Transcript
Good morning, welcome back to Parsha perspectives for today as we have the privilege of studying and learning פרשת קרח Parshas Korach together, פרשת קרח Parshas Korach as we continue the journey of the Jewish people through their adolescence in the desert. a period of complaining, a period of rebelliousness, a period of stubbornness and irritability, a period where the Jewish people are continuing to find themselves. I want to thank our generous פרשה Parsha series sponsors for the year. A big thank you to Becky and Avi Katz and family, who sponsored the פרשה Parsha series for the year in memory of Becky's father David Grossman, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מונש le'ilui nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Monish. Today's שיעור shiur is also sponsored by Jennifer and Dr. Ronnie Herman in memory of שרה צירל בת יידל Sarah Tziril bas Yidel Price, a courageous woman who did not lose her אמונה emunah despite surviving the Holocaust, by David and Shoshi Meirfeld, in tribute to the 33rd יארצייט yahrtzeit of the beloved father מנחם בן אורי שרגא Menachem ben Uri Shraga Manfred Meirfeld, whose נשמה neshama should have an עליה aliyah. And co-sponsored by my parents, אבי מורי, אמי מורתי Avi Mori, Imi Morasi, Rabbi and Shevy Goldberg in memory of my זיידע zeida, Sam Abeloff, שמואל בן יונה גדליה Shmuel ben Yona Gedalia. My beloved grandfather with whom I was incredibly close and from whom I learned so much about life, not only what to say and when to say, but when to stay quiet, when to listen, when to learn, a tremendous, tremendous influence in my life and a very special, special man. And lastly by Ron Eisenberg in memory of his father Mordechai Eisenberg and his באבי bubby Bessie Eisenberg, whose יארצייטס yahrtzeits are on the third of תמוז Tammuz, 18 years apart, same day that his daughter Maya was born two years later. Thank you so much to all of our generous sponsors. We are on page 800 and where does פרשת קרח Parshas Korach begin in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumish? Page 820 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumish, the story of קרח Korach. We have a lot to say. I'm going to draw as we have been doing all year from the אש תמיד Esh Tamid, the wonderful ספר sefer of רב ישראל מאיר דרוק Rav Yisrael Meir Druk, who has tremendous, tremendous insights on פרשת קרח Parshas Korach. First of all I want to recommend a new book to you, by my friend David Wolf called תורה Torah IQ. תורה Torah IQ, the great תורה Torah riddle book. If you are looking for a great book on the פרשה Parsha for your שבת Shabbos table, to pose questions, to offer answers, to challenge yourself, to challenge others, how well, riddles on the פרשה Parsha each and every week. Here's a sample from פרשת קרח Parshas Korach. Who was קרח'ס Korach's most famous descendant? What six פרשיות parshios are named for people? How did קרח Korach become wealthy? Find a פסוק pasuk in the תורה Torah where among its 17 words are one verb, 10 names, and the remaining six words are all from the same root word. All great questions. If you know the answers, then you should get the book. If you don't know the answers, you should definitely get the book, a wonderful new book. Okay, with that we jump in, page 820. ויקח קרח בן יצהר בן קהת בן לוי, ודתן ואבירם בני אליאב ואון בן פלת בני ראובן Va'yikach Korach ben Yitzhar ben Kehas ben Levi, ve'Dasan ve'Aviram bnei Eliav ve'On ben Peles bnei Reuven. פרשה Parsha introduces us to the protagonist, to the main characters, to the individuals who incite and launch this rebellion against משה Moshe, against אהרן Aaron, and ultimately, really against the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam, against the Almighty, against God's vision and against God's plan. And among them are קרח Korach, son of יצהר Yitzhar, son of קהת Kehas, son of לוי Levi. We give his whole lineage here. דתן Dasan and אבירם Aviram, the sons of אליאב Eliav, and און בן פלת On ben Peles, the son of ראובן Reuven. And what did they do? ויקמו לפני משה ואנשים מבני ישראל חמישים ומאתים Va'yakumu lifnei Moshe va'anashim mi'bnei Yisrael chamishim u'matayim. They stood up, they rose against משה Moshe. They rose against the Jewish people. They numbered 250, נשיאי עדה קריאי מועד אנשי שם nesi'ei eidah, keri'ei moed, anshei shem. They were leaders of the assembly, those who had come, they were men of renown, אנשי שם anshei shem. ויקהלו על משה ועל אהרן Va'yikahalu al Moshe ve'al Aharon. And they gathered and what was their complaint? רב לכם כי כל העדה כלם קדשים Rav lachem ki chol ha'eidah kulam kedoshim. רב לכם Rav lachem, it's too much for you. We're all equally holy. ובתוכם ה' U'vesocham Hashem. ה' Hashem is amidst and among all of us. Who are you? What makes you special, what makes you stand out? Why do you assert your leadership? ומדוע תתנשאו על קהל ה' U'madua tisnasu al kahal Hashem? And why are you, why are you expressing yourself... וישמע משה Va'yishma Moshe, משה Moshe is overwhelmed. ויפל על פניו Va'yipol al panav. All משה Moshe does is selflessly give. All משה Moshe does is the dedication and devotion to כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, to the Jewish people. And what's his reward? What does he get in return? This rebelliousness. And the story, of course, continues to unfold the plot of what happens next. So let's look first at a beautiful piece by רב דרוק Rav Druk. On the opening רש\"י Rashi. רש\"י Rashi says ויקח קרח Va'yikach Korach. רש\"י Rashi says, פרשה זו יפה נדרשת במדרש רבי תנחומא Parsha zu yafeh nidreshes be'midrash Rebbi Tanchuma. Oh, says רש\"י Rashi, this פרשה parsha, it's געשמאק geshmak. It is extrapolated beautifully in the מדרש תנחומא Midrash Tanchuma. And wonders רב דרוק Rav Druk, השאלה נשאלת, מה רש\"י בא ללמדנו בזאת? Ha'she'eilah nish'eles, ma Rashi ba le'lamdeinu be'zos? What in the world is רש\"י Rashi teaching us? רש\"י Rashi only comments when he has something to add. רש\"י Rashi is answering a question, usually an implicit question he doesn't even articulate explicitly. What in the world is רש\"י Rashi adding when he says, 'Oh, this געוואלדיגע געשמאק פרשה gevaldige geshmak parsha, this פרשה parsha is expounded magnificently in the מדרש Midrash'. וכי שאר הפרשיות שבתורה אינם נדרשות יפה? Ve'chi sha'ar ha'parshios she'ba'Torah einam nidrashos yafeh? Are the rest of the פרשיות parshios in the תורה Torah, are they not expounded? Is the דרוש drush not wonderful? לא מצינו כעין זה ברש\"י, שמשבח מעצמו את דברי המדרש Lo matzinu ke'ein zeh be'Rashi, she'meshabeiach mei'atzmo es divrei ha'midrash. We don't find רש\"י Rashi giving such a support to מדרש Midrash elsewhere. ודאי רש\"י בא לומר כאן דבר עמה, שצריך ביאור U'vadai Rashi ba lomar kan davar amah, she'tzarich biur. What is רש\"י Rashi trying to tell us? What is he getting at? What is his message? It's an unnecessary comment, a gratuitous comment, doesn't seem to add anything. ואבי מורי היה אומר Ve'Avi Mori haya omer, so רב דרוק Rav Druk quotes his father, רב מרדכי דרוק Rav Mordechai Druk, the דרש מרדכי Drash Mordechai, who said כי ישנם כמה סוגי פירושים לכל פרשה בתורה ki yeshnam kama sugei peirushim le'chol parsha ba'Torah. We know that there are multiple levels, multiple meanings, multiple approaches or perspectives to every פסוק pasuk in the תורה Torah. פרד\"ס PaRDeS. פשט, דרש, רמז, סוד Pshat, drash, remez, sod. We have the simple meaning of the text, we have the extrapolation or expounding on the text, we have the allusion or the hint in the text, and we have the פנימיות pnimius, the deeper significant mystical meaning of the text. בדרך כלל, פירוש הפשט הוא בפני עצמו, פירוש הדרוש בפני עצמו Be'derech klal, peirush ha'pshat hu bifnei atzmo, peirush ha'drush bifnei atzmo, and so on. ואינו שייך להבנת הפשט. וכן הוא בפירושי הרמז והסוד Ve'eino shayach le'havanas ha'pshat. Ve'chein hu be'peirushei ha'remez ve'ha'sod. אולם בפרשתנו אין אפשרות להבין את הפשט ללא הדרוש שבו Ulam be'parshaseinu ein efsharus le'havin es ha'pshat le'lo ha'drash she'bo. So said רב מרדכי דרוק Rav Mordechai Druk, said רב דרוק'ס Rav Druk's father, normally we have four parallel interpretations, four parallel approaches to understanding פסוקים psukim, to understanding the narrative of the תורה Torah. You can understand it this way or this way or this way or this way, they all exist simultaneously to one another. But here, here, says רב דרוק Rav Druk, senior, says רב מרדכי דרוק Rav Mordechai Druk, it's impossible to understand the פשט pshat without the דרש drash. You cannot understand the simple meaning of the text. You cannot understand the simple