Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker tov, welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. Great to be back together. A reminder, our summer schedule is a little bit erratic. We're on for the next few weeks, then we're off for a bunch of weeks. And if you want to stay up to date on when we have a new שיעור shiur, a live שיעור shiur, then join our WhatsApp group rabbiefromgoldberg.org/whatsapp. You can join each of the שיעור shiur WhatsApp groups for bonus material, Parsha writeup, and to stay up to date on the schedule. Want to thank our generous sponsors for the year of the Parsha series, our dear friends Becky and Avi Katz and family. In memory of Becky's father, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מונש l'ilui nishmas David ben Menachem Monash, David Grossman, whose נשמה neshama should have an עליה aliyah.We have the privilege this week of studying פרשת קרח Parshas Korach, page 820 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. ויקח קרח בן יצהר בן קהת בן לוי ודתן ואבירם בני אליאב ואון בן פלת מבני ראובן Vayikach Korach ben Yitzhar ben Kehas ben Levi v'Dasan v'Aviram bnei Eliav v'On ben Peles m'bnei Reuven. פרשת קרח Parshas Korach, of course, the whole first part of the פרשה parsha deals with the notorious story, the מחלוקת machlokes, the terrible discord, division, the dispute between קרח Korach, his attack on משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon, and he sowed this division, which was so dangerous and destructive within כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. We wish we were learning a piece of history. We wish we were reading something that is only part of our past. But sadly, sadly the pattern repeats itself. And the same type of behavior and reaction and antagonism and response to our differences is something that continues to plague our people. So the messages and the lessons of פרשת קרח Parshas Korach remain very, very relevant and important for us today. So let's begin. ויקח קרח Vayikach Korach. So, קרח Korach took, and we've in the past, you could listen to the previous years. I was looking at last year's שיעור shiur. I think we spent the first 50 minutes of the hour on the opening פסוק pasuk. We're not going to do that today. We'll try not to do that today, but we have new insights into even that opening פסוק pasuk again. ויקח Vayikach. קרח Korach, the son of יצהר Yitzhar, the son of קהת Kehas, the son of לוי Levi, we stop short of associating him with יעקב Yaakov. We go up the chain, but we don't get all the way to יעקב Yaakov. We spare יעקב Yaakov from being identified with קרח Korach and his plans. And דתן ואבירם Dasan v'Aviram, the sons of אליאב Eliav, און בן פלת On ben Peles, and the tribe of ראובן Reuven were sort of innocent bystanders who got caught up and who got brought in, dragged into this horrific, horrific conflict. And they all came, ויקמו לפני משה ואנשים מבני ישראל חמישים ומאתים vayakumu lifnei Moshe va'anashim m'bnei Yisrael chamishim u'matayim, 250 men stood before משה Moshe, נשיאי עדה קראי מועד אנשי שם nesiei eidah k'riei moed anshei shem, these were people of distinction, they gathered against משה Moshe, and they said, ויקהלו על משה ועל אהרן vayikahalu al Moshe v'al Aharon, רב לכם כי כל העדה כולם קדושים Rav lachem ki kol ha'eidah kulam kedoshim. What are you doing? Why are you in charge? Why are you in control? Who empowered you? We're all equally holy. The democratization of Judaism. We all have an equal vote. We're all equal. So why are you in charge? Who allocated you? Who delegated you? Who made you greater, who made you better, who made you more superior? We're all equal, כי כל העדה כולם קדושים ובתוכם ה' ומדוע תתנשאו על קהל ה' ki kol ha'eidah kulam kedoshim u'v'socham Hashem, u'madua tisnasu al kahal Hashem? And why do you exalt yourself? Why do you lift yourself up over everyone else? Why? Why are you in charge? It's a very attractive, very appealing argument. You understood why it why it attracted a following and it drew attention. But the whole story begins with קרח Korach taking. ויקח קרח Vayikach Korach. Those two words. And normally we would not introduce a story of division and conflict with the word ויקח vayikach, to take. What does it mean to take? What did he take? What did קרח Korach take? It was an oral argument. He came and he presented, he articulated a position which challenged the authority and the establishment. What did he take? ויקח Vayikach, what did he take? And we've seen many, many opinions in the past as I said, we spent a lot of time on it, we quoted a lot of different opinions. קרח Korach was on the take, he took himself to one side of the מחלוקת machlokes. Many interpretations. רש\"י Rashi says, לקח את עצמו לצד אחד להיות נחלק מתוך העדה לעורר על הכהונה lakach es atzmo l'tzad echad l'hiyos nechlak mitoch ha'eidah l'orer al ha'kehunah. We're supposed to be unified and united, we're supposed to be together. ויקח Vayikach, he took himself out of that unity. He took himself to one side of a dispute. He saw himself different and apart and opposed. And he saw himself really as a as an antagonist rather than a critical part of, rather than blending in with everyone around him. כל ישראל ערבים זה לזה Kol Yisrael areivim zeh lazeh. Jewish people are supposed to be guarantors one for the other, and the word guarantor, ערב areiv, is the same root of the word תערובת ta'aroves. A תערובת ta'aroves means a mixture. We're all mixed in, we're all blended together, we're all united, we're all one. ויקח Vayikach, he took himself out of that mixture, took himself out of that blend. He took himself out of that unity. And ויקח vayikach, he took himself to one to one side. So I want to start by looking at four insights of Rav Druk. In his new ספר sefer, להבות אש Lahavos Eish, four insights of Rav Druk on this opening פסוק pasuk. And then I sort of promised בלי נדר bli neder to move on from there.So the parsha begins with the word ויקח Vayikach. And we know, מקובל בידינו כי ראשית העניין תומס בכולו יסוד ובסיס לכל העניין כולו mekubal b'yadeinu ki reishis ha'inyan tomess b'chulo yesod u'vasis l'chol ha'inyan kulo. The way that a topic is introduced, the way it begins, contains within it the essence of what it's really all about. For example, the גרא Gra tells us in the very opening of the Torah, what's the first word of the whole Torah? בראשית Bereishis. That was not a trick question or a hard one. בראשית Bereishis. בראשית ברא אלוקים Bereishis bara Elokim, it's the name of the opening book, it's the name of the opening פרשה parsha, it is the opening word of the whole Torah. And the גרא Gra says that the word בראשית כולל את כל התורה כולה Bereishis kolel es kol haTorah kulah. The entire totality of Torah is subsumed, is included, all within that word בראשית Bereishis. Beginning, in the beginning. And the גרא Gra says that's true for every topic, it's true for every פרשה parsha, that the opening word, the way it's introduced, captures best, summarizes succinctly what it's really all about. So what the story and episode are all about, the story of מחלוקת machlokes is the story of ויקח vayikach. That קרח Korach took. So we have to understand, it's worth diving into yet again and seeing other interpretations what ויקח Vayikach means. הנה מסופר בפרשה שקרח ערר על הכהונה Hinei mesupar b'parsha she'Korach irer al ha'kehunah. קרח Korach presents that what is his topic, what is his platform, what is his argument is כהונה kehunah. Why are you why are you designated as different? Why are you elevated? Why do you have stature, prominence, prestige? Why do you have a position of authority and leadership? אתה משה רבינו שלקח לעצמו מלכות ולאחיו כהונה Ata Moshe Rabbeinu she'lakach l'atzmo malchus v'l'achiv kehunah. משה Moshe, why are you the king? You're the leader. And your brother you assigned to be the priest? והנשיאות נתן לאליצפן בן עוזיאל ולדודו של קרח היתה הנשיאות ראויה לו V'hanesius nasan l'Elitzafan ben Uziel v'l'dodo shel Korach haisa ha'nesius re'uyah lo. I'm part of the family. I'm a לוי Levi, I'm part of the משפחה mishpacha. So what about me? What about me? וכמובן כל המחמה זו במחלוקת בטענתו זה רק לשם שמים לקיים את ציווי ה', אז שמשה רבינו כנראה לא הבין נכון V'kamuvan kol ha'mechama zu b'machlokes b'ta'anaso zeh rak l'shem shamayim l'kayem es tzivui Hashem, az she'Moshe Rabbeinu k'nireh lo hevin nachon. And קרח Korach presents as if he is righteous. It's a righteous ambition. I want to play the religious role. I want the religious part. The truth is, it doesn't seem so different than the argument that who made a few weeks ago? I was here for it. We still had Parsha class then. אהרן Aharon. After the נשיאים nesiim each bring their קרבן korban, the end of פרשת נשא Parshas Nasso, אהרן Aharon says, not fair to me. I also want. I'm not a נשיא nasi, I'm not the prince, the head of a tribe. But I also want the privilege of bringing that same sacrifice on opening day, not fair to me. What does God do? Does he make the ground swallow him up? No. What does השם Hashem do? בהעלותך את הנרות B'haaloscha es ha'neiros. He rewards him and awards him in perpetuity, you and your children will light the מנורה menorah, and yours is greater than theirs. And we study what that means. So