Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker Tov, and good חודש Chodesh to all. A big thank you to our generous פרשה parsha sponsors, our dear friends Becky and Avi Katz and family, who sponsor each and every פרשה parsha class in memory of David Grossman, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מניש le'ilui nishmas David ben Menachem Manish. A huge thank you to the Katzes for their generosity. Also, please note, next week we are off. There is no פרשה שיעור parsha shiur next week. You could listen to previous years online. We'll remind everyone in the WhatsApp group. If you're not part of the WhatsApp group, you'll want to join for a bonus פרשה parsha material. You can join anytime. This week we have the privilege of reading and learning פרשת קרח Parshas Korach, page 820 in the ArtScroll Stone חומש Chumash. וַיִּקַּח קֹרַח בֶּן יִצְהָר בֶּן קְהָת בֶּן לֵוִי וְדָתָן וַאֲבִירָם בְּנֵי אֱלִיאָב וְאוֹן בֶּן פֶּלֶת בְּנֵי רְאוּבֵן Vayikach Korach ben Yitzhar ben Kehas ben Levi, v'Dasan v'Aviram b'nei Eliav v'On ben Peles b'nei Reuven. Our פרשה parsha begins by identifying and naming the very protagonists of the rebellion. קרח Korach who is the son of יצהר קהת Yitzhar, Kehas, and לוי Levi. However, רש\"י Rashi already quotes, we stop before we identify with יעקב Yaakov. יעקב Yaakov did not want to be associated or connected whatsoever with מחלוקת machlokes. And in honor and tribute to יעקב Yaakov, we stop beforehand. But קרח Korach who descends from יצהר קהת Yitzhar, Kehas, and לוי Levi, ודתן ואבירם v'Dasan v'Aviram who are the sons of אליאב Eliav, and און בן פלת On ben Peles of ראובן Reuven. וַיָּקֻמוּ לִפְנֵי מֹשֶׁה וַאֲנָשִׁים מִבְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל Vayakumu lifnei Moshe v'anashim mibnei Yisrael חֲמִשִּׁים וּמָאתַיִם נְשִׂיאֵי עֵדָה chamishim umasayim nesi'ei edah. 250 leaders of the Jewish people, they collaborate and conspire in order to attack, in order to challenge משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu.And we've already spent many years, and we've analyzed and shared many approaches to what does it mean ויקח vayikach? If somebody incites a rebellion, if somebody is the source of מחלוקת machlokes, there are a lot of words we could use to describe what they launched, what they began. But why the word ויקח vayikach? He took. What did he take? So רש\"י Rashi says, לקח את עצמו לצד אחד, להיות נחלק מתוך העדה, לערער על הכהונה lakach es atzmo l'tzad echad, l'hiyos nechlak mitoch ha'eida, l'orer al hak'huna. He took himself to one side of the issue. He extracted himself from being מעורב me'urav, from being united. He removed himself. He became an antagonist. He became a opposition. He became an adversary. ויקח Vayikach, he took himself sort of out of the equation for which he was meant. And again, we shared many interpretations in the past, but I want to share with you new interpretations this year from the ספר אמרות טהורות Sefer Imros Tehoros, the רחמסטריווקא רבי Rachmastrivka Rebbe. Quotes the תולדות Toldos. The תולדות Toldos says the following: וַיִּקַּח קֹרַח, פירושו רז\"ל Vayikach Korach, peirushu Razal. The גמרא Gemara in סנהדרין דף ק\"ט Sanhedrin daf kuf tes tells us what does it mean ויקח vayikach? What did קרח Korach take and why do we use that verb he took? שלקח מקח רע לעצמו she'lakach mekach ra l'atzmo. שלקח She'lakach, he took, a מקח רע mekach ra. It was a bad transaction. It was a bad deal. It was a bad decision. What does that mean? So, דאינו אומרים בגמרא d'einu omrim b'Gemara, the גמרא Gemara in מכות Makos says, בא חבקוק והעמידן על אחת, שנאמר וצדיק באמונתו יחיה ba Chavakkuk v'he'emidan al achas, she'ne'emar v'tzadik b'emunaso yichyeh.חבקוק הנביא Chavakuk HaNavi, we spoke about this a little bit yesterday in the אמונה שיעור emunah shiur, not in the context. The גמרא מכות Gemara Makos quotes from חבקוק הנביא Chavakuk HaNavi who tells us העמידן על אחת he'emidan al achas. All of תורה Torah was consolidated and summarized in one principle: צדיק באמונתו יחיה tzadik b'emunaso yichyeh. The righteous live, they find life, they tap the essence of creation, they fulfill the purpose of creation. How? With אמונה emunah. So yesterday we developed in the אמונה שיעור emunah shiur, peeling back the layers of the onion, looking behind the curtain and finding the wizard, seeing השם Hashem as the puppeteer pulling all the strings. A צדיק tzadik, a righteous person does not give into the illusion of this world, doesn't give into the facade of this world. But the צדיק tzadik sees the matrix that is behind, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu is calling all the shots, pulling all the strings. The צדיק tzadik is יחיה yichyeh, finds life באמונתו b'emunaso. אמונה Emunah, the glasses he wears, she wears in order to experience life. But the מפרשים meforshim on the גמרא Gemara wonder, הלא יש תרי\"ג מצוות halo yesh taryag mitzvos? There are in fact 613 מצוות mitzvos. איך אפשר להעמיד כל התורה כולה על מצוה אחת בלבד Eich efshar l'hamid kol haTorah kulah al mitzvah achas bilvad? So how can we summarize, how can we consolidate, how can we say the whole תורה Torah can be reduced to one מצוה mitzvah? And what's that one מצוה mitzvah? אמונה Emunah. But it's not true there isn't one מצוה mitzvah. There's 613. Aren't we neglecting, aren't we marginalizing the other 612 when we reduce all of תורה Torah to the one? So he writes, אך העניין הוא שתכלית כל התורה ומצוות היא אמונה ach ha'inyan hu she'tachlis kol haTorah u'mitzvos hi emunah. At the core, at the root, at the source, the essence and the purpose of all מצוות mitzvos is אמונה emunah. 613 mechanisms and means and platforms to connect to our creator, to see and to feel השם Hashem in this world and in our lives. והטעם שקרא הגמרא אחת v'hata'am shekara haGemara achas, so what does it mean, העמידן על אחת he'emidan al achas? חבקוק Chavakuk stood them all up, all other 612 מצוות mitzvos rest and rely on the one. Listen to this insight. דינה הרי בתורה יש תרי\"ג מצוות, אי אפשר לאדם להשלים בשלימות בנפשו בלת קיים כל התרי\"ג מצוות. אכן, קשה. הלא אי אפשר לחלק עם ישראל לקיים כל התרי\"ג מצוות D'hinei hare b'Torah yesh taryag mitzvos, ee efshar l'adam l'hashlim b'shleimus b'nafsho bilti kiyum kol ha'taryag mitzvos. Omnam, kasheh. Halo ee efshar l'cholek am Yisrael l'kayem kol ha'taryag mitzvos. It's impossible for one Jew to keep all 613. Not one Jew is a כהן לוי וישראל kohen, levi, v'yisrael at the same time. You're not a man and woman at the same time. You're not living in Israel and outside of Israel at the same time. You cannot fulfill all 613 at the same time. So how do you fulfill all תרי\"ג מצוות taryag mitzvos? אך הנה על ידי שיהיה אחדות בקרב כלל ישראל, ומתאחדים ביחד Achein al yedei she'yihiyeh achdus b'kerev Klal Yisrael, u'misachdim b'yachad, the answer is, אחדות achdus. Unity. When we see and define ourselves as one, when we are unified as one, על ידי זה שייך לכל אחד ואחד לקיים כל תרי\"ג מצוות al yedei zeh shayach l'chol echad v'echad l'kayem kol taryag mitzvos. So the כהן kohen is me, the ישראל Yisrael, the ישראל Yisrael I am in the כהן kohen. We are really one, we are integrated. We are different limbs of one body. כל אחד מקיים מצוה זו, וחבירו מקיים מצוה זו, וכל אחד עושה המצוה בשם כל ישראל Each zeh mekayem mitzvah zu, v'chavero mekayem mitzvah zu, v'chol echad oseh ha'mitzvah b'shem kol Yisrael. Each of us do a מצוה mitzvah in honor of and on behalf of all the Jewish people.So when we live with אמונה emunah, when we see ourselves as the children of השם Hashem, when we understand we are all his creation, but we all source ourselves back, our root is in השם Hashem, then we are all united. And when we are all united, then, then we can complement one another and see ourselves as fulfilling all of מצוות mitzvos, all of מצוות mitzvos. אי אפשר לאדם להשיג מידת האחדות כי אם על ידי אמונה Ee efshar l'adam l'hasig midas ha'achdus ki im al yedei emunah. But you can't fulfill אחדות achdus without אמונה emunah. דוודאי אם אדם מאמין באמונה שלמה שכל דבר נעשה בהשגחה פרטית, והכל הוא מהשם יתברך d'vadai im adam ma'amin b'emunah shleima she'kol davar na'aseh b'hashgacha pratis, v'hakol hu mei'Hashem yisbarach, one of the overriding themes of our פרשה parsha will continue to elaborate on it this morning, is how do you avoid מחלוקת machlokes? When you see what brings you together, what you have in common, what unites you with others. Then you have a healthy sense of אחדות achdus. But when you see yourself as different and apart, when you see that other person as the other, as the adversary, as different, then you have מחלוקת machlokes. But what unites us? At the end of the day, people are different and we disagree. People aggravate us and they bother us. So how are we able to unite with them? Because