unfolding of this narrative and of this story without also diving into the דרוש drush. ולכן רש\"י ששולח אותנו למדרש תנחומא Ve'lachen Rashi she'shole'ach osanu le'midrash Tanchuma. And that's why רש\"י Rashi refers us to the מדרש תנחומא Midrash Tanchuma. Because רש\"י Rashi, even though רש\"י'ס Rashi's emphasis is always the פשוטו של מקרא pshuto shel mikra. רש\"י Rashi says, אין מקרא יוצא מידי פשוטו Ein mikra yotzei midei pshuto. You cannot take the text out of its simple meaning. Those other interpretations, they are additional, supplemental levels. They build upon the simple meaning, but you cannot replace the simple meaning. Normally that's רש\"י'ס Rashi's approach. Don't dismiss and don't negate the simple meaning. Build upon it with additional meaning, but you can't reject the simple meaning. But here, רש\"י Rashi rejects the simple meaning. פרשת קרח Parshas Korach, don't take it at face value. Don't assume קרח Korach and these others were leading such a rebellion. יש מדרשי אגדה רבים, ואני לא באתי אלא לפשוטו של מקרא Yesh midreshei aggadah rabbim, ve'ani lo basi ela le'pshuto shel mikra, says רש\"י Rashi normally. כי כל זה באופן שהפשט עומד בפני עצמו Ki kol zeh be'ofen she'ha'pshat omed bifnei atzmo. אבל כאן שהפשט והדרש משולבים זה בזה, והדרש מיישב את דברי המקרא, מפרש רש\"י על פי הדרש Aval kan she'ha'pshat ve'ha'drash meshulavim zeh be'zeh, ve'ha'drash meyashiv es divrei ha'mikra, mefaresh Rashi al pi ha'drash. So because רש\"י Rashi is deviating from his normal methodology, רש\"י'ס Rashi's normally an emphasis on the simple meaning, but here he's giving us the additional layer not as a supplemental alternative interpretation, but as a necessary, the דרש drash is the simple meaning, that's why he writes נדרשת יפה, יפה נדרשת nidreshes yafeh, yafeh nidreshes. זה פירוש מה שרגילים לברך את בני זוג בברכת שיהיה הזיווג יפה Zeh peirush mah she'ragilin le'varech es bnei zug be'birchas she'yihyeh ha'zivug yafeh. We give a ברכה bracha to a couple that the זיווג zivug should be עולה יפה oleh yafeh. What is יפה yafeh? What do you mean? רש\"י Rashi here says יפה נדרשת yafeh nidreshes. It is well expounded upon. We say the זיווג zivug should be עולה יפה oleh yafeh. This young couple, you know, when making שבע ברכות sheva brachos, anachnu rav to Shabbos, זיווג zivug should be עולה יפה oleh yafeh. This couple, this union should should elevate well. What is the word יפה yafeh mean here? אתי יש לפרש, כי הברכה היא שיאים הזיווג מכל הכיוונים, כשם שכאן הפשט והדרש מתאימים זה עם זה Ati, yesh le'faresh, ki ha'bracha hu she'yat'im ha'zivug mi'kol ha'kivunim, ke'shem she'kan ha'pshat ve'ha'drash mat'imim zeh im zeh. The word יפה yafeh is when there's a beautiful integration. The word יפה yafeh is when things work out when they come together, when they connect, when they assimilate one into the other. So just like the פשט pshat and the דרש drash are all working together as one, united as one here, that's why רש\"י Rashi uses the word and says יפה נדרשת yafeh nidreshes. Similarly, when a couple get married, we say the זיווג zivug should be עולה יפה oleh yafeh. עולה יפה Oleh yafeh means it shouldn't be combative, there shouldn't be conflict or tension. Of course, there's still an independent identity, but they should integrate, they should combine together beautifully. So all of that is really an introduction to the פרשה parsha. And the introduction to the פרשה parsha says רש\"י Rashi is, says רב דרוק Rav Druk in רש\"י Rashi is, don't take it at face value. It's easy to read our פרשה parsha and see קרח Korach as a total villain. קרח Korach is a total rebellious, self-centered, egomaniac. קרח Korach is an unsatisfied in life. That is a mistake. קרח Korach was righteous in many ways. חז\"ל Chazal, ראשונים Rishonim, אחרונים Acharonim, there's a lot of debate about קרח Korach. And קרח Korach certainly made mistakes and he paid the great price. קרח Korach, of course, was swallowed by the ground. He paid the great price. He made an enormous, enormous, irreversible mistake. But does that mean that we can dismiss him as being somebody so negative, so pathetic? Careful says רש\"י Rashi. Turn to the דרש drash, turn to the מדרש תנחומא Midrash Tanchuma. Don't take this פרשה parsha at face value. Number one. Number two. רש\"י Rashi continues and רש\"י Rashi tells us, ויקח קרח Va'yikach Korach. קרח Korach took. Previously in פרשה parsha classes, we're not going to review what we said in the past, you can listen to many years of פרשה parsha class online. ויקח Va'yikach, the whole problem began because קרח Korach was a taker. In life you can be a giver or a taker. In life you're about being of service, or you're about what others can do for you. You're a giver or you're a taker. ויקח קרח Va'yikach Korach. קרח Korach was on the take. קרח Korach was a taker. He was positioned to be a leader. He had so much to contribute and to lead in this world. But ויקח Va'yikach, his talents, his skills, his blessings, instead of recognizing that they gave him responsibilities, duties and obligations, he saw them as giving him rights and privileges. Instead of seeing it as an opportunity, he saw it as an entitlement. ויקח Va'yikach. He was a taker. ויקח קרח Va'yikach Korach. He took. That mentality, you could look at the same set of circumstance, the same, it can present the same skills, the same talents, but do we use them to take or do we use them to give? Do we use them to be of service, or do we use them to receive the service of others? Says רש\"י Rashi, ויקח קרח Va'yikach Korach. לקח את עצמו לצד אחד Lakach es atzmo le'tzad echad. He took himself over to one side, להיות נחלק מתוך העדה, לעורר על הכהונה le'hiyos nechlak mi'toch ha'eidah, le'oreir al ha'kehunah. He divided himself, he distinguished himself from the rest of the community in order to bring up a major מחלוקת machlokes, in order to challenge the priesthood. וזהו שתירגם אונקלוס, אתפליג Ve'zehu she'targem Onkelos, es paleg. אתפליג Es paleg is נחלק מישר העדה להחזיק במחלוקת nechlak mi'yeshar ha'eidah le'hachzik be'machlokes. אתפליג Es paleg means to split in half. מחלוקת Machlokes, חלק chelek, a part of, to divide. The root of all מחלוקת machlokes, why מחלוקת machlokes is so pernicious, is because it divides. We're all about uniting. Jewish people's strength is all about being a whole, being united, being a family, being together. Not monolithic, doesn't mean uniform, we don't have to agree, we don't have to look or resemble exactly the same, but we do have to get along. We have to get along. קרח Korach broke that getting along. אתפליג Es paleg, he, מחלוקת machlokes, פלוגתא plughta, he created division. He sowed division among the Jewish people. ויקח Va'yikach, he took himself over to one side. Says רב דרוק Rav Druk, יש לעיין מה משמעות הדבר שקרח לקח את עצמו? Yesh le'ayin mah mashmaus ha'davar she'Korach lakach es atzmo? מדוע הייתה צריכה התורה לכתוב 'ויקח קרח'? Madua hayesa tzricha ha'Torah lichtov 'Va'yikach Korach'? הלא כוונת הדברים כאן הוא שלקח את עצמו Ha'lo kavanas ha'dvarim kan hu she'lakach es atzmo. אם כן היה להם לומר שנחלק מתוך העדה Im kein hayah la'hem lomar she'nechlak mi'toch ha'eidah. כי בדרך כלל לשון זה מתפרשת שלוקח אחרים Ki be'derech klal lashon zeh mispareshes she'loke'ach acherim. The word ויקח Va'yikach means to take, to take something. What did קרח Korach take? In other words, what was bothering רש\"י Rashi, what was bothering חז\"ל Chazal? They read our פרשה parsha and they read these opening words, ויקח קרח Va'yikach Korach and קרח Korach took and they wonder what did he take? Took a sandwich? Took a cell phone? Took a selfie? What did he take? ויקח Va'yikach, he took. What did he take? To which they conclude he took himself. So why didn't it just say that? כמו כן יש לעיין היכן ראה רש\"י פירוש זה בדברי התרגום? Kemo'chein yesh le'ayin heichan ra'ah Rashi peirush zeh be'divrei ha'Targum? התרגום מסביר כתרגומו ואתפליג, נחלק משאר עדה Ha'Targum masbir k'targumo ve'es paleg, nechlak mi'sha'ar eidah. The אונקלוס Onkelos, אונקלוס'ס Onkelos's translation just indicates or reflects, אתפליג es paleg means he divided himself from the community. He split, he splintered from the community. Where did רש\"י Rashi see from there לקח את עצמו lakach es atzmo? How do you take from אונקלוס'ס Onkelos's translation that he divided, he splintered from the community, how does one take from that translation that it means that לקח את עצמו lakach es atzmo, he took himself? ונראה לבאר Ve'neira le'vareir, so says רב דרוק Rav Druk the following. באמת, קודם לכן היה במעלה שקרח גדול היה מאוד Be'emes, kodem la'chein hayah b'ma'alah she'Korach