how is קרח's Korach's argument not fair to me, I want a chance, I want an opportunity, I want the religious privilege of serving, of leading, how is it so different than אהרן Aharon? אך באמת אדם שרוצה לקיים רצון ה' ולא בגלל שיקויים רצון על ידו או על ידי מישהו אחר, העיקר שרצון ה' יקויים בעולם Ach b'emes adam she'rotzeh l'kayem r'tzon Hashem, v'lo biglal she'yikuyam r'tzon al yado o al yedei mishehu acher, ha'ikar she'r'tzon Hashem yikuyam ba'olam. Says Rav Druk, the key is a person who's really motivated and driven for the right reasons says, I don't really care if it's about me, it's really all about you, השם Hashem. What is the ends? What is the result? What is the goal? What is it that you want? How do we best serve you? How do we best meet the ends of being מרבה כבוד שמים marbeh kvod shamayim, of elevating and advancing the brand of השם Hashem? It doesn't matter who does it. מי שאוהב את השם יכאב לו שלא עושה חשבונות Mi she'ohev es Hashem yichav lo she'lo oseh cheshbonos. A person who's driven by a true yearning and longing and love of השם Hashem doesn't need to be in charge or control or have the microphone, doesn't need the כיבוד kibud or the עליה aliyah or to be the חזן chazan. Just want a nice דאווענען davening. Just want I want ליינען leining to go smoothly. I just want the שול shul, the school, the community to function seamlessly. לא עושה חשבונות, לא מכניס את עצמו בתמונה Lo oseh cheshbonos, lo machnis es atzmo b'tmunah. I don't need the mic. I don't need the spotlight. I don't need the stage. כי חפצו שרצון ה' יתקיים בעולם Ki cheftzo she'r'tzon Hashem yiskayem ba'olam. Is this serving השם Hashem? Is this advancing השם's Hashem's vision and will for this world? It's all about him, not about me. And if the answer is yes, then it doesn't matter if it's me or it's someone else, because I'm focused on the goal, I'm driven by the mission, not by selfish ambition. ולא משנה אם זה יקרא לידו על ידי אחרים V'lo meshaneh im zeh yikra al yado o al yedei acheirim. כל אחד באשר הוא עושה את תפקידו, בכך מתקיים הרצון העליון Kol echad ba'asher hu oseh es tafkido, b'kach miskayem ha'ratzon ha'elyon. Everyone has to know what's my role, what's my job, what's my mission, what's my purpose, and if we win, that's all that matters, and winning in כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael is to better mold and shape and advance the world in the image of השם Hashem. And this was זה היה תעותו של קרח zeh hayah ta'uso shel Korach, this was the fatal error. So it's true that קנאת סופרים תרבה חכמה kinas sofrim tarbeh chachmah. כי חשב שתפקידו הוא לא יכול למלא את קרבת אלוקים, רוחנית כמו זו של אהרן שיש לו זמניה לכהן גדול שנכנס לפני ולפנים Ki chashav she'tafkido hu lo yachol l'malei es kirvas Elokim, ruchnis k'mo zu shel Aharon, she'yesh lo zman l'Kohen Gadol she'nichnas lifnai v'lifnim. It's true that he was driven, but the problem was he wasn't driven within his own role. He didn't see someone and say, just like that person is the best at what they're at, I want to be the best at what I'm at. Just like they're achieving and accomplishing, just like they're close to השם Hashem, just like they're fulfilling their purpose, I want to fulfill mine. Instead he said, I want to be him. I should have it instead of him. That's not healthy competitiveness that is happy for you but also serves to motivate me. That's not a healthy competitiveness. That is a destructive envy. שבכך טען לא הבין שביות אדם מקיים את תפקידו שניתן לו בשלימות בכל מקום שהוא בכך הוא זוכה לקרבת אלוקים לא פחות מחברו She'b'kach ta'an lo hevin she'b'hiyos adam mekayem es tafkido she'nitan lo b'shleimus b'chol makom she'hu, b'kach hu zocheh l'kirvas Elokim, lo pachos me'chavero. When a person fulfills their mission, when a person is שלם shalem, is whole and complete in what they're supposed to do, they are no less significant than the other. So one person has the spotlight and the stage and prestige and prominence, and the other seems invisible. Others don't know what they're doing. It seems so much less significant or important. But each one is doing what they're supposed to do, they are equal. They're equal. It's not about, we don't measure meaning by a following or by influence. That's a modern invention that's led to so much mental illness. It's led to so much depression and sadness. That's led to so much numbing people from their own self-imposed pain. Because we live in a world that is trying to tell us that how do you assign value? Who has the greater value? Whoever has the greater prominence, whoever has the greatest prestige, whoever has the greater power, whoever has the more influence, influencers, it's a whole industry, it's a career, never was before, to be an influencer. Who has more followers and friends? Who's gone more viral? That person has the most meaning. And it's not true. It's the farthest thing from the truth. If a person is מכיר את מקומו makir es mekomo, if a person knows what's my mission, what's my place, what's my role, then they are as invaluable, their contribution is as important as everyone else. I could give you sports metaphors. I don't want to lose a percentage of you. I won't say which percentage. But in sports, you know, there's the star on the team, but they'll never win a championship until they have their role player. And the role player may not make the cover of the magazine, and may not win the MVP at the championship, but that star won't have the rings on their finger without their without their role player, without the sixth man off the first man off the bench, without their role player, and so on. Who's greater? Who's more important? It's hard to say. If you measure only by who's on the cover of the magazine or who lands the bigger contract or who has more followers, who has the better sneaker deal, then you know it's the star. But if you talk about what it took to win that championship, to meet that goal, then what's to say, what's to say the role player is not is not as important or more important? זוהי עומק הענין שפותחת הפרשה במילים ויקח קרח Zohi omek ha'inyan she'posachas ha'parsha b'milim Vayikach Korach. And that says Rav Druk is what these opening words mean. שרוצה קרח שדווקא הוא יקח ולא אדם אחר, הוא רוצה להיות כהן גדול ולא אחר, הוא רוצה להיות המנהיג ולא אחר, וזהו שורש החטא She'rotzeh Korach she'davka hu yikach v'lo adam acher. Hu rotzeh l'hiyos Kohen Gadol v'lo acher. Hu rotzeh l'hiyos ha'manhig v'lo acher. V'zehu shoresh ha'chet. He wasn't driven and motivated to be the best version of himself. He wasn't motivated and driven to figure out his place, his mission, his purpose, and to achieve it with the greatest drive. He said, it should all be me and not someone else. Me, to the exclusion, instead of another. ויקח Vayikach, he took himself as opposed to the other. And that was the fatal flaw. That was the downfall. אין שום נפקא מינה מי הוא בעל תפקיד זה או אחר, העיקר שמתקיים רצון ה' Ein shum nafka mina mi hu ba'al tafkid zeh o acher. Ha'ikar she'miskayem r'tzon Hashem. Our attitude should be that the will of השם Hashem is fulfilled. It doesn't matter who do it, who did it. And that's what these opening words, ויקח קרח Vayikach Korach, are really all about. That is number one. He took himself and he took himself to the exclusion of others, and that was the fatal mistake. Number one.Number two. ויקח קרח Vayikach Korach. בפסוק בתהילים הפסוק אומר ויקנאו למשה במחנה לאהרן קדוש ה', תפתח ארץ ותבלע דתן ותכס על עדת אבירם B'pasuk b'Tehilim ha'pasuk omer, vayikaneu l'Moshe b'machaneh, l'Aharon k'dosh Hashem. Tiftach eretz v'tivla Dasan v'techas al adas Aviram. דוד המלך David HaMelech in תהילים Tehilim recounts, he reviews Jewish history, including this sad and tragic episode with קרח Korach, and he tells us what happened. And Rav Chaim Kanievsky, Rav Druk's רבי Rebbe, he quotes, interprets, כן היא דרכם של כל בעלי המחלוקת kein hi darkam shel kol ba'alei ha'machlokes. Because the פסוק pasuk, דוד המלך David HaMelech, when he recounts the story he says ויקנאו למשה Vayikaneu l'Moshe. That קרח Korach was jealous of משה Moshe and of אהרן Aharon, and the ground swallowed up דתן Dasan, אבירם Aviram, and קרח Korach and the followers. And that's the path of those who are בעלי מחלוקת ba'alei machlokes, לחלוק תמיד על הגדולים והצדיקים lachlok tamid al ha'gedolim v'ha'tzadikim. Who do they go after? The greater the people, the more righteous the people. ובאיזה דרך שהיתה הנהגתו של הצדיק, ימצאו תמיד קבלנות תענות ומגרעות בהליכותיו U'v'eizeh derech she'haisa hanhagaso shel ha'tzadik, yimtzu tamid k'valanos, ta'anos u'megraos b'halichosav. And what's the argument? You can't win. The righteous leader, the bold leader, the courageous leader can't win. Why? Because the בעל מחלוקת ba'al machlokes, the person who's looking to be an adversary, the person who's jealous or envious or wants the leadership for themselves, they're going to come after him. אם פרוש מן העולם ועוסק כל היום בתורה ועבודה Im parush min ha'olam v'osek kol ha'yom b'Torah v'avodah, if that leader is entirely diligent and studying Torah all day and night and is living somewhat transcendent over this world, טוענים כנגדו שאינו מעורב עם בני העולם to'anim k'negdo she'eino me'urav im bnei ha'olam. How's he a leader? He doesn't know this world, he's not living