of אמונה emunah. When we see ourselves as all the children of השם Hashem, when we see everything that happens as השגחה פרטית hashgacha pratis, it all comes from above. הכל מהשם יתברך, יוכל להיות באחדות עם כל ישראל Hakol mei'Hashem yisbarach, yuchal l'hiyos b'achdus im kol Yisrael. So you're not going to get aggravated, you're not going to get bent out of shape, and you're not going to get riddled and embroiled in a מחלוקת machlokes, because it's all from above. It's all from השם Hashem. And these are my brothers and my sisters, we're all part of one family, we're all the children of השם Hashem. בלי אמונה לא שייך להיות באחדות Bli emunah lo shayach l'hiyos b'achdus. Without אמונה emunah, you can't really have אחדות achdus. כי כאשר יזדמן שאחר יצער או יכאיב בליבו שנאה על חברו Ki ka'asher yizdaman she'acher y'tza'er o yach'iv b'libo sinah al chavero. When someone aggravates you, aggrieves you, when someone hurts you, you're going to get angry. You're going to want to take revenge. You're going to be pained. ונמצא שחסר לו האחדות v'nimtza she'chaser lo ha'achdus. What will be missing and lacking is a sense of unity. ועל ידי אמונה, כאשר מאמין שכל מה שנעשה לו בא מהשם יתברך v'al yedei emunah, ka'asher ma'amin she'kol ma she'na'aseh lo ba mei'Hashem yisbarach, so when a person feels אחדות achdus, unity, we're all children of השם Hashem, we're all united, everything's for a reason, everything's for a purpose, everything's from above. לא יהיה לו עגמת נפש, ממה שיצער אותו חברו lo yihiyeh lo agmas nefesh, m'mah she'y'tza'er oso chavero. So, people did something, behave in a certain way, write a certain thing, post a certain thing, they come together as a certain community, you won't be aggravated or bothered by it because it's all from above, it's all part of a master plan, it's all from השם Hashem. When you have אמונה emunah, you can have אחדות achdus. And without אמונה emunah, there cannot be אחדות achdus. So now we can understand the גמרא Gemara, בא חבקוק והעמידן על אחת ba Chavakkuk v'he'emidan al achas. חבקוק הנביא Chavakuk HaNavi came and he was able to stand up all of תורה Torah על אחת al achas. The other 612, all of תורה מצוות Torah mitzvos, all of תרי\"ג taryag rest and reside, they all rely on one, namely the מצוה mitzvah of אמונה emunah. Without אמונה emunah, there's nothing. וצדיק באמונתו יחיה. אחת, שיהיה כלל ישראל באחדות. שאז יתקיימו במקאל כל התרי\"ג מצוות על ידי כל אחד ואחד, ועל ידי אחדות V'tzadik b'emunaso yichyeh. Achas, she'yihiyeh Klal Yisrael b'achdus. She'az yitkaymu b'miklal kol ha'taryag mitzvos al yedei kol echad v'echad, v'lo al yedei achdus.So now why am I mentioning all this? Why is the רחמסטריווקא רבי Rachmastrivka Rebbe mentioning all of this? Because that is the undermining, the story of קרח Korach. קרח לא היה באחדות עם כלל ישראל. הפריד עצמו מכלל ישראל להחזיק במחלוקת Korach lo hayah b'achdus im Klal Yisrael. Hifrid atzmo mi'kol Yisrael l'hachzik b'machlokes. קרח Korach did not feel that unity. He did not feel unified. He did not see himself as integrated and part of the people around him. He did not see that every role that we have is from השם Hashem. So we're not competing, we're not comparing, we're not envious, we're not jealous, because it's all from above. So what does it mean ויקח קרח Vayikach Korach? Says the תרגום Targum, דאתפלג d'ispaleg. He separated, he divided. לא היה אפשר לו לקיים כל התורה Lo hayah efshar lo l'kayem kol haTorah. He couldn't fulfill all of תורה Torah. Because the only way to see myself as fulfilling all of תורה Torah is to be united with all of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. ונמצא שלקח את התורה שנקראת לקח טוב, כי לקח טוב נתתי לכם, ונתהפך אצלו למקח רע V'nimtza she'lakach es haTorah she'nikreis lekach tov, ki lekach tov nasati lachem, v'nehapach etzlo l'mekach ra. That's what the מדרש Midrash, that's what חז\"ל Chazal mean. תורה Torah is called a מקח mekach. תורה Torah is the greatest deal, the greatest investment. תורה Torah is the greatest acquisition that you could have. People pursue all kinds of material things. They want to amass possessions. They want to pursue material things, but the greatest מקח mekach there is, כי לקח טוב נתתי לכם ki lekach tov nasati lachem. השם Hashem says, I've got a געשמאק geschmak new thing that came out. Really, what's it called? What version? Where can I get it? Does Amazon Prime deliver? It's called תורה Torah. כי לקח טוב Ki lekach tov. It is the greatest, greatest thing that you could have. But קרח Korach couldn't and didn't have access to תורה Torah, because he was in מחלוקת machlokes. And without אחדות achdus you can't observe all of תורה Torah. For him it was a מקח רע mekach ra, not a לקח טוב lekach tov. And that's why the פרשה parsha begins, ויקח קרח Vayikach Korach.ויקח Vayikach. His attitude was, it wasn't a לקח טוב lekach tov, it was a מקח רע mekach ra. לקח מקח רע על ידי שהיה נחלק מכל ישראל לעמוד לעצמו, ולא היה באחדות Lakach mekach ra al yedei she'hayah nechlak mi'kol Yisrael la'amod l'atzmo, v'lo hayah b'achdus. The problem was, what was קרח Korach really all about in the end of the day? He was really all about עצמו atzmo. When your religious experience is about your ego, your honor, your glory, your כבוד kavod, your כיבודים kibbudim, then in the end of the day, you're going to be jealous and envious. The משגיח mashgiach in כרם ביבנה Kerem B'Yavneh, Rav Rivlin when I was there, who used to say, how come no one gets upset they didn't get an עליה aliyah on a Tuesday, on a Wednesday, on a Friday, on a Sunday? You don't walk into שול shul and some man charges up to the גבאי gabbai, I didn't get an עליה aliyah! Sunday. Why does no one get an upset upset when they don't get an עליה aliyah on a Sunday? Because nobody else got an עליה aliyah. So are you upset you didn't get an עליה aliyah, or are you upset someone else got an עליה aliyah? What's the source of your religious experience? You need the honor, you need the כבוד kavod? As a rabbi, the גבאים gabbaim often say, Rabbi, I want to give you an עליה aliyah. I always turn down the עליות aliyos. I don't want an עליה aliyah. Even שמחת תורה Simchas Torah. בקושי Bakoshe, I don't want, I don't take an עליה aliyah. Because I understand why people want. I understand why people want to feel connected to community. They want to mark an occasion, certainly a יארצייט yahrtzeit, or a שמחה simcha. But סתם stam you have people upset, angry, you got to get the cards, you got to mark them. They know exactly the last date they got an עליה aliyah, they know how long it's been, they know how many times the other guy got since the last time they got, everyone else.I I I again, why? We all get to say ברכת התורה Birchas HaTorah every morning, you say ברכת התורה Birchas HaTorah. The same ברכה bracha that you say when you get an עליה aliyah, do you say with the same כוונה kavanah, do you quiet everyone around you, please pay attention to my ברכת התורה Birchas HaTorah? No, that ברכת התורה Birchas HaTorah you mumbled on your way late to שול shul if you made it to שול shul, nobody heard, no one was there, nobody saw, you didn't shlep it out, you didn't krechtz it out, you didn't the whole world didn't have to hear, the whole world didn't have to shake, because you weren't standing up on the בימה bimah. That ברכת התורה Birchas HaTorah. But the, but the עליה aliyah you want. So the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi or Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev says, שלקח מקח רע לעצמו she'lakach mekach ra l'atzmo, what do חז\"ל Chazal mean, what does the מדרש Midrash mean? ויקח קרח Vayikach Korach. He took a לקח lekach, a מקח רע לעצמו mekach ra l'atzmo. הנה יש שני אופנים שיכולין לעבוד את השם Hinei yesh shnei ofanim she'yecholin l'avod es Hashem. Says the holy of Berditchev, there are two ways you can serve השם Hashem. יש צדיקים, כאילו שהם אחרים עובדים את השם יתברך, חושבים מהנאות עצמם בעבודתם Yesh tzadikim, ke'ilu she'hem acherim ovdim es Hashem yisbarach, choshvim mei'hanaos atzmam b'avodasam. They're serving השם Hashem, but it's all about them. I want to sit in the מזרח mizrach. They wait for me for שמונה עשרה Shemoneh Esrei. I get שלישי shlishi, I get שישי shishi, I get the כבוד kavod, I get the עליה aliyah. ולכן חפצים שרק הם יעבדו את השם יתברך ולא אחרים V'lachein chafetzim she'rak hem ya'avdu es Hashem yisbarach v'lo acherim. I have got to be the בעל מוסף baal musaf. I've got to lead the נעילה neilah. I got to give the דרשה drasha. I got to give the שמועס shmooze. It's about them. In the guise of it being about השם Hashem, but it's ultimately really about them. אבל הצדיקים העובדים את השם יתברך באמת Aval ha'tzadikim ha'ovdim es Hashem yisbarach b'emes, says Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi, the people who