gadol hayah me'od. Again, going back to the opening interpretation we just offered, you cannot simply read this on the surface. You cannot simply read פרשת קרח Parshas Korach superficially. You have to realize קרח Korach had not only potential, קרח Korach had greatness. הוא היה משבט לוי Hu hayah mi'shevet Levi, שנענו לקריאת משה אחרי חטא העגל she'ne'enu le'kriyas Moshe acharei cheit ha'eigel, מי לה' אלי! mi la'Hashem eilay! Perhaps he was among those who responded to משה'ס Moshe's call after the terrible miscalculation of the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel when משה Moshe declared, when משה Moshe called out, מי לה' אלי! Mi la'Hashem eilay! Who is for God? Come with me. Maybe קרח Korach was among those who responded positively. כמו כן התאמרו חכמים Kemo'chein hisamru chachamim, חכם גדול היה קרח, ומטועני ארון Chacham gadol hayah Korach, u'mi'to'anei Aron. קרח Korach was a חכם chacham, he was wise, he was learned. He was among those who carried the ארון Aron. שנאמר ולבני קהת לא נתן כי עבודת הקדש עליהם She'ne'emar 'u'livnei Kehas lo nasan ki avodas ha'kodesh aleihem'. קרח היה בן יצהר בן קהת Korach hayah ben Yitzhar ben Kehas. היה גם נביא בעל רוח הקודש ופיקח גדול Hayah gam navi ba'al ruach ha'kodesh u'pike'ach gadol. קרח Korach was a חכם chacham, he was a brilliant scholar. He was a נביא navi, he was a prophet. He had רוח הקודש ruach ha'kodesh. He was a פיקח pike'ach, he was smart, analytical, intellectual. בכשהיה קרח במצב רוחני מרומם ונעלה זה Be'kasha'hayah Korach be'matzav ruchni me'romam ve'na'aleh zeh, לא היה אצלו כלל מושג של עצמו lo hayah etzlo klal musag shel atzmo. When קרח Korach was at his best, when we're at our best, we don't have an identity called עצמו atzmo. It's not about us. It's not about our ego. We are not the brand. כי הכל משועבד לבורא עולם Ki ha'kol meshubad le'Borei Olam. You know who is the brand? You know who is the mission, you know who is the cause? Not me, my pleasure, my honor, my bank account, my joy. God. בורא עולם Borei Olam. The brand, the mission is all about ה' Hashem, not about us. So when קרח Korach was at his best, when he was a חכם chacham, a נביא navi, and a פיקח pike'ach, when he was about רוח הקודש ruach ha'kodesh, he had no sense of עצמו atzmo. He had no ego. He had no id, he had no identity. אולם כאשר התחיל לחלוק על משה Ulam ka'asher hischil lachlok al Moshe, but what happened? What happened was all of a sudden he woke up. And all of a sudden, insecurity and inadequacy, whatever was the driver, he said, 'Why not me? I should be the leader.' התחיל לחלוק Hischil lachlok, he began to disagree, divide, he began to be confrontational with משה Moshe. ולערער על נשיאותו של אלצפן בן עוזיאל U'le'areir al nesi'uso shel Eltzafan ben Uziel. He challenged L'Eltzafan, he challenged that אהרן Aharon was the high priest. לקח את עצמו לצד אחד להיות נחלק מתוך העדה Lakach es atzmo le'tzad echad le'hiyos nechlak mi'toch ha'eidah. You know what happened? He discovered his ego. He discovered his sense of עצמו atzmo. We are supposed to submit, surrender our עצמו atzmo. We are supposed to בטל רצונך מפני רצונו battel ritzoncha mi'pnei ritzono. We're supposed to submit our will to God's will. God's will is for us to have happiness and pleasure and joy and good things. Doesn't mean you have to suffer through life, but it means that we submit to His vision, to His blueprint, to His plan. It's not about עצמו atzmo, it's not about me, my ego, but it's about God. But the moment קרח Korach made it personal, the moment קרח Korach became bruised, the moment קרח Korach began to challenge leadership, all of a sudden he discovered and he inflated and he advanced and he promoted his sense of עצמו atzmo. עד עתה לא היה עצמו Ad ata lo hayah atzmo. כעת לקח את עצמו להיות נחלק מתוך העדה Ka'eis lakach es atzmo le'hiyos nechlak mi'toch ha'eidah. So the answer is, you know what he took? ויקח Va'yikach, he took. You know what he took? He took a selfie. That's exactly what he took. A selfie. Not with a camera. He took a selfie called the self. In life, selflessly, that's what we should be taking. Pictures of others, not ourselves. You know, everybody pose, let me take a picture of you. Let me take a self-less. Not not take a selfie. ויקח Va'yikach. קרח Korach who was a חכם chacham and a נביא navi and a בעל רוח הקודש ba'al ruach ha'kodesh and a פיקח pike'ach, קרח Korach who had all the ingredients for greatness, but the key was for it to be redirected in advancing the will of God. All of a sudden his ego got in the mix. לקח את עצמו Lakach es atzmo. He discovered his עצמו atzmo. He discovered his identity, his sense of self, his ego. לקח Lakach. He took it. He took a selfie. And once he did, it was down in there from there. Now the question is among the individuals that the תורה Torah counts who were part of inciting this rebellion, of course first and foremost primarily is קרח Korach. He's the top of the leadership. קרח Korach, דתן ואבירם Dasan ve'Aviram, we understand, and און בן פלת On ben Peles. Now what do we know about און בן פלת On ben Peles? We know he married well. אמר רב Amar Rav, און בן פלת, אשתו הצילתו On ben Peles, ishto hatzilaso. Who saved him? His wife... I'll just say about the last interpretation by the way. This notion of עצמו atzmo, today's פרשה שיעור parsha shiur is in memory among others of my זיידע zeida, of Sam Abeloff, who was the superintendent of the whole public school system of Elizabeth, New Jersey, gave his life to תורה ומסורה Torah u'Mesorah, trying to promote Jewish education around the country and of course to his family. My זיידע'ס zeida's I think defining characteristic was his humility and his modesty. He was a great man, a brilliant man, and he made a huge difference in life, but he was humble and soft-spoken. He didn't have to be the loudest in the room, he didn't need to get the attention in the room, he didn't need to get the honor or the gratitude or the appreciation for what he did, but he was soft-spoken, he was modest. That sense of עצמו atzmo, he was all about serving the will of ה' Hashem and serving his family and not the sense of עצמו atzmo. So back, און בן פלת On ben Peles, says the גמרא Gemara in סנהדרין דף ק\"ט Sanhedrin daf kuf tes, סנהדרין Sanhedrin 109B. אמר רב, און בן פלת, אשתו הצילתו Amar Rav, On ben Peles, ishto hitzilaso. און בן פלת On ben Peles married well. His wife saved him. אמרה ליה, מאי נפקא לך מינה? אי מר רבנן את תלמידא, ואי מר רבנן את תלמידא Amrah lei, 'Mai nafka lach minah? I mara anas talmida, de'i mara anas talmida. What do you care? Mrs. Ben Peles says to her husband On, what do you care? משה Moshe is the number one, you're still number two. So קרח Korach can replace משה Moshe, you'll still be his number two. So what do you care? What's in it for you? אמר לה, מאי אעביד? הוה בעיצה ואישתבעי לבהדייהו Amar lei, 'Mai avid? Havah be'eitza u'sh'tavoy le'vad hayu.' אמרה ליה, ידענא דכולא כנישתא קדישתא נינהו, דכתיב כי כל העדה כלם קדשים Amrah lei, 'Yedana de'kula knishta kedishta ninhu, u'de'chsev ki kol ha'eidah kulam kedoshim.' אמרה ליה, תוב, דאנא מצילנא לך. אשקיתיה חמרא וארויחיה ואגניתיה גאוה. אוסוה אבבא וסתרתה למזייה, כל דאתא חזייה הדר. עד דאכלי ושתו, אבלע להו. Amrah lei, 'Tuv, da'anah matzilna lach. Ashkisei chamra, ve'arvisei, ve'agnisei gavoi. Usvah abava, ve'sitrasa meiza, kol asah ve'chaza hadar. Ad achi achi, avla lohu.' She wasn't able to fully convince him, so she schemed. She uncovered her hair, and when men came to the house in order to meet with and conspire with him, they were turned away. So the גמרא Gemara says that On in the end of the day was saved. His wife, first she tries to persuade and convince him, when that was ineffective, she took matters into her own hands in order to save him. In order to save him. which has been a tremendous happened many, many, many times since. Righteous women who have a strong moral compass, who can see clearly and be רואה את הנולד ro'eh es ha'nolad, have stepped up and stepped in and intervened to try to save their husband, their family many times since. כמו כן הגמרא Kemo'chein an Gemara says, דתן, שעבר על דת אל Dasan, she'avar al das El. אבירם, שאיבר עצמו מעשות תשובה Aviram, she'iber atzmo mei'asos teshuva. און, שישב באנינות On, she'yashav be'aninus. פלת, שנשלו לו פלאות Peles, she'nishlu lo plaos. בן ראובן, בן שראה והבין Ben Reuven, ben she'ra'ah ve'heivin. The גמרא Gemara extrapolates each of their names and we see those who gave in, those who made the mistake, those who participated in the rebellion, versus On, who did תשובה teshuva. He came offly close, he flirted with disaster, but he did תשובה teshuva. So