in the here and now, he's not the every man. אם מעורב עם דעת עם הבריות Im me'urav im daas im ha'briyos, so if he goes out and he mingles and he's part of this world, טוענים כנגדו שמבזבז זמנו על עניני הכלל to'anim k'negdo she'mevazbez zmano al inyanei ha'klal. He should be sitting and learning. What kind of a leader is this? Should be sitting and studying diligently full time. You can't win. You can't win. They'll always come after the leader. זהו גם ביאור דברי הפסוק בתהילים ויקנאו למשה במחנה Zehu gam beur divrei ha'pasuk b'Tehilim vayikaneu l'Moshe b'machaneh. They were jealous of משה Moshe במחנה b'machaneh, in the camp, said דוד המלך David HaMelech in תהילים ק\"ו Tehillim Kuf-Vav. משה שהיה לומד תורה באוהל מחוץ למחנה, מצאו בו בעלי מחלוקת חיסרון שאינו נמצא בתוך המחנה Moshe she'hayah lomed Torah b'ohel michutz l'machaneh, matzu bo ba'alei machlokes chisaron she'eino nimtza b'soch ha'machaneh. When משה Moshe would go out to study, without distraction, to be able to have some privacy, to be able to achieve some focus, so they would say, where is he? Why isn't he with us? Why isn't he in the in the מחנה machaneh? And they didn't understand, he doesn't understand this world. ולאהרן קדוש ה' ul'Aharon k'dosh Hashem. אהרן Aharon who's mixed with us, their argument on אהרן Aharon is, why isn't he קדוש ה' kadosh Hashem? Why is he mixed with us? Why is he hanging out with us? Shouldn't he be somewhere studying and growing and elevating? So he can't win. He can't win. The way דוד המלך David HaMelech captures this story is a reflection. You know, if everybody loves you, if no one's coming after you, you're not doing anything. You're not doing anything. It's easy to be loved by everybody, just don't stand for anything. If you don't stand for anything, and you don't lead anything, and you don't take a courageous position on anything, you're not trying to transform anything or impact anything, it's easy to be loved by all. But if they're going after you, first of all, consider, maybe the criticism has merit. But also know that משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon, with all משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon were the saviors of כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. Jewish people were suffering, oppression, persecution, murder, genocide in Egypt. משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon came along and liberated them. You would think, you would think, they have career contracts. Nope. They only got most of the vote. מרדכי Mordechai saves the Jews of שושן Shushan. And what does the מגילה Megillah tell us at the end? מרדכי Mordechai is רצוי לרוב אחיו ratzui l'rov echav. They have a vote. Should מרדכי Mordechai still be the chief rabbi of שושן Shushan? You got a majority. 51%. 51%? He saved the Jews of שושן Shushan from being obliterated, from being exterminated. Yeah, רב אחיו rov echav, he got a majority. Got a majority. If you stand for something, they go after you, and in either direction, whatever you do. So stay true to השם Hashem, to your רבנים rabbeim, to your family, and to yourself, and don't and don't get distracted. They're going to come after you.Number three of Rav Druk. Number three of Rav Druk. Here's a big question. The גמרא Gemara in יומא Yuma tells us, וברדת הטל על המחנה לילה ירד המן עליו, ואיתה שם על לקטו u'v'redes ha'tal al ha'machaneh laila yarad ha'man alav, v'eisa sham al likto. So the גמרא Gemara says, כיצד Keitzad, צדיקים יורד על פתח בתיהם tzadikim yored al pesach b'teihem. We know that throughout the desert, the מן man, the heavenly מן man that descended, that nourished the people. They couldn't grow, they didn't have gardens, they didn't plant fields and orchards, and they didn't שחט shecht animals. What they eat? The מן man fell. The מן man fell. The גמרא Gemara tells us, learns from פסוקים psukim, יומא ע\"ה Yuma Ayin Hei, that if you are a צדיק tzadik, the more righteous, they had the food delivered to the to the front door. Walmart delivery, what are all these things now? We went away with my kids after פסח Pesach for a few days, and they needed all kinds of things for their kids that we hadn't brought. They said, oh, we'll just go on Walmart to deliver. I said, by the time it comes, we'll be gone. They said, just watch. Within an hour, there's a knock on the door, the groceries are at the front door. It's unbelievable how lazy you could be today. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. So you're a צדיק tzadik, it used to be you had to earn it. A צדיק tzadik. If you were a צדיק tzadik, Walmart delivered within the hour to the front door. The מן man, you open the door in your robe, in your slippers, the מן man was there at the front door. בינונים יצאו ולקטו Beinonim yatzu v'lakto. If you're eh, mediocre, average, then you got to get dressed, and you got to go out to the sidewalk and you got to go get the מן man. רשעים שטו ולקטו Reshaim shatu v'lakto. רשעים Reshaim was real work. So how the מן man arrived, it itself essentially testified to who you were, what level you were living. Which begs the question. היכן היה מקום ירידתו של המן? בפסוק אחד נאמר מן ירד על המחנה, בתוך המחנה. פסוק אחד נאמר שלקטו את המן מחוץ למחנה. פסוק שלישי... Heichan hayah makom yeridaso shel ha'man? B'pasuk echad ne'emar man yarad al ha'machaneh, b'soch ha'machaneh. Pasuk echad ne'emar she'lakto es ha'man michutz la'machaneh. A third pasuk... So the גמרא Gemara answers, depends what level you're on. Good. So here's the question. Here's the question. כיוון שהצדיקים היו מקבלים את המן עד פתח ביתם, והרשעים היו צריכים לטרוח ללכת ללקט את המן ממקום רחוק, היה אפשר לבדוק בבוקר היכן יורד המן אצל משה רבינו Keivan she'ha'tzadikim hayu mekabelim es ha'man ad pesach beisam, v'ha'reshaim hayu tzrichim l'itroach laleches l'laket es ha'man mi'makom rachok, hayah efshar l'ivdok ba'boker heichan yored ha'man etzel Moshe Rabbeinu. You're suspicious of משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon. Are they self-centered egomaniacs? Are they taking the leadership for themselves when there's no merit, they're undeserving? Or are they righteous, that השם Hashem appointed them and they belong? So all you have to do, if you're suspicious of them, what do you have to do? Hide in the bushes early in the morning and go look and see what? Where the מן man fell. If it's at the front door, צדיק tzadik, good to go. Out on the edge of the driveway, eh, בינוני beinoni. Real work, רשע rasha. If you want to know who your neighbor is, just see where the מן man was delivered, you know everything about him. So how could קרח דתן ואבירם Korach, Dasan, v'Aviram and 250 men, how could they come and rebel and challenge משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon? You could see where the מן man was delivered, that they're righteous. It's a גוואלדיקע קשיא g'valdige kashe. It's a great question. It's a great question. So says Rav Druk, יש לפרש שבעלי מחלוקת היו אומרים שהסיבה לכך שמן יורד רחוק מבתיהם, כי הם לא עושים את עבודתם מספיק, ועליהם להתחזק בזה יותר. ואכן, אדרבה, לא זו בלבד שאין בכך כדי להוכיח שהרשעים הם, כפי שמביא בזוהר, אלא עוד התבצלו בהמדסם, להציג את ערשם דווקא מתוך הניכאין. למדה, כי זוהי המציאות שיכול אדם לפרש כפי תמימות דעתו Yesh l'faresh she'ba'alei machlokes hayu omrim she'ha'sibah l'kach she'man yored rachok m'bateihem, ki hem lo osim es avodasam maspik, v'aleihem l'hischazek b'zeh yoser. V'achen, adaraba, lo zu bilvad she'ein b'kach k'dei l'hochiach she'reshaim hem, k'fi she'meivi ba'Zohar, ela od hisbatzlu b'amdasam, l'hatzig es arsham davka m'toch hanichein. Lamda, ki zohi ha'metzius she'yachol adam l'faresh k'fi tmimus da'ato. The truth is everybody could reinterpret it for themselves. My מן man, it fell far away not because I'm really not a צדיק tzadik, but it's trying to motivate me to do even more. I'm a big צדיק tzadik, but I'm a humble צדיק tzadik. They should know. So it falls a little bit far away. So don't derive or don't conclude that I'm not a צדיק tzadik. I am a צדיק tzadik, but I'm the most humble צדיק tzadik. So I asked, please leave it at the end of the driveway השם Hashem, so nobody knows I'm a צדיק tzadik. Everybody could reinterpret and distort where it falls to be able to reinforce their preconceived notion of themselves. Which is what we do all the time. We interpret the events of our lives to simply confirm the bias that we have for ourselves. And if you could do it on a daily basis and every interaction and relationship, you could do it about where the מן man failed too. Number one. Number two, the שבט מוסר Shevet Mussar answers, שבאותו הזמן של מחלוקת קרח לא ירד מן בכלל she'b'oso ha'zman shel machlokes Korach lo yarad man b'chlal. And this is the answer I really want to communicate. We spoke about it last year or two years ago. Maybe even included in the writeup from a previous year. You know why they couldn't know the righteousness of משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon by where the מן man fell? You know why? Because the מן man didn't fall. Why didn't the מן man fall? Because when there's מחלוקת machlokes, there's no מן man. The של\"ה Shlah quotes חז\"ל Chazal, מחלוקת אחת דוחה מאה פרנסות machlokes achas docha meah parnasos. The של\"ה Shlah in יומא Yuma writes, one