honestly and genuinely and in truth are serving השם Hashem and it's about him, not about them, כל כוונתם בעבודתם הוא רק שהשם יתברך יקבל תענוג ממה שמתקיים המצוה kol kavanasam b'avodasam hu rak she'Hashem yisbarach yekabel ta'anug m'mah she'miskayem ha'mitzvah. All they care is, someone got an עליה aliyah, there was a בעל קורא baal korei, there was a בעל מוסף baal musaf, there was a בעל נעילה baal neilah, someone said the דרשה drasha, someone gave a שמועס shmooze, they don't care. The אייבישטער eibishter is, זה הביא נחת רוח ותענוג כביכול דם zeh hevi nachas ruach v'taanug k'v'yachol dam. Impressed? It's good in Yiddish. והעיקר הוא אצלם שיתקיים ציווי השם יתברך V'ha'ikar hu etzlam she'yitkayem tzivui Hashem yisbarach. The main thing is, קדוש ברוך הוא Kadosh Baruch Hu said to do it and we did it. I don't have to do it, doesn't have to be me. אין נפקא מינה על ידי מי נעשה הדבר. העיקר שהשם יתברך יקבל התענוג Ein nafka mina al yedei mi na'aseh ha'davar. Ha'ikar she'Hashem yisbarach yekabel ha'ta'anug. הקדוש ברוך הוא Kadosh Baruch Hu wants it, we did it, we provided for it, it's beautiful, it's געשמאק geschmak, it's געוואלדיג gevaldig. Doesn't have to be me. מי שאינו כן, אלא יש לו פניות בעבודתו Mi she'eino kein, ela yesh lo p'niyos b'avodaso, but a person who's driven by ego, a person who is self-centered, a person who's narcissistic and it's all about them, a person who has a personal bias invested in their עבודת השם avodas Hashem, but it's really the עבודת השם avodas Hashem is really just a platform and a means for their own honor, their own attention, their own ego, עובד את השם יתברך מחמת קבלת השכר oved es Hashem yisbarach machmas kabalas ha'schar, even because they just want the reward, וחפץ שרק הוא יעבוד את השם יתברך v'chafetz she'rak hu ya'avod es Hashem yisbarach. I want to do it, not somebody else. ואין העיקר אצלו שיתקיים רצון השם יתברך v'ein ha'ikar etzlo she'yitkayem r'tzon Hashem yisbarach. אהרן הכהן Aharon HaKohen said, 'I don't need to be the כהן גדול Kohen Gadol. Someone more qualified, someone's better, everyone wants someone else, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants, I'm good, someone else.' But not קרח Korach. What was the problem with קרח Korach? ויקח קרח Vayikach Korach. What did he take? לקח מקח רע לעצמו Lakach mekach ra l'atzmo. The problem with קרח Korach was, it was all about עצמו atzmo. So two people on the outside could be both doing the same thing, sit and שטייגען sh'teigen and learning and give שיעורים shiurim and דרשות drashos and be giving out צדקה tzedakah and be responsible for coordinating חסד chesed, but one is doing it all about the mission, the goal, and the other's doing it all about themselves.Jim Collins in his monumental work, his wonderful work, Good to Great, talks about five levels of leadership. And level five leadership he identifies, the highest level of leadership is when it's not about you, it's about the cause. And what's the evidence of level five leadership? Succession planning. When you know when to step aside, when you know when to hand it over, when it's not about you, you're not the brand, not your name, not your honor, not your glory, not your power, not your ego, it's about the company, it's about the cause, it's about something so much bigger. It's not about you. That's level five leadership. Some people's identity is so intertwined, they can't separate out what they work for, the organization, the cause, the company, from their own ego. And the highest level leadership is when it's not about you, when you just want to see the continuity and the succession and the success and it's not about you. קרח Korach was not level five. Level four, level three, level two, level one. He ended up minus one. He ended up underground. He was level minus five. Not level five leadership. He was below ground. He doesn't say that Jim Collins, I'm just throwing that in. ויקח קרח Vayikach Korach. Say חז\"ל Chazal, what was the problem? לקח מקח רע Lakach mekach ra, the key word in identifying where קרח Korach went wrong was, he took a מקח רע mekach ra for whom? לעצמו l'atzmo. On the outside, it was a religious מחלוקת machlokes. As so many מחלוקתים machlokesim are. מחלוקת מניינים machlokes minyanim, community, שולס shuls, רבנים rabbanim, leadership, schools, and everybody says, 'I don't want to be fighting this fight. It's לשם שמיים l'shem Shamayim, it's לשמה l'shma. What can I do? It's for השם Hashem. It's a religious fight.' But you know what's underneath it? לעצמו L'atzmo. If it's about you, your ego was bruised, was damaged, power, so says the קדושת לוי Kedushas Levi Rav Levi Yitzchak, 'אהרן הכהן Aharon HaKohen said whoever's most qualified, whoever's most מרוצה marutza, whoever השם Hashem wants, I'm good, as long as it gets done.' קרח Korach said, 'It's not me. It's not whoever. It's not whenever, wherever, has to be me. I deserve it. I'm entitled. It's not fair to me.' He was לקח lakach, he took this תורה Torah that should be a לקח טוב lekach tov, he made it a מקח רע mekach ra. What turns, says Rav Levi Yitzchak, what turns תורה Torah from כי לקח טוב נתתי לכם ki lekach tov nasati lachem? What turns it from a לקח טוב lekach tov to a מקח רע mekach ra? One word: לעצמו l'atzmo. Ego. Ego, ego, ego. אנכי עומד בין השם וביניכם Anochi omed bein Hashem u'veineichem. The ego stands between us and God. The ego is at the core of a lack of שלום בית shalom bayis in the home. The ego alienates children from parents. The ego sabotages success professionally and in business. The ego is the kryptonite. The ego is the poison that contaminates, that even when on the outside it looks like it's for noble reasons and goals, the ego is what undermines, the ego is what can bring people down. The רמב\"ן Ramban wonders the following question. קרח Korach incites this rebellion. That's how our פרשה parsha begins, ויקח vayikach, he took עצמו atzmo. When did it take place? When did קרח Korach lead this rebellion? When did this happen? No? So you'll say after פרשת קרח Parshas Korach on page 820, that's when it happened. It happened after פרשת שלח Parshas Shlach, before פרשת חקת Parshas Chukas, פרשת קרח Parshas Korach. Wherever it appears in the חומש Chumash, that's where it happened, right? But there's varying opinions. So the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra writes, says the אברהם אבן עזרא Avraham Ibn Ezra, the incident with קרח Korach took place right after חנוכת המשכן Chanukas HaMishkan, earlier. After the חנוכת המשכן Chanukas HaMishkan, קרח Korach said, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on here? Not him. Me.' Why does the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra make sense? Chronologically, you inaugurate, you erect the משכן Mishkan, the main characters are about to play their main role, it makes sense that קרח Korach would stand up and say, 'Wait. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Not him. Me.' But the רמב\"ן Ramban says differently. The רמב\"ן Ramban says, when did this rebellion of קרח Korach take place? After the חטא המרגלים chet ha'meraglim. Exactly where we have it. In פרשת קרח Parshas Korach, after פרשת שלח Parshas Shlach. Last week the מרגלים meraglim miscalculated and קרח Korach then got up and said, 'Ooh, not them. It's time to impeach them. It's time to indict them. It's time to eliminate them. Me. I should be in charge.' Why did קרח Korach wait until now to challenge משה Moshe? Why didn't he do it the moment these various appointments were first made? Why in מצרים Mitzrayim when השם Hashem tagged משה Moshe, 'You're it,' didn't קרח Korach get up and say, 'No, no, no, no. I am the leader. I am the liberator.' Why not when the משכן Mishkan was inaugurated, as the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra says? According to the רמב\"ן Ramban that it only happened now, why did קרח Korach wait until now?Ever bother you? Read פרשת קרח Parshas Korach a million times. Ever bother you? קרח Korach leads a rebellion, why now? But they've been angry before. They were angry when the water was bitter. They were angry when they got sick of the מן man. They were angry when they wanted a barbecue and there wasn't a שליו slav. And they were angry because they missed, they were so angry, they missed the cucumbers of Egypt. That's angry. That's another level of anger. So they've been angry plenty of times. They've been disappointed plenty of times. They've been on the brink of extinction plenty of times. They've complained. They've been miserable. They've been incorrigible, but they waited until now. דוקא Dafka now, קרח Korach and his 250 men, דוקא dafka now is when they lead the rebellion. Not according to the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra, but at least the way the