רב דרוק Rav Druk wonders, I don't understand. If in the end of the day On did not in fact participate, if he stopped short, if his wife locked him down in the house, turned everyone away, then why is he listed with the other co-conspirators of the rebellion? Why is he listed among קרח, דתן ואבירם Korach, Dasan ve'Aviram? On should be a footnote to the story. Somewhere it should say there was a man named On, ברוך ה' baruch Hashem for Mrs. On. She saved him, she set him straight, she blocked him, she set a pick. But why is On listed in this פסוק pasuk as if here are the leaders of the rebellion? קרח, דתן ואבירם Korach, Dasan ve'Aviram, and On. Why is he included? למעשה Lemaisa, in the end of the day, he didn't participate. In the end of the day, he didn't do anything wrong. Says רב דרוק Rav Druk the following. ונראה לבאר זאת על פי גמרא Ve'nira le'vareir zos al pi Gemara, מחשבה רעה, אין הקדוש ברוך הוא מצרפה למעשה Machshava ra'ah, ein ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu metzarfa le'ma'aseh. The גמרא Gemara in קידושין דף מ' Kiddushin daf mem tells us that if a person has a plan for something bad, הקדוש ברוך הוא Kadosh Baruch Hu, but they didn't execute, they didn't act on it, ה' Hashem does not treat it as if you did. שנאמר, און אם ראיתי בלבי, לא ישמע ה' She'ne'emar, 'Aven im ra'isi be'libi, lo yishma Hashem.' ואלא מה אני מקיים, הנני מביא אל העם הזה רעה, פרי מחשבותם Ve'ela mah ni mekayem, 'Hin'ni meivi el ha'am ha'zeh ra'ah, pri machshevosam.' מחשבה שעושה פרי, הקדוש ברוך הוא מצרפה למעשה Machshava she'osah peiri, ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu metzarfa le'ma'aseh. מחשבה שאין בה פרי, אין הקדוש ברוך הוא מצרפה למעשה Machshava she'ein bah pri, ein ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu metzarfa le'ma'aseh. Did that thought yield fruit? Did that thought manifest? Did that thought make a difference? Then ה' Hashem treats it as if you acted. If it didn't, you're off the hook. See, see, עוון עבודה זרה, הקדוש ברוך הוא מצרפה למעשה aven avodah zarah, Kadosh Baruch Hu metztaref ba'ma'aseh. When it comes to עבודה זרה avodah zarah, it's different. There ה' Hashem does treat your thought, your fantasy, your plan as if you acted. So קרח ועדתו במחלוקתו עם משה Korach ve'aduso be'machlokoso im Moshe, שהוא רבן של ישראל לעיניהם she'hu Rabbon shel Yisrael l'einohem, כי לא חולק על השכינה, ממילא יש לו דין וגדר של אפיקורסים ki lo chalak al ha'Shchina, meila yesh lo din ve'geder shel apikorsim. Challenging משה ואהרן Moshe v'Aharon, challenging their leadership, challenging their judgment, challenging them as שליחים shlichim, as messengers, advocates, agents of God, was not simply any other fantasy to do an עבירה aveira. This was an act of עבודה זרה avodah zarah. It wasn't rebelliousness against man, it was rebelliousness against God himself. because God had appointed משה ואהרן Moshe v'Aharon. And God worked and spoke through משה ואהרן Moshe v'Aharon. And they were representatives of his. They are categorically different. One of the רמב\"ם'ס Rambam's 13 principles of faith is to believe that משה הוא אב הנביאים Moshe hu av ha'nevi'im. He is categorically different than others. So to deny their leadership is an act of אפיקורסות apikorsus. It's not just, you know, age-old מחלוקת machlokes and rebelliousness. It is actually heresy. It's אפיקורסות apikorsus. And that's why even though און בן פלת On ben Peles didn't act, but his intention to act, when it comes to עבודה זרה avodah zarah, you're guilty from intention alone. Intention matters when it comes to idolatry. And conspiring with these others against משה ואהרן Moshe v'Aharon was not just a social act against משה ואהרן Moshe v'Aharon, but was actually an act of heresy, of כפירה kfirah against God himself. And therefore, the intention mattered, the intention made a difference. Okay, last רב דרוק Rav Druk for a little bit, take a different a break from רב דרוק Rav Druk momentarily, but one more. ויקח קרח Va'yikach Korach. רש\"י Rashi says, we're still in the opening פסוק pasuk in the פרשה parsha, because there's so much to say about it. I know we, I think in future years we'll start halfway through the פרשה parsha, and then the year after we'll start the last third of the פרשה parsha because we never get to it. So much to say at the beginning of every פרשה parsha. So רב דרוק Rav Druk says that רש\"י Rashi says the following, rather. ויקח קרח, לקח את עצמו Va'yikach Korach, lakach es atzmo, we said, we read this רש\"י Rashi already. He took himself, he took a selfie. לקח Lakach, what? What did he take? He was either on the take, or לקח lakach, what did he take? He took a selfie. The משנה Mishnah in אבות, פרק ה', משנה י\"ז Avos, Perek Hey, Mishnah Yud Zayin tells us, כל מחלוקת שהיא לשם שמים, סופה להתקיים. ושאינה לשם שמים, אין סופה להתקיים Kol machlokes she'hi le'shem shamayim, sofa le'hiskayem. Ve'she'eina le'shem shamayim, ein sofa le'hiskayem. איזוהי מחלוקת Ei'zehu machlokes... you could have a rigorous, rich debate which is לשם שמים le'shem shamayim. People debate all the time. People debate all the time for a good reason. We had a committee meeting late into the night last night about something, and it was a big committee, professionals and lay people. Rabbi Moskowitz and I disagreed about a certain policy, what we should do, how we should go forward. And we tripped over one another saying over and over again, but I love you, it's a מחלוקת לשם שמים machlokes le'shem shamayim, I'll go with consensus. One can love the other, respect the other, but disagree. See things differently. We're all created independently. We are each a unique expression of ה' Hashem in this world, and just like our DNA is not the same, similarly our appearance is not the same, and also our thought patterns, our personalities, our perspectives and attitudes are not the same. You can have a מחלוקת לשם שמים machlokes le'shem shamayim. You can have a legitimate debate where legitimately are two ways of seeing something. And that מחלוקת machlokes, סופה להתקיים sofah le'hiskayem. It will last. It will be fulfilled. That מחלוקת machlokes is not corrupt. But you can have a מחלוקת שלא לשם שמים machlokes she'lo le'shem shamayim. You can have very personal נגיעות negi'os, you can have ego mixed in, and then אין סופה להתקיים ein sofah le'hiskayem. Terrible things will come of it. So the משנה Mishnah there, the משנה Mishnah in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos lists, everyone knows this משנה Mishnah. What is an example, what is the model of a מחלוקת לשם שמים machlokes le'shem shamayim? Goldberg and Moskowitz, just joking. הלל ושמאי Hillel v'Shammai. What is a מחלוקת שלא לשם שמים machlokes she'lo le'shem shamayim? קרח וכל עדתו Korach ve'chol adaso. So a sample, an example of a מחלוקת machlokes, of a debate that is with pure intent, are הלל ושמאי Hillel v'Shammai. Our rabbis, the תלמוד Talmud is filled with debate. They loved one another, got along, they respected one another, but they saw things differently, they had different מסורות mesoros, different traditions, הלל ושמאי Hillel v'Shammai. What is an example of a מחלוקת שלא לשם שמים machlokes she'lo le'shem shamayim, where the intent is corrupt, where the intent is impure? קרח וכל עדתו Korach ve'chol adaso. קרח Korach and his whole company. and his whole assembly. And all the commentaries ask, when you set up the paradigm, the example of a מחלוקת לשם שמים machlokes l'shem shamayim, you put two sides of a מחלוקת machlokes, הלל Hillel in one corner, שמאי Shammai in the other corner. And when you came up with an example of a מחלוקת שלא לשם שמים machlokes shelo l'shem shamayim, you didn't separate by two corners. קרח וכל עדתו Korach v'chol adaso, Korach and his whole assembly are in one corner. Shouldn't the Mishna have listed what is an example of a מחלוקת שלא לשם שמים machlokes shelo l'shem shamayim? קרח Korach and משה ואהרן Moshe and Aharon. That's a classic age-old question. But listen to Rav Druk. First he quotes the תוספות יום טוב Tosfos Yom Tov, second תוספות יום טוב Tosfos Yom Tov of the day. רב יום טוב ליפמן הלר Rav Yom Tov Lipmann Heller. He says the following, quote, זו מחלוקת קרח וכל עדתו לא הזכיר צד שני של מחלוקת Zu machlokes Korach v'chol adaso lo hizkir tzad sheini shel machlokes, which are משה ואהרן Moshe and Aharon. We don't quote the other side, we don't say who's in the other corner, כיוון דכאן אינם שווים, שמשה ואהרן כוונתם לשמים היתה keivan d'chan einam shavim, she'Moshe v'Aharon kavanasam l'shamayim haysa. Because we're trying to give an example of a מחלוקת שלא לשם שמים machlokes shelo l'shem