on in Jewish history.
King Achav convinced Klal Yisrael to serve Avoda Zara – idol worship. The Passuk in the second Parsha of Shema tells us that the punishment for idol worship is that the rain will stop.
For three years there was no rain in Eretz Yisrael. After three years Eliyahu Hanavi came down to bring rain. On the way he met Achav.
Did Achav confess and admit his great crime?
No
He turned to Eliyahu Hanavi and said, “Is it you the troublemaker of Klal Yisrael?”
Yes, one can receive a punishment and a warning and twist it completely that it came for the opposite reason. When a person has a personal interest it can blind them from seeing straight, and even allow them to see the opposite.
This is so true when it comes to Machlokes. How many times we have so many things to prove us right when really if we were honest with ourselves and push our personal interest aside we would see that those same facts prove us wrong. But we use the facts and information the way ‘we’ want to understand them.
But this is also true in so many different areas in our lives.
The following story is another example of twisting a situation as one pleases.
Rabbi Yissachar Dov known as the Saba Kadisha (the Holy Grandfather) of Radoshitz was very poor as a young man. One day he was walking to see his Rebbi the Chozeh from Lublin. He was so poor he couldn’t afford to pay and travel by horse and wagon.
On his way a wagon passed by. Inside was a sick patient who was so sick that his doctor had already lost hope in curing him. His doctor told him to travel to the city and go see a professor, maybe he could still save him. The man travelled with his two sons who were taking him to the professor.
They saw this young man trudging along in the mud and decided to offer him a hitch.
Rabbi Yissachar Dov was taken aback by the tragic sight of the deathly sick patient. He was so touched, he took his Tehillim and started praying, beseeching Hashem to cure the sick man.
Suddenly, things took a turn. The patient started feeling a little better. He opened his eyes and asked his sons where are they going and why, he isn’t sick, they should turn around and take him back home.
The two sons were overwhelmed. They looked at each other and said, “it’s known that every doctor is accompanied by a Malaach – an Angel. The bigger the doctor, the greater the Malaach. A professor is accompanied by the Malaach Gavriel himself. Now look how powerful the Malaach of the professor must be, that just from travelling to go and see the professor, the Malaach already heals the patient.”
They turned to the Radoshitzer and said, “Young man, please can you step down from our wagon, we’re going back home.”
When the Radoshitzer told over the story he added, “I don’t know if my Tehillim helped but I don’t understand why they never thought that maybe in the merit of Hachnasas Orchim, inviting a stranger and giving him a hitch was the Chessed that saved the patient. Maybe then they wouldn’t have abandoned him.”
But that is how we think. We translate events into what’s convenient for us!