תורה Torah presents it, now. So now, V'nachon b'drash, writes the רמב\"ן Ramban, שכעס קרח על נשיאות אלצפן, וכינה גם באהרן she'ka'as Korach al nesi'us Elzafan, v'kinei gam b'Aharon, he's angry at the appointment of אלצפן Eltsafan, and he's jealous of אהרן Aharon. ובישראל ביציאתם ממדבר סיני לא ירא להם שום רעה. כי גם בדבר העגל, שהיה חטא גדול ומפורסם, היו המתים מעטים U'v'Yisrael b'yetziasam mi'midbar Sinai lo yira lahem shum ra'ah. Ki gam b'davar ha'egel, she'hayah chet gadol u'mefursam, hayu ha'meisim m'atim. Why didn't קרח Korach raise his voice after the חטא העגל chet ha'eigel? Such a terrible miscalculation. משה Moshe, you were the leader when the people cheated on God, when they worshiped the calf. Certainly אהרן Aharon, you were part of it. Maybe you have a justification, it was a delay tactic, but you were part of it. It's time to impeach אהרן Aharon. Wouldn't that have been the perfect moment, חטא העגל chet ha'eigel? Why did קרח Korach wait? Not חטא העגל chet ha'eigel, he waits until after חטא המרגלים chet ha'meraglim. Why? Why? Why didn't that ever bother any of you until now? Why? Isn't חומש Chumash amazing? Isn't the פרשה parsha fantastic? Every year you read the פרשה parsha and there's a million things you never thought of, you never asked, you never wondered, and it's a whole new פרשה parsha for you. Has one person here ever wondered, why not חטא העגל chet ha'eigel? Why not חנוכת המשכן Chanukas HaMishkan? Why not in מצרים Mitzrayim? Why did קרח Korach wait until now? What was it about now? After פרשת שלח Parshas Shlach.So says the רמב\"ן Ramban, because after the חטא העגל chet ha'eigel, not many people died. ונצלו בתפילתו של משה, שנפל עליהם ארבעים יום וארבעים לילה V'nitzlu b'tfilaso shel Moshe, she'nafal aleihem arbaim yom v'arbaim laila. משה Moshe davened for the people 40 days and 40 nights, and his תפילות tefillos were successful. The Almighty forgave. He didn't forget. He כאילו k'ilu forgot. And very few casualties. ונהיה אוהב משה כנפשם, וישמעו אליו V'niheyeh ohev Moshe k'nafsham, v'yishme'u eilav. So that was not a time. משה Moshe just saved and spared the people yet again. He bailed them out. They should have been wiped out after the חטא העגל chet ha'eigel. משה Moshe intervened, משה Moshe interceded, משה Moshe saved the day. That's not exactly when. Right? When the leader makes the economy flourish and thrive and everybody's prosperous and doing well and everything's healthy and peace and there's no war, you don't raise your hand and say, 'Who's in, it's time for a coup.' You're not going to be successful, says the רמב\"ן Ramban. Chet ha'eigel was the wrong moment. והנה היו אוהבים אותו כנפשם V'hinei hayu ohavim oso k'nafsham. They loved משה Moshe. His approval rating was through the roof. ואילו אדם עורר על משה בזמן ההוא, היה העם סוקלין אותו V'ilu adam orer al Moshe b'zman hahu, hayah ha'am soklin oso. His approval rating was through the roof, and if somebody would have tried to incite a rebellion, a coup of משה Moshe at that time, what would have happened? They would have stoned him. ולכן סבל קרח גדולת אהרן, וסבלו הבכורות על הלויים וכל מעשה של משה V'lachen saval Korach g'dulas Aharon, v'savlu ha'bechoros al ha'levi'im v'chol ma'aseh shel Moshe. So writes the רמב\"ן Ramban, קרח Korach was biding his time, was waiting. He was patient. He was looking for his moment, he was looking for his opportunity. אבל בבואם אל מדבר פארן מנסה ובאש תבערה ומעשה בקברות התאווה רבין Aval b'vo'am el midbar Paran minsa u'v'esh Tav'era u'ma'aseh b'Kivros Ha'Ta'avah rabim. But now the complaints started, and now the punishments were being meted out, and now people started to die. וכאשר חטאו במרגלים, לא התפלל משה עליהם V'ka'asher chat'u ba'meraglim, lo hispalel Moshe aleihem. It's a very interesting comment of the רמב\"ן Ramban. It's not true. משה Moshe davened for them. What did the רמב\"ן Ramban mean? The רמב\"ן Ramban is not saying that משה Moshe didn't דאווען daven at all. The text says that משה Moshe דאווען davened. משה Moshe דאווען davened yet again, he advocated for the people and bailed them out after the חטא המרגלים chet ha'meraglim. Something about the way משה Moshe דאווען davened was different after the מרגלים meraglim, after the חטא העגל chet ha'eigel. Davened differently. ולא בטל הגזירה V'lo batla ha'gzeira. And because he davened differently, השם Hashem did not nullify the decree. ומתו נשיאי כל השבטים במגפה לפני השם U'meisu nesi'ei kol ha'shvatim b'mageifa lifnei Hashem. And all the leaders, all the spies, all the princes of the tribes died in a plague. ונגזר על כל העם, שיתמו במדבר ושם ימותו V'nigzar al kol ha'am, she'yitamu ba'midbar v'sham yamusu. And there was a decree that this entire generation would not make it into Israel. We know that they would every year on תשעה באב Tisha B'Av, the date that the מרגלים meraglim reported their poor report, they would dig graves and lie in them, knowing a certain percentage would not wake up, because they knew that they were going to be wiped out. אז הייתה נפש כל העם מרה Az haysah nefesh kol ha'am marah.So when you find out there's a pandemic, people are dying everywhere, businesses are shut down, the economy is not flowing, there's a supply chain issue, the approval rating is as low as it can get, that's the moment you incite a coup. That's the moment you lead a rebellion. אז הייתה נפש כל העם מרה Az haysah nefesh kol ha'am marah, everyone's bitter. היו אומרים לא תעלו להם, כי יבואו להם בדברי משה תקלות Hayu omrim lo ta'alu lahem, ki yavo'u lahem b'divrei Moshe takalos. משה Moshe can't get us out of this. משה Moshe is not a transformational leader. משה Moshe can't bail us out this time. And then אז מצא קרח מקום לחלוק על מעשיו, וחשב כי ישמעו אליו העם az matza Korach makom lachlok al ma'asav, v'chashav ki yishme'u eilav ha'am. The רמב\"ן Ramban says when משה Moshe led the Jews out of מצרים Mitzrayim, he did everything. חטא העגל Chet ha'eigel, he spared them and he saved them. אוהבים אותו כנפשם Ohavim oso k'nafsham. Nobody could challenge משה's Moshe's approval rating was through the roof. They would have been stoned, they would have been crazy. But now the incident with the מרגלים meraglim and they were punished, they were all going to die, they were מרה נפש mareh nefesh. There was a general depression, a sadness. Now was an opportune time. Now was an opportune time. What do you see from here? Rav Weinfeld, who visited our community recently, based on this רמב\"ן Ramban, he says, 'You know what you see from here about leaders? It's all what you do for me lately.' משה Moshe has an illustrious legacy. משה Moshe has made a prestigious career out of saving them over and over and over again. He liberated them, he backed them, he saved them, he advocated for them over and over and over again. But you know when it comes to the rabbi, I mean the leader, it's all, but what you do for me lately? But what about the last thing you did? But I don't like that you didn't call me, but I don't like the brand of Excel at the שול שלוש סעודות shul shalosh seudos. But I don't like who got שלישי shlishi instead of me. But I don't like, it's all what you do for me lately. Ah, it's time for the rebellion. Not only did they throw out משה Moshe, this was the opportune time for קרח Korach why? Because the חטא המרגלים chet ha'meraglim, unlike the other mistakes, who was the one who sent the מרגלים meraglim? Last week's פרשה parsha began, שלח לך לדעתך shelach lecha l'da'atcha רש\"י Rashi says. שלח לך Shelach lecha. השם Hashem says, as for me, I'm not so sure it's a great idea. You want to send spies? שלח לך Shelach lecha, גייט געזונט geht gezunt. You can do it. So who took the responsibility for the decision to send the מרגלים meraglim? משה Moshe. And as a consequence of משה's Moshe's decision, everything went wrong. It changed the course of Jewish history. This is when קרח Korach led his revolt. He led his rebellion. Because קרח Korach thought someone of משה's Moshe's stature should be infallible. There's no room for error. There's no room for a mistake. I don't care about his track record. I don't care about the history. There's not room for even one mistake. There's no room whatsoever. And Rav Weinfeld tells the story, there were חסידים chasidim saying stories and מופתים mofsim from the רב'ס rebbes. So there was a לובאוויטשער Lubavitcher חסיד chasid there who was a חסיד chasid of the רבי רש\"ב Rebbe Rashab. And he said a מופת mofes with his רבי rebbe that was greater than all the other מופתים mofsim. Everybody said these miraculous stories. 