shamayim. משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon are not in the other corner of a ring שלא לשם שמים shelo l'shem shamayim. משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon are always, they're always with pure intent. So how could you possibly, God forbid, include them, position them as if they are in the other corner of a מחלוקת שלא לשם שמים machlokes shelo l'shem shamayim. That's number one. So you couldn't include them. The מלבי\"ם Malbim, the מלבי\"ם Malbim, רב מאיר לייבוש Rav Meir Leibush says the following. He explains ויקח קרח, הנה אמרו חז\"ל בפרקי אבות כל מחלוקת שהיא לשם שמים Vayikach Korach, hinei amru Chazal b'Pirkei Avos, kol machlokes shehi l'shem shamayim, and so on and so forth. And we should have said קרח Korach and משה Moshe are in the other corner. אולם חז\"ל למדונו שמחלוקת שהיא לשם שמים, כל כעס בשני צדי החולקים, מתאחדת בעצמה, כי כולם מתכוונים לתכלית אחת, לשם שמים. מחלוקת שאינה לשם שמים, רק מבני אהבת הכבוד ואהבת עצמו, יש מחלוקת וניגוד בין כל האנשים. Ulam Chazal limdunu she'machlokes shehi l'shem shamayim, kol kaas b'shnei tzidei ha'cholkim, misachedes b'atzma, ki kulam miskavnim l'tachlis achas, l'shem shamayim. Machlokes she'eina l'shem shamayim, rak mibnei ahavas ha'kavod v'ahavas atzmo, yesh machlokes v'nigud bein kol ha'anashim. I love this insight of the מלבי\"ם Malbim. Listen carefully, my dear פרשה parsha perspective friends, our second to last פרשה parsha class before the summer. Next week is our last פרשה parsha perspective, and then we're taking a break till after תשעה באב Tisha B'Av. So this week, next week, we're still on, and then we take a break till after תשעה באב Tisha B'Av. So listen carefully to what the מלבי\"ם Malbim says. He says, how do you know if the מחלוקת machlokes is לשם שמים l'shem shamayim or not? When the מחלוקת machlokes is לשם שמים l'shem shamayim, everyone on each side of the מחלוקת machlokes are united. They are one, they are of one heart because they have one intent. They're pure in their intent and so they are united in their perspective, in their approach, in the position they are advocating for. When the מחלוקת machlokes is שלא לשם שמים shelo l'shem shamayim, when people just love fight and debate and מחלוקת machlokes, then there's מחלוקת machlokes within the מחלוקת machlokes. Within one side, nobody agrees. You know why? Because everyone's in it for themselves. It wasn't לשם שמים l'shem shamayim. It was all ego, it was all sense of self, it was all honor, it was all because of their particular need or want. Therefore, they're not united by a common pure cause. They're not united by a common pure intent. So how do you know if a מחלוקת machlokes is pure or impure, לשם שמים l'shem shamayim or שלא לשם שמים lo l'shem shamayim? See whether everyone on one side of the so-called מחלוקת machlokes is united with a pure motivation, intent, and goal. If they are further divided, if there is infighting on one side, if the only thing holding them together is taking on the opposition, but really they themselves are not united, its אין סופו להתקיים ein sofo l'hiskaiyem. מחלוקת דתן ואבירם, און בן פלת Machlokes Dasan v'Aviram, On ben Peles. ענין אחר שהם סלונים, שנטלה בכורה מראובן Inyan acher she'hem slonim, she'nitla bechora me'Reuven. They had a whole other fight. They were frustrated that why did ראובן Reuven lose the firstborn status and it was awarded to the כהנים kohanim instead? It was a different fight. ויקח קרח Vayikach Korach, what did קרח Korach do? קרח Korach went around the entire camp and he assembled all the disgruntled people. He said, who's unhappy with the current leadership? He assembled all the miserable, disgruntled, and the only thing that bound them together, the only thing they had in common was trying to displace and replace משה ואהרן Moshe and Aharon. But they weren't really united with any vision or mission above and beyond that. Now I know what you're all thinking, because I'm thinking it too. Does this have any relevance to possible elections in Israel, coalitions in Israel today? I'm not giving that comment. I'm not in a position, I'm not familiar, I'm not in Israel, I don't vote. I'm not commenting was the only thing uniting the effort to displace someone? Are there greater principles? Is it אחדות achdus of not having another election and maintaining a government? I'm not touching it with a hundred-foot pole. I'm just sharing with you what Rav Druk says, quoting the מלבי\"ם Malbim here. So the famous question, the משנה באבות Mishna b'Avos says, מחלוקת לשם שמים machlokes l'shem shamayim versus שלא לשם שמים shelo l'shem shamayim. And an example of שלא לשם שמים lo l'shem shamayim is קרח וכל עדתו Korach v'chol adaso. Why doesn't it say קרח Korach against משה Moshe or against משה ואהרן Moshe and Aharon? First, the תוספות יום טוב Tosfos Yom Tov because we would never impugn, we would never indict משה ואהרן Moshe and Aharon. They're always לשם שמים l'shem shamayim. We cannot put them in the same sentence as קרח וכל עדתו Korach v'chol adaso, who came at it for a שלא לשם שמים shelo l'shem shamayim reason. That is the תוספות יום טוב Tosfos Yom Tov. The מלבי\"ם Malbim says no, that's not why. You know why? Because you know what the מחלוקת machlokes was? קרח וכל עדתו Korach v'chol adaso. Even within קרח'ס Korach's side, his coalition, there was מחלוקת machlokes. The only thing that united them was taking on משה Moshe, but they were divided. They were debating, they were fighting among themselves. They were fighting among themselves. The third interpretation is from Rav Druk. בדרך מוסר שמעתי להשיא B'derech musar shamati l'hashia, a third interpretation he himself offers. תוספות יום טוב, מלבי\"ם, רב דרוק Tosfos Yom Tov, Malbim, Rav Druk. מיד כששמעו משה ואהרן את דברי של קרח, וישמע משה ויפל על פניו. Miyad k'shesham'u Moshe v'Aharon es divrei shel Korach, vayishma Moshe vayipol al panav. The רמב\"ן Ramban says that after משה Moshe heard what happens, he collapsed, he fell on his face. The רמב\"ן Ramban writes, ויפל על פניו ולא אהרן, כי אהרן במורא ובושתו לא ענה דבר בכל מחלוקת הזו, ויקח מחריש וכמודה שמילת קרח גדולה ממנו להיותו, אבל הוא עושה דבר משה ומקיים גזירת המלך. Vayipol al panav, v'lo Aharon, ki Aharon b'mora u'vushto lo ana davar b'chol machlokes hazu. Vayikach machrish u'k'modeh she'milas Korach gedolah mimenu l'hiyoso, aval hu oseh davar Moshe u'mekayem gzeiras ha'melech. משה Moshe fell, אהרן Aharon, אהרן Aharon stayed quiet throughout. Because אהרן Aharon said, טאקע takeh, קרח Korach is greater than I am. Maybe he is deserving. I'm just doing the will of God. על פי זה אפשר לומר שגם משה רבינו חשש כי קרח גדול ממנו. Al pi zeh efshar lomar she'gam Moshe Rabbeinu chashash ki Korach gadol mimenu. Says Rav Druk, I would never say this. Rav Druk said it, and we can depend and rely on him. Says Rav Druk, you know why the debate's not between קרח Korach and משה ואהרן Moshe and Aharon? Because maybe משה ואהרן Moshe and Aharon say, טאקע takeh, קרח'ס Korach's got a good point. Maybe קרח'ס Korach's right. Maybe קרח'ס Korach's greater. Maybe קרח Korach deserves the leadership. Hey God, what do you think? משה Moshe and אהרן Aharon were so humble and so about God and about the people and the community that they didn't react and say defensively, how dare you. They reacted and said, maybe he's right, maybe he's right. And therefore the מחלוקת קרח וכל עדתו machlokes Korach v'chol adaso was not with משה ואהרן Moshe and Aharon. משה ואהרן Moshe and Aharon were prepared for קרח Korach to be right. God intervened and God said they're not right, but they were prepared for קרח Korach to be right, and that's why they're not positioned on the other side. Okay, very good. Continuing. פרק טז פסוק ג Perek tes-zayin, pasuk gimmel. ויקהלו על משה ועל אהרן Vayikahalu al Moshe v'al Aharon. And what was their complaint? רב לכם Rav lachem. It's too much for you. You can't handle us. כי כל העדה כולם קדושים Ki chol ha'eida kulam kedoshim. Everybody's holy. ובתוכם ה' U'vesocham Hashem. And God's inside every one of us. Each of us are a חלק אלוק ממעל ממש chelek eloka mima'al mamash. We are all holy. So who are you to position yourself as superior? מדוע תתנשאו על קהל ה' Madua tisnasu al kehal Hashem. So why are you advancing yourself over everyone else? Why do you exalt yourself, elevate yourself, advance yourself over everybody else? Says Rav שמחה בונם מפשיסחא Simcha Bunim of Pshischa, what do you mean מדוע תתנשאו madua tisnasu? מידת השטות סותמת את עיניהם ולבם של החולקים, ונוטלת מהם משיקול הדעת. Midas ha'shtus sosemes es eineihem v'libam shel ha'cholkim, v'noteles meihem mishikul ha'daas. He