מחלוקת machlokes pushes away a hundred, a hundred different פרנסות parnasos. So everybody is running to figure out a סגולה sgulah for פרנסה parnasa. Say פטום הקטורת pitum ha'ketores and a כלאף klaf at the end of דאווענען davening. Go meet this צדיק tzadik, go דאווען daven at that קבר kever, go fly to that anti-Semitic country, go to to visit who's buried there. Go, everyone's looking for the shortcut and the סגולה sgulah and the superstition and what they need to do in order to earn the most פרנסה parnasa. You know what the biggest סגולה sgulah for פרנסה parnasa is, says the של\"ה Shlah? Don't be involved in conflict. No מחלוקת machlokes. At all costs. Even with him? Even with him. Even with her? Even with her. Let it go. Let it go. Be a וותרן vatran. Just let it go, be flexible, let it go. Don't get riddled in מחלוקת machlokes. Don't get caught up. Did you hear? Do you know? Are you aware? This neighborhood, these people, that group, this breakaway, this new, that. None of my business, I'm not involved. I don't want to touch it with a 10-foot pole. You know why? I got bills to pay. I got tuition to cover. I've got פרנסה parnasa to earn and the biggest סגולה sgulah for פרנסה parnasa, says the של\"ה Shlah, is not being involved in מחלוקת machlokes and conflict. The מן man fell even when the מרגלים meraglim came back. The מרגלים meraglim came back and gave a negative report that the Jewish people wandered for 40 years, the מן man still fell. But מחלוקת machlokes broke out, no מן man. You're on your own. השם Hashem says, give me back the credit card. I'm cutting you off. If your children are killing each other, if your children aren't talking to each other, if your children can't be in a room together, you're still going to give them each an endless credit card? Go, spend, enjoy, cover, do. I'm not supporting you to not be talking to each other. If you don't have harmony between you, the credit card's off. I'm cutting you off. השם Hashem says I'm cutting you off. So that's why you couldn't ascertain קרח Korach and דתן ואבירם Dasan v'Aviram, the 250 men, they felt, they didn't know based on the מן man how great משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon were, because the מן man didn't fall. Why didn't the מן man fall? Because of them. Because when there's מחלוקת machlokes, there is no מן man. We all desperately want פרנסה parnasa. The biggest סגולה sgulah is not to mumble this, or go there, or do that. The biggest סגולה sgulah, the biggest thing we can do to earn פרנסה parnasa, do not get involved in מחלוקת machlokes. There are so many forces. I just came back from Israel yesterday. Still so much good and wonderful and optimism and hope and positive energy, but there are so many forces trying to break it and destroy it and undermine it and trying to bring us back where we were and worse. We cannot give in and indulge. Do we have differences? Yeah, important ones, strongly felt ones. But we have to still stay together nonetheless. Communicate them, argue respectfully, disagree agreeably, and be united and one no matter what, within family, within community, within כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. We desperately need ברכה bracha. We need ברכה bracha. We need השם Hashem to shower love on us, and we have to maintain that harmony against all these forces and efforts and energies that are trying to undermine it. We must, we must, it's so challenging.Last one, last Rav Druk, and then I told you we'd move on. The משנה Mishnah in מסכת אבות Maseches Avos says, פרק ה' משנה י\"ז Perek Hei, Mishnah Yud Zayin. כל מחלוקת שהיא לשם שמים סופה להתקיים, ושאינה לשם שמים אין סופה להתקיים Kol machlokes she'hi l'shem shamayim, sofah l'hiskayem. V'she'einah l'shem shamayim, ein sofah l'hiskayem. There are two types of disputes. There's a dispute לשם שמים l'shem shamayim. You go to the בית מדרש beis medrash any hour of the day, you'll see people killing each other, arguing, debating, screaming, yelling, maybe even name calling. So that's a מחלוקת machlokes the משנה Mishnah characterizes as לשם שמים l'shem shamayim, trying to derive and get to the truth of השם Hashem. So that's סופה להתקיים sofah l'hiskayem, that will ever last. But there are other מחלוקת machlokes that's not לשם שמים l'shem shamayim. It's not driven and motivated by pure intention. Selfish, narcissistic, ego, ulterior motive, that's not סופה להתקיים sofah l'hiskayem. The משנה Mishnah says, what's an example, what's a model of a מחלוקת machlokes לשם שמים l'shem shamayim? הלל ושמאי Hillel v'Shammai. What's a מחלוקת machlokes not לשם שמים l'shem shamayim? קרח Korach and, what would you expect it to say? And משה Moshe. It's not what the משנה Mishnah says. קרח וכל עדתו Korach v'chol adaso. And we're not going to get into that, we've spoken about in the past because why doesn't it say קרח Korach and משה Moshe? It's a powerful lesson there. It takes two to tango. You can't have a fight if there's no other side. משה Moshe refused to indulge, refused to get involved, to be dragged in. So the fight was קרח Korach and his עדה eidah against nobody. He refused. So קרח וכל עדתו Korach v'chol adaso, not קרח Korach and משה Moshe. Takes two to fight. If you don't fight, there's no fight, there's no conflict. It just passes. So the person texted or emailed or hung the poster, the פשקוויל pashkevil, the person. Last year's Parsha class we told the story of the ב\"ח Bach of a רב Rav, Rav Shlomo Halberstam, זכותו יגן עלינו z'chuso yagen aleinu, an incredible story. Go back and listen to that story. That story is worth it. Of being a וותרן vatran, of letting it go, of not holding on, of being able to to move on. It takes two. It takes two. That's the example. The question is not on that side this year. The question this year is on the other side. What was the example of a מחלוקת machlokes that endures, a מחלוקת machlokes that's everlasting, that's סופה להתקיים sofah l'hiskayem, is the מחלוקת machlokes, the debate between whom? הלל Hillel and שמאי Shammai. So the ספר sefer מנחת שלמה Minchas Shlomo wonders, I don't understand, he quotes the ח\"ן טוב Chen Tov. How could we say the example of לשם שמים l'shem shamayim is בית שמאי ובית הלל Beis Shammai u'Beis Hillel, סופה להתקיים sofah l'hiskayem? But it's not true. How do we פסק'ן pasken? בית הלל Beis Hillel. So it's not סופה להתקיים sofah l'hiskayem. There's a debate, הלל ושמאי Hillel v'Shammai, we follow the opinion of הלל Hillel. שמאי's Shammai's opinion is not סופה להתקיים sofah l'hiskayem. למעשה L'ma'aseh, in both cases, the מחלוקת machlokes is not סופה להתקיים sofah l'hiskayem. So מנחת שלמה Minchas Shlomo explains no. סופה להתקיים means עד היום יושבים ולומדים את שיטת בית שמאי Sofah l'hiskayem means ad ha'yom yoshvim v'lomdim es shitas Beis Shammai. Means you sit in the בית מדרש beis medrash until today, and you don't just learn. ח\"ס Chas, the process of learning Torah is not just skipping to the bottom line. Anyone who's opened one page of גמרא Gemara knows, why don't we just go to the bottom line? Why do I have to read the whole debate, the whole argument, the whole fight, the whole back and forth? What's the bottom line? Just give me the bottom line. We're a bottom line generation. Skip to the conclusion. Skip to the bottom line. But you know, we don't grow, we don't learn to analyze and question and think, we don't expand our mind and our horizon when we skip to the bottom line. So we study the opinion of בית שמאי Beis Shammai too. And סופה להתקיים sofah l'hiskayem is not referring to who we פסק'ן pasken like. סופה להתקיים Sofah l'hiskayem means it endures, it means it has value. It has value. Let's say all you're learning is the opinion of בית שמאי Beis Shammai. Do you make a ברכות התורה Birchos HaTorah? Do you have to recite the ברכה bracha on learning Torah before you learn the opinion of בית שמאי Beis Shammai? Not בית הלל Beis Hillel. You're just learning that day the opinion of בית שמאי Beis Shammai. Why does שמאי Shammai say what he does? How did he come to it? What's his argument? What's his analysis? What's his reason? What's the opinion of שמאי Shammai? Would you make a ברכות התורה Birchos HaTorah? Absolutely. Of course, it's Torah. Could you study it in a bathroom? חס ושלום Chas v'Shalom. God forbid, of course not. Is it ביטול תורה bittel Torah? Are you wasting your time by studying the opinion of בית שמאי Beis Shammai? Absolutely not. סופו להתקיים Sofo lehiskayem means we may not follow it. First of all, עתיד לבוא osid lavo, we're told when משיח Mashiach comes, we'll follow the opinions of שמאי Shammai, not הלל Hillel. So certainly it has value. We have to learn it and study it, but even until then, you can understand הלל Hillel better if you understand שמאי Shammai. If all you know is the bottom line, but you don't know how you got there, you don't even know the bottom line. If you know what were the arguments in both direction, which is more compelling? How do you respond? Oh, that was brought up, that question, but this is how you answered it. Now you know the bottom line. If you just skip to the bottom line but you don't know how you got there, the development, if you don't know the thinking, if you don't know the argument, counter-argument, if you don't