'I have a מופת mofes, I have a story, a miracle with my רבי rebbe, the רבי רש\"ב Rebbe Rashab.' He said he deals in lumber. One time there was a ship with a lot of lumber, he had the chance to buy it very cheap, inexpensive, but the river was frozen, and the ice would have to melt in order for him to be able to distribute, to ship this lumber to actually turn a profit. And the question was, would the ice melt in time? Should he invest in this lumber for inexpensive and be able to turn a profit by shipping it? So he asked the רבי רש\"ב Rebbe Rashab what to do and the רבי Rebbe said, 'Buy the lumber.' And sure enough, the river stayed frozen the entire winter. And when he was able to sell the lumber, it wasn't even at the same price, he had to take a loss. He had to take a loss. So he held on to it, it went even further down, he took a bigger loss. So the חסידים chasidim said, 'What's the מופת mofes? That's a מופת mofes?' They were all telling stories of their רבי rebbe and the biggest miracles. He said, 'The מופת mofes is, I stayed his חסיד chasid. That was the מופת mofes.' The miracle was I stayed his חסיד chasid. Meaning, someone got a ברכה bracha, it didn't work out. Ah, I'm done, he's a fraud. The rabbi gave me advice, it wasn't perfect. Forget about it. Canceling my membership. We're going to launch a new breakup. Forget about it. See the incitement of קרח Korach, despite משה Moshe. Moshe's track record and all he had done. At the first opening, Korach was biding his time, Korach was waiting, and at the very first opening, Korach jumps and launches this rebellion because he found his moment, he found his chance.The Otzaplas HaTorah quotes the ספר שבט מוסר Sefer Shevet Musar. And he quotes an amazing חז\"ל Chazal. חז\"ל Chazal say, he quotes a דבר פלא בשם חז\"ל davar pela b'shem Chazal, the שבט מוסר Shevet Musar. תדע כמה קשה מחלוקת לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא, דבמעשה העגל שהיו בשלום לא נפסק המן, ובמחלוקתו של קרח לא ירד באותו היום. Teida kama kasha machlokes lifnei HaKadosh Baruch Hu, d'v'maaseh ha'egel shehayu b'shalom lo nifsak haman, uv'machlokaso shel Korach lo yarad b'oso hayom. חטא העגל Cheit HaEigel, we cheated on God. Infidelity, we had an affair, we worshiped an idol. And did the מן mon continue to fall? Yes. But the day that there was מחלוקת machlokes, had nothing to do with God. It was just two people competing for attention. One person competing, not two. And that day the מן mon did not fall. Why? Because you see that מחלוקת machlokes is worse than עבודה זרה Avodah Zara. Getting involved in מחלוקת machlokes, tension, conflict, enmity, animosity. מחלוקת Machlokes is so pernicious. It is so poisonous. It is so damaging. It's so destructive that מחלוקת machlokes is worse than cheating on God, than a lack of faith, than עבודה זרה Avodah Zara. Because the day of מחלוקת machlokes, no מן mon. But the חטא העגל Cheit HaEigel, the מן mon continued to fall. And the של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh learns from here, the של\"ה Shlah comes in מסכת יומא Masechet Yuma, דרך, פרק דרך חיים, תוכחות חיים, אות קצ\"ז. Derech, Perek Derech Chaim, Tochechos Chaim, Os Kuf Tzadi Zayin. If you want to look up the של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh. And the של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh says, מחלוקת אחד דוחה מאה פרנסות. machlokes echad docha meah parnasos. One מחלוקת machlokes. Everyone's, what's the סגולה segulah for פרנסה parnasah? Get a ברכה bracha for פרנסה parnasah, we דאווען daven for פרנסה parnasah, סגולה segulah for פרנסה parnasah. Put the key in the חלה challah, big חלה challah, 40 days in a row, 40 people baking חלה challah, פטום הקטורת Pitum HaKetores from a קלף klaf. Everybody's got the סגולה segulah for פרנסה parnasah. First of all, you know what the biggest סגולה segulah for פרנסה parnasah is? Have a job. That's the biggest סגולה segulah for פרנסה parnasah. But says the של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh, says the של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh, you know what the biggest סגולה segulah for פרנסה parnasah says the של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh is? The biggest סגולה segulah is not פטום הקטורת Pitum HaKetores from a קלף klaf, and it's not הפרשת חלה hafrashas challah. The biggest סגולה segulah for פרנסה parnasah is avoid מחלוקת machlokes. Because you see the מן mon didn't fall the day there was מחלוקת machlokes with קרח Korach. So if you want the מן mon to fall in your life, if you want it to rain פרנסה parnasah, you want to make it rain, then you have to avoid מחלוקת machlokes. The ספר sefer, the חיד\"א Chida. The חיד\"א Chida has a ספר sefer, יוסף תהלות Yosef Tehillos. And he writes that השם Hashem is so amazing that even after we make a mistake, you come up short, even after you fail the creator, השם Hashem nevertheless provides פרנסה parnasah. And he says that's the פשט pshat in the פסוק pasuk, נותן לחם לכל בשר nosein lechem l'chol basar. He provides for everyone, even חוטאים chotim. Why? כי לעולם חסדו Ki l'olam chasdo. השם's חסד Hashem's chesed, his kindness is so great, you could fail him. We're learning this in snippets. Last night's snippet, last night's snippet, we're up to the sixth ברכה bracha of the עמידה Amidah, סלח לנו אבינו כי חטאנו slach lanu avinu ki chatanu. If you don't listen to snippets, you can listen on any podcast player, or you can sign up for the WhatsApp group and get it delivered each time we do a snippet. So the snippets we started at מודים אני Modeh Ani. What number are we up to? I don't know, I think we're closing in on 500. Started at מודים אני Modeh Ani, the sixth ברכה bracha of the עמידה Amidah. He is right. What do we say? חנון המרבה לסלוח Chanun hamarbeh lisloach. What's המרבה לסלוח hamarbeh lisloach? He's abundant in forgiving. Why do you either forgive, you didn't forgive? What do you mean you're abundant in forgiveness? You're abundant in forgiveness means when it comes to a human being, I fail you. I say I'm really sorry, I blew it, I'm so sorry, please forgive me. You say, you know what? Everyone deserves a second chance, no problem. Then I do the same thing again. I'm so sorry, I know I said I wouldn't do it again, I couldn't help it, I'm so sorry, please forgive... No problem, you're forgiven. Then I do it a third time. I don't know, by the third time, a בשר ודם basar v'dam, a human being, by the third time, the fourth time, the 30th time you say, I'm done, I'm out, I can't take it anymore, you don't really mean it, you keep doing it, forget about it. השם Hashem is מרבה לסלוח marbeh lisloach over and over and over again. Every day we fail him. Every day we make promises we don't fulfill. Between שחרית Shacharis and מנחה Mincha, between מנחה Mincha and מעריב Maariv, between מעריב Maariv and שחרית Shacharis, we have to keep coming back סלח לנו אבינו כי חטאנו, מחל לנו מלכנו. Slach lanu avinu ki chatanu, mechal lanu malkeinu. Why? מרבה לסלוח Marbeh lisloach. He's quantitatively forgiving, even though we keep failing him, and he's qualitatively forgiving, says רבנו יונה Rabbeinu Yonah, even if our תשובה teshuvah is not as developed as it should be, is superficial, he's still forgiving. He's נותן לחם לכל בשר nosein lechem l'chol basar. He continues to provide for us. We continue to have a roof over our head, a car to drive, and food to eat. Why? כי לעולם חסדו Ki l'olam chasdo. He's so kind. So, the day the Jewish people built the עגל Eigel, he's נותן לחם לכל בשר nosein lechem l'chol basar, even the חוטאים chotim. Why? כי לעולם חסדו Ki l'olam chasdo. לך השם בעגל, ולנו בושת הפנים במן. Lecha Hashem b'eigel, v'lanu boshes hapanim b'mon. Despite the infidelity and unfaithfulness, השם Hashem continued to provide the מן mon even that day. But according to the שבט המוסר Shevet HaMusar that we just quoted, 17th century שבט המוסר Shevet HaMusar, on the day that קרח Korach instigated the rebellion, stirred מחלוקת machlokes, the מן mon did not fall. 600,000 men over 20, two to three million people went hungry that day. When there was no פרנסה parnasah, it didn't mean you didn't have the Costco-sized food in the pantry. If the מן mon didn't fall, you had nothing to eat. When the מן mon didn't fall, you were hungry. And two to three million people went hungry that day. Why? מחלוקת Machlokes, division, and fighting are intolerable. They are inexcusable. And the של\"ה הקדוש Shlah HaKadosh says they prevent פרנסה parnasah. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, worship an עגל Eigel? נותן לחם לכל בשר, כי לעולם חסדו. Nosein lechem l'chol basar, ki l'olam chasdo. You can cheat on me and worship an עגל Eigel, but my חסד chesed knows no bounds. I'll still give you פרנסה parnasah. But you fight with each other, I'm out. I'm done. I'm done. And רש\"י Rashi says, you see from here, the severity of מחלוקת machlokes. Somebody emailed me asking me this question. So what does רש\"י Rashi say? זאגט רש\"י, בוא וראה כמה קשה מחלוקת. Zogt Rashi, bo u'reh kama kasha machlokes. Come and see just how severe מחלוקת machlokes is. שהרי בית דין של מטה אינם עונשין אלא עד שיביא שתי שערות. Sheharei beis din shel mata einam onshin ela ad sheyavi shtei se'aros. In בית דין beis din, when are we punished? Only if you're over 20. Over 20 years old, סימני גדלות simanei gadlus. You have to be over 20. ובית דין של מעלה עד עשרים שנה. U'veis din shel malah ad esrim shanah. So בית דין של מטה, שתי שערות, בית דין של מעלה עד עשרים שנה. beis din shel mata, shtei se'aros, beis din shel malah ad esrim shanah. וכאן אבדו אף יונקי שדים. V'chan avdu af yonkei shadayim. When the episode of קרח Korach, the 250 people, so many from the tribe of ראובן Reuven, because they lived adjacent, אוי לרשע אוי לשכנו oy l'rasha oy lishcheino. Just because they were neighbors, and they were influenced, and the power of peer pressure, they all went down, literally, went down into the earth. Among them were not only the men over the age of 20. Among them were babies and infants. You can't help but wonder. We don't find in the rest of Torah, a baby is punished because of the sins of a parent? That's not just. That's not fair. That's not right. That's not righteous. Says רש\"י Rashi, you see how severe מחלוקת machlokes is. The effects of מחלוקת machlokes are terrifying, that innocent babies who've lived such short lives were swallowed by the earth as punishment for the fathers. Why? Because that is the power of מחלוקת machlokes. That is how pernicious מחלוקת machlokes is, that is how damaging and dangerous. It destroys families, and it takes the lives of children. It seems that קרח's Korach's followers were not punished, says Rav Weiss. The Rabbi Rav Asher Weiss says, you see that קרח's Korach's followers were not punished as individuals, they were punished as a community. When a community allows the flames of מחלוקת machlokes to rage, then the guilty and the innocent suffer together, men and women, adults and babies. If מחלוקת machlokes is allowed to take hold, if מחלוקת machlokes is allowed to metastasize, if מחלוקת machlokes is allowed to grow, then you see everyone goes down. It's not just the individuals who incite the מחלוקת machlokes, it's everyone associated, it's everyone connected, the guilty and the innocent, the adult and the child. The terrible punishment incurred by מחלוקת machlokes was expressed by the אריז\"ל Arizal. The אריז\"ל Arizal in his ליקוטי תורה Likutei Torah on שופטים Shoftim to explain a פסוק pasuk in שופטים Shoftim, כי יפלא ממך דבר למשפט בין דם לדם בין דין לדין בין נגע לנגע דברי ריבות בשעריך. Ki yipalei mimcha davar l'mishpat bein dam l'dam bein din l'din bein nega l'nega, divrei rivos bish'arecha. If you're unable to understand an issue between blood and blood, judgment and judgment, between plague and plague, דברי ריבות בשעריך divrei rivos bish'arecha, words of strife in your gates. Following the destruction of the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash and the calamities that befell כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, the מלאכים malachim couldn't understand השם's Hashem's judgment. Why did השם Hashem do what he did? Where's the justice? They said Master of the Universe, רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam, you wrote in the Torah that when it comes to כיסוי הדם kisui hadam, cover the blood. כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael runs freely through the streets and is neither covered nor buried. You wrote concerning a house with צרעת tzaraas, you shall empty the house, and then the כהן kohen shall inspect the house. But the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash and all its contents have been consumed by fire. You wrote in the Torah when it comes to שחיטה shechitah, you're not allowed to לא תשחטו ביום אחד lo tishchatu b'yom echad, you can't kill the mother and the child the same day, it's cruel. And חנה Chana and her sons were killed the same day. So השם Hashem, you're not carrying out your own will. So the מלאכים malachim were unable to understand the difference between blood and blood. It's an amazing אריז\"ל Arizal. כי יפלא ממך דבר למשפט Ki yipalei mimcha davar l'mishpat, when you don't see the justice, בין דם לדם bein dam l'dam, between השם's Hashem's expectation of us, but the way he's behaving, בין דין לדין, בין נגע לנגע bein din l'din, bein nega l'nega. You can't figure out why השם Hashem is being more severe, more intense, why השם Hashem is being more just, a stricter justice. You know what the answer is? דברי ריבות בשעריך Divrei rivos bish'arecha. It's because there's מחלוקת machlokes in your gates. It's an unbelievable פשט pshat. Did you hear that? The אריז\"ל Arizal is טייטשינג taytching a פסוק pasuk in שופטים Shoftim. כי יפלא ממך דבר למשפט Ki yipalei mimcha davar l'mishpat. So I don't understand, השם Hashem, בין דם לדם bein dam l'dam. You said that we have to cover the blood and the Jewish blood is flowing freely. בין דין לדין Bein din l'din, you said that there's justice and the Jewish people are being treated so unjustly. בין נגע לנגע Bein nega l'nega, you said that a mother and a child can't be killed the same day, we're being killed the same day. Where's the משפט mishpat? You know what the answer is? You know what's bringing this on? דברי ריבות בשעריך Divrei rivos bish'arecha, because you are allowing מחלוקת machlokes in your gates and in your community. מחלוקת Machlokes reeks destruction. Peace is indestructible. It's a shield. It protects. It secures. And when there's no peace, there's no שלום shalom, there's no safety, there's no security. So everyone's so worried. Got to spend money, more guards, more safety, more security, anti-semitism is on the rise. How much are we spending? Security assessments, security grants, hard security, soft security, security, security, security. It's important. It's very important. But you know what the greatest security you could have? שלום Shalom. When there's peace and there's harmony, there's security. And if you remove the peace and the harmony, when there's מחלוקת machlokes, then you're welcoming, you're welcoming danger, you're welcoming threats, you're welcoming threats. דברי ריבות בשעריך Divrei rivos bish'arecha. And you see that. Where do you see that? Because even young babies died. It seems so unjust. It is unjust. כי יפלא ממך למשפט Ki yipalei mimcha l'mishpat, it's a פלא pela. Where's the justice? Little children were swallowed up by the earth? Yes, by association. Yes, by community. By community. So the מן mon, the מן mon fell, the מן mon fell on the day of the עגל Eigel, but it did not fall on the day of, it did not fall on the day of the מחלוקת machlokes of קרח Korach. The פסוק pasuk says, ולא יהיה כקרח וכעדתו V'lo yihyeh k'Korach v'cha'adaso. Our פרשה parsha says, don't be like קרח Korach. Be like Mike, don't be like קרח Korach. כאשר דיבר השם ביד משה לו Ka'asher diber Hashem b'yad Moshe lo. Although the רמב\"ם Rambam omits it, the בה\"ג Bahag, the סמ\"ג Smag, the ספר יראים Sefer Yereim, and others count avoiding מחלוקת machlokes as a מצוה mitzvah. This פסוק pasuk, ולא יהיה כקרח v'lo yihyeh k'Korach, is a מצוה mitzvah. It's one of the תרי\"ג taryag. Don't get involved in מחלוקת machlokes. There is a לאו lav. Don't get embroiled in a fight or a conflict. Run away, stay away. Rav Ovadia quotes the אלתר Alter of Kelm that you can't get involved in מחלוקת machlokes even for a noble cause, even with good intentions. Because after all, what was קרח's Korach's argument? כי כל העדה כולם קדושים Ki kol ha'eidah kulam kedoshim. Everybody's holy. Everybody's righteous. He thought he was pursuing a noble end, a noble end. And I think we very much in our lives and our times we see this. There's such partisan politics, such division, division, such differences, such anger. And everyone will argue, I have to, it's for a good reason, it's for a good cause, לשם שמים l'shem shamayim. We have to avoid being drawn into מחלוקת machlokes, and we have to work to end מחלוקת machlokes. The גמרא Gemara in סנהדרין ק\"י Sanhedrin Kuf Yud derives from the fact that משה Moshe sought out דתן ואבירם Dasan v'Aviram. He tried to bring an end to the מחלוקת machlokes. He didn't stand on ceremony. He didn't say, who here is called רבינו Rabbeinu? Not you. משה Moshe, I'm the רבינו Rabbeinu. You come to me. Meet in my office. You make the first move, you make the first phone call. משה Moshe doesn't say that. He doesn't stand on ceremony. He works to resolve the מחלוקת machlokes. And רש\"י Rashi quotes, you see from משה Moshe initiating דתן ואבירם Dasan v'Aviram, not standing on ceremony, that you have to work. And that's as ספרים sefarim point out, ברכת כהנים Birkas Kohanim, the quintessential ברכה bracha, וישם