says you see, you see how corrupting מחלוקת machlokes is? When a person gets mixed into מחלוקת machlokes, when you get involved in infighting, you know what happens? It clouds your judgment. You fail to be able to continue to see clearly. You lose perspective, and you say idiotic and moronic things. If there's anything you could say about משה Moshe, you could accuse משה Moshe, I'm not even sure what you could accuse משה Moshe of, but to accuse משה Moshe of arrogance, to accuse משה Moshe of exalting or elevating himself, you're out of your mind. The תורה Torah itself testifies, איש משה ענו מאוד מכל האדם ish Moshe anav me'od mikol ha'adam. God himself declared that משה Moshe is my most humble student, disciple. He's the most humble person that ever, ever, ever lived. So if you want to start a rebellion, if you want to accuse someone of something, come up with something realistic, come up with something believable, come up with something they can get you at. Come up with someone. You know, there's a woman I've been fighting for, we've been fighting for tirelessly and we have to continue to fight for her to get her get. She's an אגונה agunah. Since my, the husband won't give the get, threatened me on WhatsApp, I had to testify in court, and he threatened me with a few foolish, moronic things, that if I'd get involved and I'd advocate and fight for her, he was going to tell everyone X, Y, and Z. I'm not even going to tell you what X, Y, and Z are right now. But I said to myself, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, I'm glad that's what he came up with. If he would have threatened A, B, and C, they're also not true. They also never happened. But you know, people might believe it. Now you're on the defensive, you have to disprove it. Thank God, he chose something so stupid, so foolish, so obviously untrue, that nobody would believe it, it wouldn't even get off the ground. So, I'm not trying to give my enemies, uh, strategy here, but uh, if you're going to, I don't, I hope I don't have enemies, I love everybody. I hope they love me. But if you ever, uh, if I did, come up with something believable. Says Rav שמחה בונם מפשיסחא Simcha Bunim of Pshischa, why did קרח Korach come up with something so unbelievable? To accuse משה Moshe of arrogance? To accuse משה Moshe of asserting his leadership? I mean, come on, come up with something better. מרים Miriam said that משה Moshe thought he was so holy that he separated from his wife, and that was wrong. And who separates from their, come up with something that you can get him on. That's what you're going to get him on, מדוע תתנשאו על קהל ה' madua tisnasu al kehal Hashem? Says Rav שמחה בונם מפשיסחא Simcha Bunim of Pshischa, you see, the moment you get into מחלוקת machlokes, it's all about winning. The moment you're uber or hyper competitive in an unhealthy way, then you're willing to win at all costs. You say and you do foolish things. You do counterproductive things. Your judgment is clouded to accuse משה Moshe of arrogance when God said he's the most humble person ever. How big of an idiot are you? The answer is, מחלוקת machlokes turns you into an idiot. When you get involved and engaged in מחלוקת machlokes, you're no longer thinking clearly. It turns us into idiots. It's another reason to never, God forbid, get involved. What was his argument? Keep going. רב לכם Rav lachem. רב לכם Rav lachem. Next פסוק pasuk. Sorry. טז, ז Tes-zayin, zayin. Turn the page. 8:22. ותנו בהן אש ושימו עליהן קטרת לפני ה' מחר U'tnu vahen eish v'simu aleihen ketores lifnei Hashem machar, והיה האיש אשר יבחר ה' הוא הקדוש רב לכם בני לוי v'haya ha'ish asher yivchar Hashem hu ha'kadosh, rav lachem bnei Levi. So what happens? He spoke to קרח Korach and he said, בוקר boker, בוקר ויודע ה' boker v'yoda Hashem. What do you mean בוקר boker? Such an emphasis here on בוקר boker in the morning. What does the morning have to do with anything? Listen to last year or two years ago's פרשה parsha class, we talked all about the significance of בוקר boker. The sun and the moon, the difference between day and night, sleeping on it, don't react immediately. When מחלוקת machlokes is brewing, when מחלוקת machlokes is escalating, don't be impetuous, don't react immediately, don't send back that text, don't answer that email, don't raise your voice, don't line up the people on your side, בוקר boker. Sleep on it. Take your time. Don't react. So what happens? בוקר Boker. And Hashem will draw close to whoever is the one that he's going to choose. So take מחתות machtos, take your fire pans, קרח Korach, put a fire, put קטרת ketores, put incense. And whoever Hashem chooses, we'll know. And how does Moshe end it? והיה האיש אשר יבחר ה' V'haya ha'ish asher yivchar Hashem, the one God chooses, הוא הקדוש hu ha'kadosh, they are the holy, they are the chosen one. רב לכם בני לוי Rav lachem bnei Levi. It's too much for you children of לוי Levi. Too much for you the children of לוי Levi. What is this talking about? רב לכם בני לוי Rav lachem bnei Levi. פסוק ז Pasuk zayin, end of פסוק ז pasuk zayin. רב לכם בני לוי Rav lachem bnei Levi. Says רש\"י Rashi, דבר גדול אמרתי לכם Davar gadol amarti lachem. I'm telling you a great thing. ולא טיפשים אתם V'lo tipshim atem. You're not foolish. ולא טיפשים הייתם V'lo tipshim hayitem, שכן הסיתם בקבלו עליהם she'kach hisitam b'kiblu aleihem... הם חטו על נפשותם hem chatu al nafshosam. Moshe is giving them another chance. I'm warning you. This is a warning. רב לכם Rav lachem, you're not stupid. You're smart people. Think carefully, think clearly. You sure you want to do this? Are you ראה את הנולד ro'eh es hanolad? But קרח שהיה פיקח, מה ראה לשטות זה Korach she'haya pikeiach, ma ra'ah l'shtus zeh? קרח Korach who was so smart, why did he give into such שטות shtus, such foolishness? Did קרח Korach really think for a moment that God was going to choose him over משה ואהרן Moshe and Aharon? The answer is עינו הטעתו eino hitaso, his eye fooled him. His eye tricked him. He saw. ראה שרשרת הגדולה יוצא ממנו Ra'ah sharsheres ha'gedolah yotzei mimenu, he saw that there was a chain of greatness destined to emerge from him. שמואל שקול כמשה ואהרן Shmuel shakul k'Moshe v'Aharon, who was as great as משה ואהרן Moshe and Aharon. So he said, שמואל'ס Shmuel's coming from me. I've got greatness in my future. I'm untouchable. I'm untouchable. And therefore, he challenges foolishly. His eye, his eye fooled him. He mistakenly challenged him. רב לכם בני לוי Rav lachem bnei Levi. So, says רב נפתלי מרופשיץ Rav Naftali of Ropshitz, the רופשיצער Ropshitzer. שבכל מחלוקת או מריבה יודע הוא לחלק בשלום משני הצדדים ולאחוז בהם ולא לקחת חלק בצד אחד של המצרס Sheb'chol machlokes o meriva, yodei'a hu lachlok b'shalom mishnei ha'tzdadim v'le'echos bahem, v'lo lakachas chelek b'tzad echad shel ha'mitzras. The רש\"י Rashi tells us that קרח Korach was a פיקח pikeiach. And why did he give into the שטות shtus? He only saw with one eye. So what does it mean to be a פיקח pikeiach? Is to see with two eyes. And what does it mean to see with two eyes? Says the הייליגער רופשיצער Heiliger Ropshitzer, says the Holy Ropshitzer, רב נפתלי מרופשיץ Rav Naftali of Ropshitz, you know what it means to see with two eyes? פיקח Pikeiach in gematria is צד tzad times two. צדי Tzadi is 104, 104 times 2 is 208, 208 is פיקח pikeiach. Why? What does it mean פיקח pikeiach? צד Tzad, sorry, 94. 