Now Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, betook himself, along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—descendants of Reuben (16:8).— Korach was considered one of the greatest people of his generation, but when he chose to quarrel with Moshe, he met his downfall. Furthermore, he brought down his entire family, even the little children.
The Chafetz Chaim, in his Sefer Shaar Hazechirah, spends several chapters discussing the sin of machlokes, dissension. This sin, is one of the most destructive, as it wreaks havoc in people’s lives and the spiritual damage it causes to the soul. Furthermore, points out the Chafetz Chaim, machlokes is particularly harmful to children.
A number of sins are associated with machlokes: slander, jealousy, hatred, causing public humiliation but the core evil of machlokes is the obsessive need to be victorious. The quarrel may begin over some genuine issue, but before long, it flares out of control and takes on a life of its own. The original issue is no longer so important. Winning is important.
Brothers may get into an argument over a few thousand dollars of inheritance. The quarrel begins with the money, which is moderately significant. But once it gets started it leads into all sorts of other directions. The brothers stop going to each other’s simchos. They stop talking to each other. They burn with hatred and resentment. And all over what? Five thousand dollars? No, it is much more than that. It is a personality conflict. It is an ego thing. “I will not let him win out over me. I will show him who is right. It’s not the money, it’s the principle of the matter.”
Look how insane is this thing called machlokes, comments the Chafetz Chaim. Ask any parent if he would allow someone else to harm his child. Of course not. Ask any parent if he himself would harm his child. No way! But it is proven that machlokes harms the children. So how can people play this dangerous game? And yet they do. Their need for vindication, and victory is so great that they are blinded to the dangers.
Two people in the Chafetz Chaim’s town became embroiled in a machlokes. As one would expect, the situation deteriorated as time went on, becoming uglier and messier. Then the children of the two antagonists mysteriously began to die. Chafetz Chaim decided that enough was enough. He went to one of the parties and said, “Don’t you think it’s time to stop? This is killing your children! Think about the children!” An evil gleam appeared in the man’s eyes. He leaned forward and said, “Rebbe, I will bury all of them, but I am going to win.”
The story of Korach teaches us how far we can descend once we embark on the road to machlokes. We must avoid taking even the first step.
The Mishnah states (Avos 5:17) that any argument Lesheim Shamayim, for the sake of Heaven, will have lasting results, and any argument not for the sake of Heaven, but for self-interests will not have lasting results. The Mishneh goes on to give examples for the two types of dispute. An argument for the sake of Heaven is like that of “the schools of Hillel and Shammai,” who were always disagreeing with each other. An argument not for the sake of Heaven is like that of “Korach and his followers.”
Hagaon Rav Shimon Schwab is puzzled by the phrase “Korach and his followers.” The Mishnah mentions only one side of the dispute. Shouldn’t the Mishnah have said “the argument of Korach and Moshe,” just as the Mishnah mentions “the schools of Hillel and Shammai,” who represent both sides of the dispute? He explains that in an argument for the sake of Heaven both parties are interested in hearing the opinion of the other. Their goal is to arrive at the truth, and in order to do so, they have to hear both sides of the argument. Afterward, they will decide what they believe, and if it differs from the other school, there will be a dispute.
But in an argument that is not for the sake of Heaven, such as that of Korach and his followers, there was no interest in discovering the truth. There was only a grab for prestige and power. Why would they want to hear what the other side had to say? They turned a deaf ear to all the arguments against their position. Therefore, their dispute did not really have two sides. There was only one Korach and his followers.
The story of Korach is not to downgrade him. According to Chazal he did Teshuva and will merit Olam Habah. Sanhedrin 109b. The purpose is for future generations to learn a lesson how ugly is Machlokes. We must be more tolerant, and accept that others have different views and opinions, and that this is as it should be, we would go a long way toward avoiding machlokes