know the debate, then you don't even know the bottom line. So שמאי Shammai is value. That's what it means סופו להתקיים sofo lehiskayem in this, in this מחלוקת machlokes. Okay. That is the opening פסוק pasuk.Now we're going to skip all the way to פסוק ג pasuk gimmel. ויקהלו על משה ועל אהרן ויאמרו אלהם רב לכם כי כל העדה כולם קדושים ובתוכם ה' ומדוע תתנשאו על קהל ה' Vayikahalu al Moshe v'al Aharon vayomru aleihem rav lachem, ki chol ha'eidah kulam kedoshim u'besocham Hashem. U'madua tisnasu al kehal Hashem? They gathered against משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon, they say, it's too much for you. רב לכם Rav lachem. The simple understanding is רב לכם rav lachem, too much for you. Too much, too much. We're two to three million people, we're a huge, there's awesome responsibility. It's רב לכם rav lachem. It's too much for you. We're all equally holy. Divide and conquer, democratize our, our people. Who put you in charge? מדוע תתנשאו Madua tisnasu? We studied in the past that רב לכם rav lachem means you're too much of a רב rav. Don't be such a רב rav. Don't be such a rabbi. Don't impose. You're imposing authority. You can't impose authority, you have to earn respect. Don't demand it and impose it. רב לכם Rav lachem. Don't be such a רב rav. Don't be such an authority figure, you're pushing away, you're turning, you're turning off. The אור החיים הקדוש על התורה Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh al haTorah interprets רב לכם בני לוי rav lachem bnei Levi. And then it continues, המעט מכם כי הבדיל אלקי ha'me'at mikem ki hivdil Elokei, המעט מכם ha'me'at mikem, they continue in their argument. פסוק ט Pasuk tes. המעט מכם כי הבדיל Ha'me'at mikem ki hivdil, משה Moshe turns to קרח Korach, and what is his answer? What is his response? שמעו נא בני לוי Shimu na bnei Levi, listen, listen, you fellow cousins, fellow לויים Levi'im, is it not enough for you that ה' Hashem has segregated you from the assembly to draw you near to himself? Not enough that you're a לוי Levi? I understand if you were some אויסווארף oisfarf reject, ישראל Yisrael, עם ישראל Am Yisrael, so I can say that. I understand if you were some reject אויסווארף ישראל oisfarf Yisrael, that you're here complaining and קוועטשינג kvetching, it's not fair to me, why aren't I elevated? But it's not enough for you that you're a לוי Levi? Being a לוי Levi, you're already separate and different and apart. Not enough for you? To serve, to stand before the assembly, to minister to them, that's not enough for you? That's not enough for you? So the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh quotes, he says the following. באריכות שעיקר כוונת משה רבינו להוכיח אותם, שיתנשאו בענוה B'arichus she'ikar kavanas Moshe Rabbeinu lehochich osam, she'yisna'u ba'anavah. We need humble leadership, modest leadership. כי זה תנאי קודם לכל דבר להיות בענוה ושפל רוח Ki zeh tnai kodem l'chol davar l'hiyos b'anavah v'shefel ruach. A person should be humble and modest. I'm serving a greater mission and a purpose, it's not about me. It's about the mission, it's about the goal, it's about ה' Hashem. That's what this is all about. And if you could do a better job or you're chosen or it's your chance or your opportunity, go for it as long as the goal is achieved. It doesn't have to be me. Humble leadership. ובלעדי זה אין שמיא חושב מאומה V'bil'adei zeh ein shamay'la choshev me'umah. מהאי טעמא היתה קבלת התורה על הר סיני, כדי להורות מידת ענוה Mei hai ta'ama hisa kabalas haTorah al Har Sinai, kidei lehoros midas anava. כמו שהגמרא במגילה וסוטה K'mo she'ha'Gemara b'Megillah v'Sotah teaches, why was the Torah given on הר סיני Har Sinai? הר סיני Har Sinai was the lowest, the most humble, the most modest of all the mountains. משה קיבל תורה Moshe kibbel Torah, not בסיני b'Sinai. משה Moshe didn't receive the Torah at Sinai, he got the Torah from Sinai. Just like Sinai was humble and modest, משה Moshe learned that the prerequisite to receive Torah is to be humble and modest. וזהו שאמר להם משה, היכא אתם רוצים גדולה V'zehu she'amar lahem Moshe, heicha atem rotzim gedulah? הלא מחמת זה עצמו יש לכם לקבל שם גדולה Halo machmas zeh atzmo yesh lachem l'kabel shem gedulah. You want greatness because you want to be great? That's not a reason to be great. כי עיקר הכל הוא ענוה Ki ikar hakol hu anavah.It actually captures exactly the tragedy of this new world we live in. You ask a young person, what do you want to do? They say, I want to be an influencer. Ooh, admirable. What do you want to influence? I don't know, I just want to be an influencer where they send me free stuff, and I have a huge following, and a big fan base, and I'm a celebrity, and I'm famous, and everybody's following me. That's not the Torah view. We don't want to be influencers, we want to have influence. And the biggest, the people who had the most influence in our history, shied away from being influencers. I wrote an article about it once. The great רב משה פיינשטיין Rav Moshe Feinstein, the הלכתי halachic authority of American Jewry of the 20th century, never applied for that position of being the גדול הדור Gadol HaDor, the פוסק הדור Posek HaDor. He didn't want it, he didn't apply for it. He didn't accept it. New York Times interviewed with him once, he said, I don't know, people ask me questions and I guess they like the way that I answer, so they started asking me more. He became an enormous influence. רב חיים קניבסקי Rav Chaim Kanievsky from his modest, humble apartment in בני ברק Bnei Brak, had enormous influence, held up the world, held up the world. They had the greatest influence, רב סולובייצ'יק Rav Soloveitchik, the thousands of מוסמכים musmachim and תלמידים talmidim, and the, and the sense of, of movement that he led, the greatest influence, never wanted to be an influencer. Influencers want to be influencers as an end, not a means. We want influence as a means to accomplish a noble and righteous and Godly end. So that's what משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu is communicating to קרח Korach. You just want to be an influencer? You want to get the free stuff in the mail? You want to be able to have followers and fame and be a celebrity? That's, that's not what we're about. We're about what influence do you want to have? What do you want to change, what problem do you want to solve, what do you want to fix or repair? How do you want to redeem the world? What do you want to influence? You want to be an עסקן oisken? What עסק eisek, what problem do you want to solve? You want to make sure that everybody looking to get married finds their שידוך shidduch? Everyone who wants a child can tap into insurance and government funds to afford fertility treatments? You want to solve the tuition issue or security of Jewish community, or advocate for Israel? What, anti-Semitism, you want to stop, what do you want to fight? What do you want to do? It's not I want to be an influencer, it's I want to influence this problem or this issue. It's all backwards. קרח Korach was the first who wanted to be an influencer rather than choose what to influence. And that's what משה Moshe is answering about גדולה gedulah, about greatness. עיקר הכל הוא ענוה Ikar hakol hu anavah. ובכדי להיות כהן גדול צריך להיות בעיני עצמו כאפס ואין U'vichtei l'hiyos Kohein Gadol tzarich l'hiyos b'einei atzmo k'efes v'ayin. אהרן Aharon my brother, he's all about the people. Humble, humility, he walks with the people. He doesn't separate himself out, he doesn't want to stand out, he doesn't want an entourage, כאפס ואין k'efes v'ayin. He sees himself as simple. כמו שהיה מידת אהרן הכהן שהיה בעיני עצמו כאפס ואין, אבל עדת קרח לא היו במדרגה זו K'mo she'haya midas Aharon HaKohein she'haya b'einei atzmo k'efes v'ayin, aval adas Korach lo hayu b'madreigah zu. And that's what he says, רב לכם בני לוי, כלומר, עדיין אתם בעיני עצמכם בבחינת רב וישות הגדולה rav lachem bnei Levi, klaimer, adayin atem b'einei atzmeichem b'vchinas rav v'yeishus ha'gedolah. רב לכם Rav lachem. Is it not enough for you? But what he was really saying says the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh is רב לכם rav lachem. For you, you just want to be an influencer, רב rav. You just want to be an influencer. And that's a mistake. וכן אמר, המעט מכם V'chein omar, Ha'me'at mikem. Don't be a רב לכם rav lachem, don't be an influencer. המעט מכם Ha'me'at mikem, be humble and modest. And choose what problem you want to solve, and that's how to have the influence. In the שפתי צדיקים Sifsei Tzadikim, we're saying תהלים Tehillim now. Or תהלים Tehillim should be answered, we should hear בשורות טובות besoros tovos.But we're saying תהלים Tehillim very popularly, we say תהלים קכ\"א Tehillim kuf kaf aleph, 121. אשא עיני אל ההרים מאין יבוא עזרי Esa einai el he'harim, mei'ayin yavo ezri. I put my eyes up to the mountains, where will my help come from? עזרי מעם ה' Ezri mei'im Hashem. My help comes from ה' Hashem. The מדרש Midrash by the way says, אשא עיני אל ההרים esa einai el he'harim, I put my eyes to the mountains. אל תקרי Al tikrei, don't read it ההרים ha'harim, the mountains, read it ההורים ha'horim. Parents and grandparents, previous generations. I put my eyes to where I come from, where I come from. But says the holy שפתי צדיקים Sifsei