לך שלום v'yasem l'cha shalom. You want שלום shalom? לך L'cha. You take the first step. You make the first move. You make the first phone call. You make the first gesture. You make the first move. You have to make the first move. You have to make the first move. Tell you an amazing story. Have time? I'll tell you an amazing story. The באבובער רבי Bobover Rebbe, רב שלמה האלבערשטאם Rav Shlomo Halberstam, was known for his tremendous concern to preserve שלום shalom and avoid מחלוקת machlokes. He was a man of incredible peace. And he stayed away from מחלוקת machlokes at all cost. One time someone published פשקווילן pashkeviln, posters hanging, criticizing and condemning him. And the באבובער רבי Bobover Rebbe was afraid that it was going to lead to מחלוקת machlokes. So at a טיש tish on ראש חודש Rosh Chodesh, he said the following: He said, I've been מוחל moichel the people who wrote these posters and hung them. But if anyone decides to start fighting with the people spreading them, I'm not מוחל moichel you, not in this world and not in the next. The people who put up the posters, I'm מוחל moichel them. They're sick, they're disturbed, they're wrong. God bless. I'm מוחל moichel the people who put up the posters. But if you create מחלוקת machlokes because of them, I'm not מוחל moichel you, not in this world and not after. And of course, nobody created מחלוקת machlokes because of it. There was an old מחלוקת machlokes in חסידות chassidus, maybe the worst in the history of חסידות chassidus. The באבוב'ס Bobover's great-great זקן zeideh, the דברי חיים Divrei Chaim of צאנז Sanz, battled against the סאדיגורא חסידים Sadigera Chassidim. A son of the רוז'ינער Ruzhiner, a son of the רוז'ינער Ruzhiner was a problematic personality who joined the משכילים maskilim. And the דברי חיים Divrei Chaim as a result, rejected all the סאדיגורא חסידים Sadigera Chassidim, and they went to battle. There was a bitter, bitter מחלוקת machlokes. And it stayed in גאליציע Galicia all the years, this tension between צאנז Sanz and all the branches of סאדיגור Sadigur and all of its branches. This חסידות chassidus, a bitter, bitter מחלוקת machlokes. So one evening in Boro Park, listen to this story, חברה chevra. רב שלמה Rav Shlomo, the באבובער רבי Bobover Rebbe is walking home from his בית מדרש beis medrash, and he passes a שטיבל shtiebel that's a branch of the סאדיגורא חסידים Sadigera Chassidim. And they were marking a יארצייט yartzeit, the third of חשוון Cheshvan, the יארצייט yartzeit of the רוז'ינער Ruzhiner. And the באבובער רבי Bobover Rebbe, who descends from the דברי חיים Divrei Chaim, who had this מחלוקת machlokes with the רוז'ינער חסידים Ruzhiner Chassidim, and they battled bitterly, and they didn't speak, and they fought vociferously. And now walking in Boro Park on the third of חשוון Cheshvan, he's outside the small רוז'ינער שטיבל Ruzhiner shtiebel, they're marking the יארצייט yartzeit of the הייליגע רוז'ינער heilige Ruzhiner. And the באבובער רבי Bobover Rebbe stops with his entourage, and he looks inside the little שטיבל shtiebel to see what's happening. And he turns to his גבאי gabbai, he turns to his חסידים chassidim, he turns to the entourage and he says, נו Nu, let's go inside. I want to join. So the גבאי gabbai stunned, and he says, אנטשולדיג רבי entschuldig Rebbe, the זקן zeideh, the דברי חיים Divrei Chaim, went to war. This was the battle of his life. And we're going to go against that מסורה mesorah, and we're going to join the טיש tish to honor the יארצייט yartzeit of the רוז'ינער Ruzhiner? So the באבובער Bobover, the איש שלום ish shalom, who spent his whole life making peace, preserving peace, fighting for peace, compromising for peace, turned to his גבאי gabbai, and he said the following words. He said, I don't have my זקן zeideh, the דברי חיים'ס תורה Divrei Chaim's Torah. I don't have the חסד chesed of my זקן zeideh, the דברי חיים Divrei Chaim. The קדושה kedushah, the holiness of the דברי חיים Divrei Chaim, I don't come close. The חסידות chassidus of the דברי חיים Divrei Chaim, I don't have his leadership qualities. I don't have anything like the דברי חיים Divrei Chaim. The one thing that I should emulate and keep, the one thing I should follow him in is being in this מחלוקת machlokes? If it's the one thing I have from him, I can let go of that as well. נו Nu, let's go inside. And with that, he went inside and he joined the טיש tish for the רוז'ינער Ruzhiner. Avoid מחלוקת machlokes. It's a פסוק pasuk in the פרשה parsha, לא יהיה כקרח וכעדתו lo yihyeh k'Korach v'cha'adaso, not the רמב\"ם Rambam, all the other מוני המצוות monei hamitzvos count it as a מצוה mitzvah in the Torah, one of the תרי\"ג taryag. Avoid מחלוקת machlokes at almost any expense. Okay, that's the first פסוק pasuk. Let's start. פרק ט\"ז, פסוק ג'. Perek Tes Vov, Pasuk Gimmel. ויקהלו על משה ועל אהרן ויאמרו אליהם רב לכם Vayikahalu al Moshe v'al Aharon vayomru aleihem rav lachem. So they gather, קרח Korach incites this rebellion. He stimulates this rebellion. And they gather on משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon and they say, רב לכם כי כל העדה כולם קדושים ובתוכם השם rav lachem ki kol ha'eidah kulam kedoshim uv'socham Hashem. It's too much for you. רב לכם Rav lachem, it's too much for you. כל העדה כולם קדושים Kol ha'eidah kulam kedoshim. Everybody's holy. It's too much for you. Who are you? Get שלישי shlishi, get שישי shishi every week? Give someone else an עליה aliyah. ובתוכם השם Uv'socham Hashem, ומדוע תתנשאו על קהל השם? u'madua tisnasu al kehal Hashem? Why do you exalt yourself? Why do you hold yourself over and above everybody else? What is the word רב לכם rav lachem? רב לכם Rav lachem, too much for you. רב לכם Rav lachem. So רש\"י Rashi here says, רב rav is מלשון ריבוי m'lashon ribui. הרבה יותר מדי לקחתם לעצמכם גדולה. Harbeh yoser midai lakachtem l'atzm'chem gedulah. You've taken too much power. You have too much power. Too much power, too much control, too much ego, too much honor, too much, you have too much. That's the פשט pshat of רש\"י Rashi. רב לכם Rav lachem, the word רב rav, מלשון ריבוי m'lashon ribui. You've taken too much, too much power. However, Rav Chaim Paltiel, Rav Chaim Paltiel has a different פשט pshat, so it's quoted by the הייליגע אוצר פלאות התורה heilige Otzar Plaos HaTorah. Rav Chaim Paltiel says, שהוא מלשון התואר רב, החכם. she'hu m'lashon ha'toar rav, ha'chacham. רב לכם Rav lachem means you're being too much of a רב rav, too much of a רבי rebbe. שהקשו לו מתחלת בית מלא ספרים ולא השיבם. אז אמר רב לכם. Shehikshu lo m'techilas beis malei sefarim v'lo heishivam. Az amar rav lachem. Before קרח Korach and his עדה eidah, before they made this accusation, what was their challenge? רש\"י Rashi quotes, the Soloveitchik famously coined it, the common sense rebellion. And what was the common sense rebellion? Said if a house is filled with ספרי תורה sifrei Torah, does it need a מזוזה mezuzah? If a בגד beged, if a garment is made and is woven out of turquoise, out of תכלת techeiles, does it need ציצית tzitzis? So משה Moshe said, yeah, of course. Every room needs a מזוזה mezuzah. Every four-cornered garment needs ציצית tzitzis. קרח Korach said, that's ridiculous. That's absurd. That's foolish. If one פרשה parsha is יוצא מזוזה yotzei mezuzah, the whole ספר תורה sefer Torah in a room, certainly you don't need a מזוזה mezuzah. If one strand is מוציא הציצית motzi the tzitzis, then certainly if the whole garment is תכלת techeiles, you don't need ציצית tzitzis. And Rav Soloveitchik said, what was the problem? קרח Korach was trying to employ common sense. But I can't tell a physicist it doesn't make sense that if I drop something, it falls. It should stay where I let go. That doesn't make sense. Physicist says, uh, moron, there's a little something called gravity? Did you go to school? Did you study anything? When you study physics, come back to me and then we can talk. But you think you're going to apply your common sense while you're an ignoramus about physics? You're a fool. And the same is true with Torah. Torah is no less sophisticated than physics. תורה היא לקח טוב Torah hi lekach tov. Torah is the greatest wisdom that we have. And you have to be steeped in it to understand it and challenge it. You can't be an outsider who tries to apply your common sense. And Rav Soloveitchik was talking about that in his time, and certainly in ours, that you can't just say, doesn't make sense to me that הלכה halacha, that rule, that principle, that השקפה hashkafah, common sense. So that was how they challenged him. So says Rav Chaim Paltiel, יש בתוך העדה שיכול להיות רב שלכם. אז קרח רצה לביש את משה רבנו, אנו ראוי להיות רב בישראל, אלא רב לכם. יש אנשים אחרים שיכולו להיות רב שלכם שמשה ואהרן. רב לכם בני לוי. Yesh b'soch ha'eidah