94 times 2. You see this is why I'm a rabbi and I don't do math. 94 times 2. What does it mean to be a פיקח pikeiach? פיקח Pikeiach is the ability to see two צדדים tzdadim, to see both sides. צד Tzad times two. 94 times 2 equals gematria פיקח pikeiach. What makes you a פיקח pikeiach? When you can see both sides. You can have your opinion, you can draw your conclusion, you can advocate your position, but the capacity and the ability to see both sides, you're a פיקח pikeiach when you can see צד tzad times two, when you can see both sides. ויקח קרח, וילקח לצד אחד Vayikach Korach, v'yilakach l'tzad echad. What had happened? He was a פיקח pikeiach. He used to see both sides of the issue, but then ויקח vayikach, he took himself over to one side. He lost his ability to see both sides. He no longer saw with two eyes, now he only saw with one eye. He no longer was able to work hard to see both perspectives. You know, a lot of times in counseling, particularly in couples counseling, what you do is you say, roleplay. Okay, husband, I want you now to act like your wife. I want you to advance your wife's arguments. What are your wife's issues? What are her complaints? What are her טענות tainos? Okay, wife, I want you to act like you're the husband. Advance your husband's frustration, his טענות tainos, his complaints. And when you put yourself in the other person's shoes and you start talking like them, now you realize, you know, I never really saw it that way. I never really thought about it from that perspective. A פיקח pikeiach, a smart, a wise person has the capacity, the ability to see צד tzad times two, to see it from both directions. But קרח Korach lost that ability. He only went over to one side. He went over to one, his eye tricked him. He only saw one side. He lost his peripheral vision. You know, when we see with two eyes, we can see peripheral vision. We see things out of the side of our head. You know, the great sports, great basketball player is able to give a no-look pass. They're able to see the defense coming over peripherally. The great, the great athlete sees with their peripheral vision and it gives them a broader perspective. But if you're blind in one eye, if you're driving down the highway but you're blind in one eye, then you have greater blind spots. There's a lot more room for error. So קרח Korach used to have great peripheral vision. A פיקח pikeiach has tremendous peripheral vision. They see from all perspectives, they see from all sides, they understand different approaches. But then קרח Korach was tricked by his eye and he became, he lost his peripheral vision. He only saw out of one eye. He was ויקח vayikach, he went to one side, and that's why he got himself into, that's why he got himself into trouble. We spoke about previously, we won't review this here, but another interpretation is, what are the two eyes that we see with? Either גדלות האדם gadlus ha'adam, the שפלות האדם shiflus ha'adam. The סאדיגורא רבי Sadigura Rebbe from ירושלים Yerushalayim was here in Boca last week. I met with him late one night last night and he was telling me this דברי תורה divrei Torah. He was telling me that when משה Moshe tells his father-in-law to stay and you will be our eyes, that you will give us that, that peripheral vision, you will give us that broad perspective. As opposed to קרח Korach who only sees with one eye and בילעם Bilam, שתום העין shsum ha'ayin, בילעם Bilam also only sees with one eye. We were talking in תורה Torah about this notion of peripheral vision, seeing with one eye or two eyes. And one of the things I mentioned, this beautiful insight by the בעלי מוסר Ba'alei Musar, the two eyes represent גדלות האדם gadlus ha'adam and שפלות האדם shiflus ha'adam. With one eye, we see our greatness. With one eye, we say מאט מאלוקים me'at mei'Elokim, I'm just below God. With the other eye, we see our שפלות shiflus, I'm a nothing. I'm a גארנישט gornisht, I'm worm food, I come from the earth. Famously, it's been quoted in many people's names, but a Jew has to carry two notes in their pocket. One note says, בשבילי נברא העולם bishvili nivra ha'olam, the whole world was created just for me. And the other note says, the other note says, הנני עפר ואפר hineni afar v'efer, I'm dust and ash. איך בין א גארנישט Ich bin a gornisht, I'm an absolute, absolute nothing. So you have to see with two eyes. You have to know the blend of these two perspectives. You have to see with two eyes. So קרח Korach, he only saw with one eye. He only saw with גדלות האדם gadlus ha'adam. He said, כל העדה כולם קדושים kol ha'eida kulam kedoshim, we're all holy, we're all great. So who are you, משה Moshe, who are you to assert yourself? He lost his dual vision, he lost perspective. He only saw with one eye and that was his downfall. Rav Druk has another interpretation. Back to Rav Druk, back inside. Rav Druk says the following. One can ask, what does it mean? What does it mean? I'm looking for Rav Druk. Where is this last of Rav Druk? I want to share here it is. רב לכם Rav lachem, דבר גדול נטלתם בעצמכם davar gadol netaltem b'atzmachem, לחלוק על הקדוש ברוך הוא lachlok al haKadosh Baruch Hu. Rashi says, רב לכם rav lachem. When Moshe says, everyone get your fire pan, we'll see who God chooses, and he ends that sentence, רב לכם rav lachem. So Rashi says, רב לכם rav lachem, דבר גדול נטלתם davar gadol netaltem, you've taken on a big, big thing, לחלוק על הקדוש ברוך הוא lachlok al haKadosh Baruch Hu. It's one thing to challenge me, says משה Moshe, but you're challenging God, you're taking on God, good luck to you. Says Rav Druk, כלל מתבונן בפרשה זו מאיימת, שכן אכן היה ראוי למשה רבינו להשיב לקרח ועדתו, שבאו בעצם לחלוק לא רק עליו אלא על הקדוש ברוך הוא. Klal misbonen b'parsha zu me'ayemes, she'ken achen haya ra'uy l'Moshe Rabbeinu l'hashiv l'Korach v'adaso, she'bau b'etzem lachlok lo rak alav, ela al haKadosh Baruch Hu. If you look at the text itself, משה Moshe at some point should have said, look, this isn't personal. You're not taking on me, you're taking on God. אבל חז\"ל מבואר שהיה קנטור על משה רבינו בתשובה זו, שהשיב לקרח, ואף נענש על זה. ואלו דברי הגמרא. Aval Chazal mevo'ar she'haya kintur al Moshe Rabbeinu b'tshuva zu, she'heshiv l'Korach, v'af ne'enash al zeh. V'eilu divrei haGemara. The Gemara says that משה Moshe was wrong. When משה Moshe says, רב לכם rav lach, you're not just taking on me, you're taking on God, he was held accountable for that. The Gemara in סוטה דף יג Sota daf yud gimmel tells us. אמר רבי לוי, ברוב דיבר, ברוב דיבר, ברוב בשרו, ברוב בשרו, רב לכם, ברוב בשרו, רב לך. Amar Rabbi Levi, b'rov divra, b'rov divra, b'rov bisro, b'rov bisro, rav lachem, b'rov bisro, rav lach. מבואר בגמרא שהיה תביעה על משה רבינו מה שאמר לדור עדת קרח, רב לכם בני לוי Mevo'ar b'Gemara she'haya tvi'a al Moshe Rabbeinu ma she'amar l'dor adas Korach, rav lachem bnei Levi. He shouldn't have said that. He shouldn't have said said that. And that's why he had to die, that's why God says to him, רב לך אל תוסף דבר אלי עוד בדבר הזה Rav lach, al tosef daber elai od b'davar hazeh. Because משה Moshe used the language of רב לכם rav lach towards קרח Korach, God used the language of רב לך rav lach towards him when he said that stop davening to come into Israel, you're not coming in. So the question is what did משה Moshe do wrong? משה מסר נפש Moshe masar nefesh, what did he do wrong? Wasn't he correct? Weren't קרח Korach and his עדה eida, weren't they taking on more than just משה Moshe? Weren't they also taking on God himself and God's decision, God's perspective? Where did משה Moshe go wrong? So נראה לבאר ביסוד פשוט nireh l'va'er b'yesod pashut. We could explain, says Rav Druk, with a very simple understanding. Namely, על אף שלא היה לו להשתמש בלשון זו רב לכם, מאחר וביקשו להתעלות ברוחניות, כמו שאמר להם, ובקשתם גם כהונה, על אף שלא צדקו בטענותם, מכל מקום נשמע מלשון זה שאין לאדם לשאוף להגיע למעלה ממדרגתו. Al af she'lo haya lo l'hishtamesh b'lashon zu 'rav lachem', mei'achar u'vikshu l'hisalos b'ruchniyus, k'mo she'amar lahem 'u'vikashtem gam kehuna', al af shelo tzadku b'ta'anasam, mikol makom nishma m'lashon zeh she'ein l'adam lish'of l'hagia l'ma'ala m'madreigaso. And that was a mistake. Says Rav Druk, you know what the mistake was? Here you have a group of people. Here you have impetuous, immature adolescents, קרח Korach and his עדה eida. And they come and they say, we want greatness, we want more, we want leadership. We're challenging. Why is she the head of the GO? Why is he the head of the student council? Why is he the president of the shul? Why is she the chair of the sisterhood? It's my turn. I want. I'm capable. So what should the answer be? The answer should be you're going about it the wrong way. It's damaging, it's destructive. Doing, you're going about it the wrong way. But I love your ambition. I love your aspiration. Let's channel it. Let's bottle it. Let's embrace it. Let's lean into it. What can we do with that thirst? What can we do with that attitude, that appetite for more? We've got to find a role. We got to find a perspective. Moshe should not have squashed it. Moshe should not have extinguished it. Moshe should not have said, רב לכם rav lachem, listen, don't look for more. Be satisfied with what you have. We don't believe that. Now it happens to be this is a מחלוקת machlokes, we could talk more about another time, do we believe that a person should be שמח בחלקו sameach b'chelko in רוחניות ruchnius? A person should be happy with their lot in the physical, material world. Should they also be happy with their lot in the spiritual world? So at least according to Rav Druk here, the answer is no. Do not be satisfied with your lot in the spiritual world. Crave more, reach higher, demand further, want more. קרח Korach and his עדה eida wanted more. And Moshe shouldn't have