Tzadikim, you know where, when I put my eyes to the mountains? מאין יבוא עזרי Mei'ayin yavo ezri? You know where my help comes from? A sense of אין ayin. אין ואפס Ayin v'efes. When I'm humble and when I'm modest, that's where it'll come from. When it's רב לכם rav lachem, I want to be prime minister, I want to control the coalition, I want to be in charge, I want to have the power, I want to be the influencer. Now there's trouble. Corruption, failed leadership, now we got problems. Where, where will our salvation come from? מאין יבוא עזרי Mei'ayin yavo ezri? מאין יבוא עזרי Mei'ayin yavo ezri. When a sense of אין ayin, nothingness, humility, modesty, from an attitude of אין ayin, that's יבוא עזרי yavo ezri. That's where our help and that's where our salvation will come from. פרק ט\"ז Perek tes zayin. פסוק, פסוק ג' pasuk gimmel. Back to ג' gimmel. ויקהלו Vayikhalu. ויקהלו Vayikhalu. Oh, ויקהלו vayikhalu. So when I was just in Israel, I got a new copy, hot off the press. A little pocket מנחת אשר Minchas Asher. רב אשר וייס Rav Asher Weiss. Why is there a new pocket, just convenient? רב אשר וייס Rav Asher Weiss is now producing pocket versions of his מנחת אשר Minchas Asher? No. This is produced by a dear friend, רב דוד גוטליב Rav Dovid Gottlieb, who is the leader of צל\"ש Tzalash. צל\"ש Tzalash is an amazing organization called צבא לשם שמים Tzava L'Shem Shamayim. It helps soldiers, long before this war, it's existed for 10 years. It helps soldiers in the field grow in their יראת שמים yiras Shamayim, continue to learn. Going into the army, serving in the IDF, doesn't mean forfeiting or compromising or giving up on your religious growth, it's a place where you can advance in it. Last week דף יומי Daf Yomi finished מסכת בבא מציעא Maseches Bava Metzia, maybe you saw the videos in Gaza, incredible soldiers singing and dancing and making a סיום siyum on בבא מציעא Bava Metzia. Extraordinary. So soldiers in the field requested, we're sitting in tanks, we want in our vest in רפיח Rafah, my nephew among them, we want to learn, we love רב אשר Rav Asher, we love רב אשר וייס Rav Asher Weiss. Can't bring the big, thick, clunky מנחת אשר Minchas Asher. So they produced thousands of copies. And they keep putting them out. This is במדבר Bamidbar. This is the במדבר Bamidbar version with רב אשר וייס Rav Asher Weiss's and this was done tragically, sadly in memory of אלי משה זימבליסט Eli Moshe Zimbalist, ה' יקום דמו Hashem yikom damo, who was murdered, who was killed in Gaza two weeks ago. In fact, tomorrow night's Behind the Bima, I sat and interviewed his parents while I was in Israel. I grew up with his mother in Teaneck, שרה קליימן זימבליסט Sara Klayman Zimbalist. And his father, סימי Simmy, is a sort of משפחה mishpacha, his brother's married to a cousin of יוכבד Yocheved. So listen to his parents, a few days after getting up from שבעה shiva, talk about his loss, his murder. And would they regret, do they regret making עליה aliyah with the price that they've paid for bringing their family to Israel? You have to listen to that tomorrow night. So that's dedicated in his memory, who lived as he died על קידוש ה' al kiddush Hashem, this version. So רב אשר וייס Rav Asher Weiss, in his מנחת אשר Minchas Asher, in the little pocket edition that soldiers are learning with the heat and the mosquitoes, not to mention the bullets and the rockets in Gaza, and we are sitting here in the comfort of our air condition and our comfortable chairs. So רב אשר Rav Asher says the following. ויקהלו על משה Vayikhalu al Moshe. They gather on משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon, רב לכם rav lachem. The בעל החידושים Ba'al Hachidushim על הטענה הגדולה בפסוק זה al ha'ta'an gadol b'pasuk zeh. הלא שטות גמורה לטפול על משה רבינו, אשמה שהתנשאות כאשר הקדוש ברוך הוא מעיד עליו, והאיש משה עניו מאוד Halo shtus gemura litpol al Moshe Rabbeinu, ashma she'tisnasus ka'asher ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu me'id alav, v'ha'ish Moshe anav me'od. Says one second, stop. Take a step back. This whole episode is absurd, is absurd. We read it and maybe we're even relate or depending on our childhood or our position in the community or what we think of the rabbi or the president of the שול shul, the school, or whatever, maybe we even feel a שטיקל קרח shtickel Korach ourselves because it's appealing. The democratization of the community of יידישקייט Yiddishkeit, we're all equal, everyone should have a chance and a say and authority. Who are you? Who put you in charge? Why do you yield and wield such power? It's attractive, right? It's absurd. Who testified that משה Moshe is categorically different than any other human being, the most humble of all men? Who appointed, who recruited, who designated, who elevated, who endorsed, ה' Hashem. So it's absurd on its face that קרח Korach, דתן, אבירם Dasan, Aviram, 250 men, ה' Hashem himself says והאיש משה עניו מאוד מכל האדם אשר על פני האדמה v'ha'ish Moshe anav me'od mikol ha'adam asher al pnei ha'adamah. חז\"ל Chazal said, גדול מה שנאמר במשה ממה שנאמר באברהם, ואנחנו מה gadol ma she'ne'emar b'Moshe mi'ma she'ne'emar b'Avraham, v'anahnu ma. מה שנאמר באברהם ואנחנו עפר ואפר Ma she'ne'emar b'Avraham v'anahnu afar v'efer. האיש משה עניו מאוד מכל האדם Ha'ish Moshe anav me'od mikol ha'adam, אדם adam is ראשי תיבות roshei teivos אברהם, דוד, משה Avraham, David, Moshe. משה היה עניו גדול משלושת אבות העולם Moshe haya anav gadol mi'shloshes avos ha'olam. משה Moshe's great. קרח שהיה פיקח Korach she'pikeiach haya, חז\"ל Chazal go out of the way to tell us קרח Korach was not a fool, he wasn't ignorant, קרח Korach wasn't stupid. קרח Korach was a פיקח pikeiach. He was a brilliant charismatic leader. So brilliant and so smart, so charismatic and insightful, how did he fail on its face and something so obvious that משה Moshe carries the endorsement of ה' Hashem. What are you doing challenging him? Makes no sense. אלא זה דרכו וטבעו של מחלוקת Ela zeh darko v'tivo shel machlokes. שבשעת המחלוקת אין איש שם על לבו דבר אמת She'b'sha'as ha'machlokes ein ish sam al libo davar emes. Says רב אשר וייס Rav Asher Weiss in an amazing human insight, when a person gets drawn into מחלוקת machlokes, when they are emotionally invested in this dispute, in this conflict, they shut off their intellect. They stop thinking rationally and they start acting in a self-destructive, foolish fashion. When people are in מחלוקת machlokes, they do stupid things. You say to them, don't you understand? The position you're taking that you're doubling down on, you're going to lose so much money, you're going to lose your reputation, you're going to lose your family, you're going to lose your, doesn't matter, they can't hear you. Because instead of taking that step back and looking and analyzing and thinking, does this make sense, is this right, will it be effective, is it worth, sometimes, just like in investing, you have to cut your losses. So you thought this was a worthy conflict, a worthy position to take. You thought this was worthy pushback. But where's it going? And how's it going to result? And what will you look like when it's over? Just stop and walk away. Be the bigger person. But people can't. הלא גדול מזה הוא אומר בילקוט Halo gadol mi'zehu omar b'Yalkut, then רב אשר Rav Asher quotes a מדרש ילקוט שמעוני Midrash Yalkut Shimoni that gives this example and talks about just how much, look what קרח Korach brought on him, the ground swallowed his family. דתן ואבירם Dasan and Aviram, look what happened as a result, and it didn't have to happen. Could have all been avoided, and we've seen it. We've seen businesses that fail miserably because people can't get along, partners, family members, bosses and employees. They had everything. They were on track in the trajectory for everything, but the ego got in the way, the מחלוקת machlokes got in the way. Families who aren't talking. Aren't talking. There are some great families, very notable families, prominent families. Just sat שבעה shiva. Can only pay a שבעה shiva call to this brother but not that brother, can't be in the room at the same time, can't sit שבעה shiva together. How horrific and how tragic that מחלוקת machlokes, you'd think the loss of life can't help people realize it's worth figuring things out. Just figure it out. Be capable of overlapping in the same room, sit together. If honoring a loved one is not enough, if confronting our mortality can't motivate שלום shalom, harmony, peace, putting it back together, what will? So tragic and so sad. But אלא מאי ela mai, what happens? That's the power of מחלוקת machlokes. The power of מחלוקת machlokes is so strong, people stop thinking straight. And they bring about their own ends. פרק ט\"ז, פסוק ה' Perek tes zayin, pasuk hei. פסוק ה' Pasuk hei. In part of משה Moshe's reaction he says, וידבר קרח אל כל העדה לאמר, בקר וידע ה' את אשר לו ואת הקדוש והקריב אליו v'yidaber Korach el kol ha'eidah leimor, boker, v'yoda Hashem es asher lo v'es ha'kadosh v'hikriv eilav. You know what? In the morning. In the morning ה' Hashem will make known the one who he chooses. את הקדוש והקריב אליו ואת אשר יבחר בו יקריב אליו Es ha'kadosh v'hikriv eilav, v'es asher yivchar bo yakriv eilav. בקר Boker. Let's wait 'til the morning. ה' Hashem will resolve