she'yachol l'hiyos rav shelachem. Az Korach ratzah l'vayesh es Moshe Rabbeinu, anu rauy l'hiyos rav b'Yisrael, ela rav lachem. Yesh anashim acheirim she'yichlu l'hiyos rav shelachem she'Moshe v'Aharon. Rav lachem bnei Levi. بني לוי Bnei Levi, you think you have all the answers? You think you're the גדול הדור gadol hador? You think you're the last word on דעת תורה daas Torah? רב לכם Rav lachem, there are גדולים gedolim bigger than you. You can't even answer about a room of ספרי תורה sifrei Torah in a מזוזה mezuzah. You can't even answer about a garment of תכלת techeiles and ציצית tzitzis. רב לכם Rav lachem. So רש\"י Rashi says רב rav is לשון ריבוי l'shon ribui. Rav Chaim Paltiel says רב rav is מלשון m'lashon there's a greater רב rav, a greater רבי rebbe than you. The גאון רב חכם המאירי gaon rav chacham haMeiri says in his introduction מסכת אבות Maseches Avos, very interesting. You're listening? מי שהוא בקי בששה סדרים Mi she'hu baki b'shisha sedarim, whoever is an expert in all ש\"ס Shas, ששים מסכתות שבש\"ס כמין גאון Shishim masechtos she'b'Shas k'minyan gaon. The 60 מסכתות masechtos of ש\"ס Shas is the same numerical value of the word גאון gaon. So you're a גאון gaon if you're a בקי בש\"ס baki b'Shas. If you're a בקי baki in four of the six orders, מועד, נשים, נזיקין וקדשים Moed, Nashim, Nezikin v'Kadshim, you're a רב rav. And if you're a בקי baki, if you're an expert in three, מועד, נשים, נזיקין Moed, Nashim, Nezikin, you're called a חכם chacham. That's what the מאירי Meiri writes in his introduction to אבות Avos. That these titles correspond with how much of ש\"ס Shas you know. So רב לכם rav lachem, there's somebody who knows more, there's somebody who's bigger than you. That's what he meant by רב לכם rav lachem. The Rav Ovadia says on this pasuk, the heilige Rav Ovadia the great mashgiach, says when Korach challenged Moshe, Dasan and Aviram joined. And even though Moshe was not at fault, he made the first move. וישלח Vayishlach, he sent to appease them. And Rashi cites the midrash, don't not only maintain the argument, but make the effort to end it. And it's clear from Rashi, don't maintain an argument does not simply mean don't fight, it means initiate, make an attempt, be proactive, try to change it. Although we should emulate Moshe's conduct, says Rav Ovadia, the ability to disagree without taking the argument personally is not an easy skill to master. This is a brilliant insight of Rav Ovadia. So are you allowed to disagree? Do we all have to vote the same, think the same, behave the same, wear the same, daven the same, one minyan? You can't have eight separate minyanim with nuschaos, practices, schools, youth groups, camps. We have to all be the same? We can't disagree about how to improve the economy? Can't disagree about gun control? We can't disagree about how to make peace in Israel? Of course we can disagree. Question is, how do we disagree agreeably? How do you disagree without it becoming a machlokes? How do you have healthy disagreement, but not take it personally, but maintain it... Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach stated at the funeral of his wife that they lived in peace together, and even though the minag is that at a levaya you ask mechila, he said, I don't have to ask mechila from my wife because all the years of our marriage, I never did anything I need to ask mechila for. Rav Shlomo Zalman was a very humble person. He was extraordinarily humble. And yet, he stood up and confidently said at the levaya of his wife, I don't need to ask mechila. And then he a short time later ran into a talmid who had been recently married and he asked him how it's going. And the talmid said things are great, we never argue, we never disagree. So Rav Shlomo Zalman said, is everything all right? Is your wife healthy? So the talmid said, Baruch Hashem, everything's fine. Why, why is Rebbe asking? So Rav Shlomo Zalman said, it's not normal for a husband and wife not to disagree about anything. She wants milchigs for dinner, you want fleishigs for dinner. She wants to go to her parents' yontif, you want to go to your parents' for yontif. There could be a million things, reasonable, legitimate things to disagree about. So is everyone okay? Are you healthy? Is everyone feeling all right that you can stand here and say you've never disagreed? So the talmid said, but Rebbe, didn't you yourself say at the levaya you had nothing to ask mechila for from your wife? So Rav Shlomo Zalman said, absolutely. Since our disagreements did not affect our relationship, there was no reason to ask mechila. We disagreed. It was never personal. It was never an attack. It was never harsh and it never got between us. We disagreed and then we decided what to do. What are we doing for our vacation? Where should we go? What should we have for dinner? We disagreed because people are different, and you disagree when you're different. But you could disagree without it ever becoming personal, without ever needing to ask mechila, without ever rising to the point of machlokes. Life is full of disagreements, but disagreements are not the same as discord. A disagreement without discord, that's our goal. Rav Shlomo Zalman said, I spent my whole marriage disagreeing, but the disagreement never led to discord. So much so that if you claim you never disagree, there's probably something very wrong with your marriage. Are you spending any time at home? Do you talk to each other? Do you eat together? Do you go out together? Disagreements shouldn't lead to discord. I'll tell you one last cute thing from Otzar Plaos HaTorah. We'll end there, even though we're halfway through. Aiy. So much more. The Rama quotes in Shulchan Aruch siman Reish Tzadi Vov. Who here has the minag when you pour the havdalah wine to make it overflow? That's not like a new fangled, new age... talk about machlokes, that could lead to it every Motzei Shabbos if you're not the one who also cleans up the wine that you overflowed to spill. So everyone assumes where does that minag come from? Comes from the Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman Reish Tzadi Vov, se'if aleph. נוהגין לשפוך מכוס היין על הארץ. Nohagin lishpoch m'kos hayayin al ha'aretz. The Rama quotes the minag is to overflow the cup of havdalah onto the ground. We learned this in Smichas Chaver. Where do people think the minag comes from? Ooh, parnasah. I want it to rain, I want it to flow, I want it to overflow. So I make the wine of the Kos Shel Bracha of Havdalah overflow so that I can be filled with bracha. Rama specifically writes, don't make it overflow into the, onto the plate, make it overflow onto the ground, על הארץ al ha'aretz. What's the reason? The Gemara in Eruvin daf Samech Hei says, כל בית שלא נשפך בו יין כמים, אין בו סימן ברכה. Kol bayis shelo nishpach bo yayin k'mayim, ein bo siman bracha. Any home in which the wine doesn't flow like water will not see a סימן ברכה siman bracha. So you want to see a סימן ברכה siman bracha, make the wine flow like water. זהו סימן טוב בתחלת השבוע Zehu siman tov b'tchilas hashavua. So the Gemara, a סימן טוב siman tov at the beginning of the week, make the wine flow. But the sefer Matah Moshe, the sefer Matah Moshe writes the following. With this we'll end. He says, you know why you're making it flow? Listen to what he writes. On the way that the Ramban brought, a parable to one who made a feast for the king and the king commanded to do for so-and-so... You're serving the king, and the king says, make sure all the servants got, so let it overflow till it reaches all the servants no matter where they are, so that it will tell of the king's praise and his greatness, so that everybody will say that the king is generous and gracious, no matter where those servants are. לכן גם בכאן צריך ליתן לעדתו של קרח חלקם בעניין מים אחרונים. Lachein gam b'kan tzarich litein l'adaso shel Korach chelkam b'inyan mayim achronim. So in order that Korach, who are on the ground and in the ground, can also get some of the wine of Havdalah, that's why we make it overflow. As so says the Matah Moshe. Not wild? לשפוך על הארץ דוקא. Lishpoch al ha'aretz davka. That's where the Rama writes, לשפוך מכוס היין על הארץ, לתת חלק לקרח ועדתו הנבלעים בארץ. Lishpoch m'kos hayayin al ha'aretz, laseis chelek l'Korach v'adaso hanivla'im ba'aretz. לכן שופכים מיין הבדלה על הארץ דוקא, למקום שקרח ועדתו נבלעים שם. Lachein shofchim mi'yayin havdalah al ha'aretz davka, l'makom she'Korach v'adaso nivlaim sham. We pour it דוקא davka to the place where they are swallowed up, where they are beneath and below the ground. We are off next week. We pick up in two weeks. Until next time, stay happy, stay healthy, and stay holy. A good חודש chodesh and have a great day.
