Emunah is Not Enough
And so we have to know that the story of Korach was placed in the Torah to be a lesson for us. Because we think that if we’d really believe – if let’s say, if we’d hear His Voice, then from then on there’d be no problem at all. If only we saw mann fall from the sky and saw the Yam Suf split and our enemies fall into the water and be drowned, that’s all we’d need – then we’d have the rock-solid emunah of our forefathers and we'd all be loyal servants of Hashem.
But it’s not true; it's not true at all. Because after the test of emunah there's another test, a more trying test, a more bitter test; and that’s the test of character, of middos.
From Buddha to Bust
I had a man here who was once a member of a Buddhist monastery in California; he was a talmid of avodah zarah. But he used to come late to the prayers there and they were angry at him. “You’re coming late to the ‘minyan’!” They criticized him and finally he left them. He threw away Buddhism and he found his way to Flatbush, to our shul.
Then he got married. He found a nice Jewish girl, a frum girl, and there was a chasunah. So did he live happily ever after? No. Because that’s when the real test began – the test of middos, the trouble of getting along with someone else.
The test of emunah, yes, that he survived. Buddhism, that opponent he overcame. But the test of fighting against yourself, of hakoivesh es yitzro, that was too bitter of a nisayon for him.
What was the end? Just like his guru, his lama, threw him out of the monastery, his wife threw him out of the house. It ended up he was standing in beis din and he’s saying to his wife, “Harei zeh giteich”. Ay yah yay! He’s giving her a gett now.
The Tragedy of Middos
What a heartbreak! Did you ever see a gett being given? I used to have gittin in my house before I came to New York. The beis din is here and the husband is standing there. They’re all