this in the morning. He'll resolve this in the morning. The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, on this word בקר boker, says something wonderful. Quotes the אגרא דכלה Agra d'Kallah. קרח ועדתו טענו שהכהונה מגיע להם Korach v'adaso tano she'ha'keunah magea lahem. They said we deserve to be the priests. והם חשבו בנפשם שכוונתם לשם שמים V'hem chashvu b'nafsham she'kavanasam l'shem shamayim. They thought they were motivated and driven by a righteous and pure motive. So they said to משה Moshe, sorry, בזה אמר להם משה b'zeh amar lahem Moshe. So משה Moshe says to them, יש לי להוכיח אתכם בדבר באישור בוקר yesh li l'hochich atem b'davar b'ishur boker. Let's see in the morning why. אז נראה אם תתעוררו בקימה ביראת שמים Az nireh im tisoru b'kima b'yiras shamayim. Let's see if when you wake up you have the same יראת שמים yiras shamayim that you claim to have now. בקר וידע ה' את אשר לו, כי מי שמרגיש יראת שמים בקומו בבקר, ההוא שייך לה' יתברך Boker, v'yoda Hashem es asher lo, ki mi she'margish yiras shamayim b'kumo b'boker, he'hu shayach l'Hashem yisborach. Do you wake up with יראת שמים yiras shamayim? Meaning, do you wake up or it's snooze? Do you stay in bed or do you make it to מנין minyan? Are you on time or are you late? Are you fulfilling the opening of שולחן ערוך Shulchan Aruch, התגבר כארי לעמוד לעבודת הבורא hisgaber k'ari la'amod l'avodas ha'Borei. Do you wake up in the morning and roar like a lion to greet the day? Are you early or late? What does your morning look like? יראת שמים Yiras shamayim, you could see and measure a lot of a person's יראת שמים yiras shamayim by the way they rise, by the way they wake, by the way they start their day. So משה Moshe says, let's see. You have such a pure motive, you're so לשם שמים l'shem shamayim? בקר Boker. Let's see in the morning. Let's see do you make it to the כולל בוקר Kollel Boker at 6:15 AM? Are you early? It's dark outside. Are you there early? Do you come to מנין minyan? Are you early? Did you show up at the שבעה מנין shiva minyan that's struggling to get a מנין minyan? בקר Boker. Let's see in the morning. Let's see how righteous, how righteous you are. I posted this in our כולל בוקר Kollel Boker group. בקר Boker, you come to the כולל בוקר Kollel Boker, you wake up early, you walk in the dark, it's pitch black outside, it's the middle of the night to be there at 6:15 AM. That's יראת שמים yiras shamayim. That's drive, that's motive. That's motivation. That's יראת שמים yiras shamayim. בקר Boker. That's what the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh writes. The lava says, back to Rav Druk, also has a comment. Our last Rav Druk on the day. He says בקר boker, what's this answer in the morning, in the morning? So he says כשם שברא הקדוש ברוך הוא בעולמו של לילה ובוקר k'shem she'bara ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu b'Olamo shel laila v'boker, the same way ה' Hashem made boundaries of night and day, ואי אפשר לבטל הבדלות אלו v'i efshar l'vatel havdalos eilu. So a person who says, you know, I love the night, I just want to sleep a little bit more. So I'm going, let's stretch the night into the day. Make the sun not rise. Push it off a little bit. Reprogram the sun, delay it a little bit. Or the opposite. A person who says I have so much to accomplish and achieve, so much I want to do, like יהושע Yehoshua, שמש בגבעון דום shemesh b'givon dom, we're fighting this war, we need sunlight, let the sun stay up just a little bit longer. So where do you program that? You can't. We all surrender and know that the sun and the moon, light and dark, it's out of our control. It's separate, it's apart, it's distinct. There are boundaries. You can't cancel, you can't nullify, you can't reprogram, you can't control. Says Rav Druk, that what משה Moshe was telling קרח Korach, is as separate and apart and distinct and different as the sun and the moon, the night and day, is you and אהרן Aharon. We each have our own place, we each have our own rule, we each have our own role. There are גבולות gvulos, there are boundaries. יכול אדם לערב יום ולילה Yechol adam l'arev yom v'lailah, can you mix heaven and earth? No. ויהי ערב ויהי בוקר, ויבדל אלוקים בין האור ובין החושך Vayar v'hivoker, v'yavdel Elokim bein ha'or u'vein ha'choshech. ה' Hashem made הבדלה havdalah in this world. You קרח Korach are trying to make a תערובת taroves and ערבוביה irbuvya, ערבוביה irbuvya, you're trying to create chaos by a mixture. You're trying to erase boundaries and borders and definitions. You know what happens when a society in a world that looks to erase boundaries and borders and definitions, you have chaos, you have anarchy, you have corruption, you have moral depravity. ערב ובוקר, ויבדל, ויבדל אלוקים בין האור ובין החושך Erev v'voker, v'yavdel, v'yavdel Elokim bein ha'or u'vein ha'choshech. We live in a world of הבדלה havdalah. הבדלה Havdalah means differences and distinctions. We say in הבדלה Havdalah every Saturday night, every מוצאי שבת motzei Shabbos, הקדוש ברוך הוא Kadosh Baruch Hu separated בין אור לחושך, בין ישראל לעמים, בין יום השביעי לששת ימי המעשה bein or l'choshech, bein Yisrael la'amim, bein yom ha'shvii l'sheishes yemei ha'ma'aseh. We have הבדלה havdalah. And in שמונה עשרה Shemoneh Esrei on מוצאי שבת motzei Shabbos, which ברכה bracha do we insert הבדלה havdalah into? אתה חוננתנו Ata chonantanu. Which ברכה bracha? דעת Das. The ברכה bracha of knowledge, of thinking, of rationality. Why do we insert it there? Because the גמרא Gemara in מגילה Megillah tells us, because if you don't have הבדלה, דעת, הבדלה מניין havdalah, das, havdalah minayin? You need the evidence that you know how to think is that you know how to create distinctions. You know the differences, you have definitions, you have boundaries, you have borders, you have definitions, you have differences. בקר וידע ה' את אשר לו, כבר המוכן, ואת אשר יבחר בו יקריב אליו Boker, v'yoda Hashem es asher lo, kvar ha'mukan v'es asher yivchar bo yakriv eilav. As different as day and night or as different as you and אהרן Aharon. We have differences. There's such a thing as a כהן Kohein, a לוי Levi, and a ישראל Yisrael. Ah, it's not fair to me. It's not fair to me. Everybody knows the horrific, terrible classic joke about the person who comes to the rabbi, want to pay to become a כהן Kohein. Right? You know this terrible joke. How much, I can't, of course not, this, okay, fine. Why do you want to be a כהן Kohein? My father was a כהן Kohein, my grandfather was a כהן Kohein. Terrible. Don't laugh. It doesn't deserve your laughter. It doesn't deserve it. So no matter how badly I might want to be a כהן Kohein, I'm a ישראל Yisrael. I'll never be a כהן Kohein. I can't דוכנן duchan, I can't get the first עליה aliyah. I'll never be a כהן Kohein. I won't serve when the third בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash will be built. I'm not a כהן Kohein. I accept it. I respect it. I understand it. I'm a role player. I have my role. I want to be a woman, I want to know what it's like to carry a living baby inside me. Everyone laughs, especially my wife and children when I say this. I say I want to know, I'm curious. I can't imagine to be able to conceive life, to carry gestation of life, to deliver, to feed and nurture and sustain that closeness. I want to know. Nothing I can do. I accept that, I understand that's not my role. A woman, I want to be a man. There are roles. We have definitions, we have boundaries, we have borders, we have definitions, we have differences. We have הבדלה havdalah and that's דעת das. You want a society that's based on דעת das, it has to have boundaries and borders and definitions and it has to have הבדלה havdalah. Between a כהן Kohein, a לוי Levi, a ישראל Yisrael, a man, a woman, a Jew, a non-Jew, light, dark, day, night. And when we try to erase it and blur it and pretend it's not there, we have chaos and moral corruption and depravity and we have problems. And that's what משה Moshe was responding. בקר Boker. In the morning and you'll know you're not the man אהרן Aharon is. What was he saying in the morning? Why wait 'til the morning? What he was saying is as different as the morning is from night, as much as you can't control it, as separate as those categories are, is as different than you are from my brother אהרן Aharon. Know your place. Be מכיר את מקומו makir es makomo. Know your place, accept your place, lean into your place, be proud of your place and embrace the הבדלה havdalah, the differences, the differences that we have. The differences that we have. פרק ט\"ז, פסוק ט\"ו Perek tes zayin, pasuk tes vov. Turning the page. ויחר למשה מאוד ויאמר אל ה', אל תפן אל מנחתם. לא חמור אחד מהם נשאתי ולא הרעותי את אחד מהם Vayichar l'Moshe me'od vayomer el Hashem, al tefen el minchasam. Lo chamor echad mehem nasasi v'lo hareiosi es echad mehem. Now משה Moshe does something a little bit peculiar. He turns to ה' Hashem and he דאווענ'ט davens. ה' Hashem, I beg of you, because ה' Hashem makes this test right, they each offer the sacrifice, whichever ה' Hashem chooses, that's going to be the leader. So משה Moshe says I'm all in for this test, but now משה Moshe דאווענ'ט davens. אל תפן אל מנחתם Al tefen el minchasam. Whatever you do ה' Hashem, don't accept their sacrifice. Don't accept their prayers. To which I ask a very simple question. קרח Korach and his compatriots, they're wicked, they're nefarious, they have evil motivation, they have destructive intent. So why does משה Moshe have to דאווענ'ט daven that ה' Hashem not accept their prayer? Isn't it obvious? Shouldn't משה Moshe be able to sit back and say I got this one in the bank? This one's a definite winner. קרח Korach's him, I'm me, אהרן Aharon's him. I could sit back and mail this one in. I don't have to דאווענ'ט daven. Of course ה' Hashem's not going to accept it. Listen to this insight of the Alter of Kelm. Says the Alter of Kelm, you see something unbelievably important. Listen carefully, this is so critical for our time, a פרשה parsha perspective for today. Says the Alter of Kelm. We see from here the power of a heartfelt and authentic prayer. It's true their motive was corrupt and their goals were destructive, but they turned to ה' Hashem and they prayed from the bottom of their hearts. They asked God to intervene on their behalf. And when a prayer is genuine, and when a prayer is authentic, and when a prayer is sincere, even if it's in the wrong direction, and even if it's for the wrong things, ה' Hashem can hear it. It can be effective. And משה Moshe understood the power of heartfelt prayer, even if it's misguided, even if it's misdirected, even if it's for the wrong thing. Heartfelt, sincere, authentic prayers, yearning and turning to ה' Hashem to the core of our being, have the power to be heard and listened to. So much so, they have to be offset, they have to be negated by משה Moshe's own heartfelt prayer. And the Alter of Kelm brings another example. On יום כיפור Yom Kippur, כהן גדול Kohein Gadol spent the day immersed in advocacy for the Jewish people, and he earns atonement for himself, his family, and the people. And the conclusion of the holiest day of the year, כהן גדול Kohein Gadol is leaving the holiest place of the earth, the קודש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim, and he offers a little short prayer. The גמרא Gemara in יומא נ\"ג Yuma Nun Gimmel tells us about this prayer and included in it is יהי רצון מלפניך yehi ratzon milfanecha, may it be your will God, אל תפנה לתפילת עוברי דרכים al tifna l'tfilas ovrei drachim. Don't listen to the prayers of the travelers, of those who are going home. Why would you ask God not to listen to the prayers of the travelers? It's very simple. Those who are going home, today when we travel, in fair comfort, you can always get upgraded more, but even the person who's on the worst seat, in the worst spot, is still traveling more comfortably than we did throughout history. So today it's relatively safe, we're pretty confident we'll be okay. But through history, a lot could go wrong. If you're traveling, your horse and buggy, you're traveling in your entourage, and there's rain, there's mudslide, you're finished. It's over. There's animals that attack, there are bandits and robbers, so much can go wrong. So they would pray, they're going home from the holidays, ה' Hashem, don't make it rain, we want to get home safely. I, but כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, the Jewish people will need rain. So the כהן גדול Kohein Gadol would have to דאווענ'ט daven, don't listen to their prayers, let the rain fall to sustain all the Jews in Israel. So I ask the Alter of Kelm, if the right thing is that the Jews of Israel deserve rain, and they outweigh and outnumber by far those who are traveling home, why would God listen to the prayers of those traveling home? Why do you even have to pray the כהן גדול Kohein Gadol on the holiest day leaving the holiest place has to include a יהי רצון yehi ratzon don't listen? Says the Alter of Kelm, yes, you know why? Because there's no more heartfelt prayer than those travelers going home. It's life or death for them, they mean it. It's not like our תפילת הדרך tefillas ha'derech that we mumble while we eat the blue chips, while we're still listening and watching, while we're still. No, no. Their, their תפילת הדרך tefillas ha'derech, they meant, came from the essence, the bottom of their being. It was sincere. So it soared through the heavens. The כהן גדול Kohein Gadol had to offset it, had to offset it. Here's another example. Someone killed by accident, goes to an עיר מקלט Ir Miklat. The כהן גדול Kohein Gadol, they stay in the עיר מקלט Ir Miklat until the כהן גדול Kohein Gadol, the high priest dies. They sit in the city of refuge. The משנה Mishna in מכות Makkos says that the mother of the high priest, the כהן גדול Kohein Gadol, would come and bake cookies for them, and bring gifts to the inmates in the עיר מקלט Ir Miklat in the city of refuge. Why? That they shouldn't דאווענ'ט daven that the כהן גדול Kohein Gadol drop dead already so we can go home. So she would have to do this. So again you say, the כהן גדול Kohein Gadol is righteous and wonderful. He's the כהן גדול Kohein Gadol. You really have to offset and negate, you really have to confront the prayers of these inmates in the עיר מקלט Ir Miklat? The answer is yeah, because when someone's in an עיר מקלט Ir Miklat, when someone's incarcerated and they want to go free, that's a sincere prayer. You better watch out. You got to do something to balance out the sincerity of that prayer. I'll give you one more example, the Alter doesn't quote this. One more example. גמרא Gemara in מועד קטן Moed Katan says, are you allowed to get engaged on חול המועד Chol HaMoed? אין מערבין שמחה בשמחה Ein me'arvin simcha b'simcha, you're not allowed to mix happy occasions. So can someone get engaged on חול המועד Chol HaMoed? And the answer is yes. The answer is yes. Why? Concludes the גמרא Gemara, because you better lock that up before someone else comes in. שמא יקדמנו אחר Shema yekadmenu acher. You gotta lock up that girl. You gotta put a ring on that finger, you gotta get engaged. Why? Because someone else is going to swoop in and take her out from under you. So you can get engaged even on חול המועד Chol HaMoed. So wonders the גמרא Gemara, I don't understand, what happened? What happened to the idea of a בשערט bashert? בת קול Bas Kol, the heavenly voice goes out and says, בת פלוני לפלוני Bas Ploni l'Ploni. I thought everyone has a בשערט bashert. So someone else can't swoop in and steal who's meant for me. So wait 'til after יום טוב Yom Tov, wait 'til after חול המועד Chol HaMoed. Why could you get engaged on חול המועד Chol HaMoed? What do you mean שמא יקדמנו אחר shema yekadmenu acher, someone else can swoop in? Says the גמרא Gemara, שמא יקדמנו אחר ברחמים shema yekadmenu acher b'rachamim. You're right. We have a concept of בשערט bashert. But you know what can even... override בשרט bashert. Someone's heartfelt תפילות tefillos. So that סותר suter, that guy, sees that girl, sees that young woman and says, \"Oh, I want to be married to her. I'm gonna דאווען davven from the bottom of my heart, from the essence of my being.\" And that heartfelt sincere prayer can even override the concept of בשרט bashert.So we say every day in דאווענען davening, קרוב השם לכל קוראיו לכל אשר יקראוהו באמת Karov Hashem l'chol korav, l'chol asher yikre'uhu b'emes. השם Hashem answers, but who does he answer? לכל אשר יקראוהו באמת L'chol asher yikre'uhu b'emes. To those who call out to him sincerely, authentically, enthusiastically, passionately, with every ounce of their being. Every ounce of their being.So משה Moshe realizes he has to דאווען davven because קרח Korach and his side, they're דאווענען davening hard. So even though they have evil and wicked plans, but because of the sincerity of their prayers, I've got to negate it. I've got to balance it out. I've got to offset it with my own prayers. אל תפן אל מנחתם Al teifen el minchasam. So he turns to השם Hashem and he says, \"Don't accept their קרבן korban, don't accept their מנחה mincha.\" חבר'ה Chevra, our enemies, the other side, they're on their hands and knees five times a day on a mat, praying from the essence of their being for our destruction. They are praying from the river to the sea. Believe me, they're praying sincerely. We have to offset it, negate it. Our prayers can't grow fatigue or tired or grow old. They have to be as sincere as they ever were.You know, they asked following the יום כיפור Yom Kippur War, during the יום כיפור Yom Kippur War, following the יום כיפור Yom Kippur year, the גערער רבי Ger Rebbe was asked, was asked, \"What do you say about the current situation?\" So the גערער רבי Ger Rebbe said, \"What do I say about the current situation? I say תהלים Tehillim.\" That's what I say.We're so caught up, what do you say, how will this end, what's next, who's to blame? What do you say about the מצב matzav? Say תהלים Tehillim. That's what you should say about the מצב matzav. Say תהלים Tehillim. Say תהלים Tehillim. לכל אשר יקראוהו באמת L'chol asher yikre'uhu b'emes. We got to דאווען davven from the essence and the bottom of our being. משה Moshe did to correspond with קרח Korach, we have to correspond with the people who seek our demise.In that spirit, everybody's invited to stay to complete all of ספר תהלים Sefer Tehillim. We should hear בשורות טובות besoros tovos, ישועות ונחמות yeshuos v'nechamos.