said, ששש, שטיל sha, shtil, be happy with what you've got. He should have said, that's amazing. It's beautiful. Now let's find a place for it. Now let's redirect it. Now let's channel it. מה שבניני עולם הזה וגשמיות צריך להסתפק במועט. Ma sheb'inyanei olam hazeh v'gashmiyus tzarich l'histapek b'mu'at. When it comes to the physical, material world, we should be satisfied with little. בעניינים רוחניים, להתקרב אל ה' יתברך, שם אין שום מוצרים. אדרבה, ככל שאיש ואדם להתעלות עוד ועוד כן ייטב לו. B'inyanim ruchaniyim, l'hiskarev el Hashem Yisbarach, sham ein shum meitzarim. Adraba, k'chol sheyaish l'adam l'hisalos od v'od, kein yitav lo. The more we aim and the more we strive higher, the more God will help us. And that's why Hashem says, why did you tell them רב לכם rav lachem? Because you said רב לכם rav lachem, I tell you רב לך rav lach. You said here's the boundary, don't pass it. Stay in your lane. So God, I'm going to tell you stay in your lane. Here's your boundary. You're not coming into Israel. Be satisfied with what you've got. The lesson for Moshe, the lesson for us is when it comes to רוחניות ruchnius, strive and reach higher. Sometimes a person is striving inappropriately, they're striving in a way which is wrong, but you got to redirect it, not try to extinguish it. פרק טז פסוק כו Perek tes-zayin, pasuk chaf-vav. פרק טז, כו Perek tes-zayin, tes-zayin, כ\"ו chaf-vav. Moshe Rabbeinu gets a little bit defensive. He summons דתן ואבירם Dasan v'Aviram. And he says to them, ויחר למשה מאוד vayichar l'Moshe me'od. Moshe gets, what is the word ויחר vayichar mean? I would think the word is angry, but Rashi doesn't translate it. Rashi says, נצטער עד מאוד nitzta'er ad me'od. He's distressed. Why doesn't he say Moshe got angry? Several commentators tackle that, we're not going to get into it today, but I saw several ask that question. Shouldn't Rashi say ויחר vayichar, ויחר vayichar means כעס kaas, he got angry. So why does Rashi go out of his way to translate it differently? But anyway, Moshe got angry, and he says, ויאמר אל ה' vayomer el Hashem, he says, אל תפן אל מנחתם Al tefen el minchasam, don't turn to their gifts. Don't give in. Why? לא חמור אחד מהם נשאתי ולא הרעותי את אחד מהם Lo chamor echad meihem nasasi v'lo harei'osi es echad meihem. I never took as a single donkey. I never ever had the shul pay for an Uber ride, nor have I wronged them in one way. Why is Moshe saying that now? לא חמור אחד מהם נשאתי Lo chamor echad meihem nasasi. Says Rashi, לא חמור של אחד מהם נטלתי lo chamor shel echad meihem natalti. אפילו כשהלכתי ממדין למצרים ורכבתי את אשתי ואת בני על החמור, היה לי ליטול אותו חמור משלהם, לא נטלתי אלא משלי. Afilu k'she'halachti mi'Midyan l'Mitzrayim v'hirkavti es ishti v'es banai al ha'chamor, haya li litol oso chamor mishelahem, lo natalti ela misheli. When I traveled from Midyan back to Egypt in order to emancipate, to liberate, to take them out, and I should have been reimbursed, I wasn't reimbursed. I took it from my own pocket. I paid out of my own expense. Why? Because no one would ever be able to say I was on the take, I was biased, I had a debt of gratitude I had to have. And therefore, לא חמור אחד מהם נשאתי lo chamor echad meihem nasasi. So, I saw the word חמור chamor also is the word חומר chomer. In the language of the מהר\"ל מפראג Maharal of Prague, in the language of the הייליגער מהר\"ל heiliger Maharal, we talk about חומר וצורה chomer v'tzurah. חומר Chomer means the material, צורה tzurah is the form, the shape it has. So when Moshe rides the חמור chamor, the donkey he rode from Midyan to Egypt was the same donkey of ששת ימי בראשית sheshes yemei bereishis, it's the donkey משיח'ס Mashiach's going to ride on. What does that mean? That's one old-time donkey. That is one old donkey. How does that donkey support the weight of all these people riding it, even though he's hundreds of thousands of years old? The answer is, it doesn't literally mean donkey, it means the same attitude towards חומר chomer. Moshe and Avraham and Mashiach, they rode the donkey, what that means is, they gave a צורה tzurah to the חומר chomer. They took the material, the physical world, and they elevated it. They transformed it. Bilam did something else with his donkey, we'll get to that, פרשת בלק Parshas Balak. Bilam did something else with his donkey, inappropriate, because he didn't shape the חמור chamor, the חומר chomer. He didn't take the material world and give it shape and meaning and purpose. He gave in, he indulged in that material, physical world. So I saw in interpretation, that's what it means when Moshe Rabbeinu says, לא חמור אחד מהם נשאתי lo chamor echad meihem nasasi. I never gave into חומר chomer, to חומריות chomrius. I never gave into the physical material world. I don't have the same drive, appetite. I don't give in to the same, the same longing. And how could they accuse me? How could they challenge me in this way? Rav Volbe has a different interpretation. The great משגיח משיעורי חומש על קרח mashgiach in shiurei Chumash on Korach. Rav Volbe says the following. Moshe davened to Hashem and he said, don't take their offering. Why? Don't turn to them. I didn't even take one donkey. And Rashi tells us when he traveled to Mitzrayim, what would have been so terrible? Could Moshe have been reimbursed? Didn't he deserve to be reimbursed? He laid out expenses to take his family to Egypt. He was happy in Midyan. He was safe and secure in Midyan. He was protected in Midyan. Why did he have to lay out his own money? And why didn't he deserve to be reimbursed? So Moshe was declaring, says Rav Volbe, that he was free from any נגיעות negios. He had no bias. In his role as the Bnei Yisrael's leader, he had no benefit, none. He didn't take any money, he didn't take any reimbursement, anything even if he was deserving. The true test of a person's greatness, says Rav Volbe, you see from this Rashi, is our attitude towards money. In other words, sometimes you got to get paid. I'm paid. I'm not embarrassed to say I'm paid. It's my profession, it's my career, I've got to take care of my family. I'm paid. The question is, do you do it for the money or do you do it as a calling? I've written an article, you know, if you buy a lottery ticket, lottery, the Mega Millions gets up to some of these absurd amounts. So the question is, what would you do if you won? You can't buy more than one ticket, because if God wants you to win, you'd win with one ticket. You can only buy one ticket, השקפית hashkafically, maybe הלכתית halachically. You buy one ticket, if you'd win the lottery, what would you do? So if the answer is that if I won the lottery, I'd quit my job tomorrow, then it's a job not a calling. If you won the lottery, you would continue, it's a calling not a job. So the question is, what is your calling and what is your profession, what is your career? When Moshe Rabbeinu says I didn't take one donkey, I wasn't reimbursed for one Uber ride, I didn't do anything, I didn't take any money. What he was saying was, I was never in it for the money. I'm not in it for the חומר chomer. It's a calling. This is my life's mission. And how could you challenge, how could you undermine, how could you be suspicious, how could you doubt? We need money to live, but the money has to be earned honestly, and the money should not be the driver. The money should be what I need in order to live, but really it should be a calling. It shouldn't be something that we're trying to, it's all about the, it's all about the money. The ground swallows them up. The ground swallows them up. Why is it that the ground swallowed them up? That's the, that's the, um, that's the punishment. A bunch of people sent me, I don't know if you saw Jerusalem Post had an article on Jerusalem, there was a huge sinkhole. Of course, the week of פרשת קרח Parshas Korach, a great sinkhole opened up in a parking lot in Jerusalem. The ground opened up and swallowed what was on top of it. Of course, it happened in פרשת קרח Parshas Korach, and of course, I will not use it in the drasha because every other rabbi on the planet will be. So anyway, but ותפתח הארץ את פיה ותבלע אותם vatiftach ha'aretz es piha vativla osam. The earth opened its mouth and it swallowed in פרק טז פסוק לב Perek tes-zayin, pasuk lamed beis. Why such a, why such a, why such a bizarre, why such an extreme, why suspend the rules of nature for this punishment? So the צדיק רב זאב מסטריקוב tzaddik Rav Ze'ev of Strykov, the Strykover asks, why were Korach and his eida punished in this very unusual manner, this unusual fashion? So he answers, משום שמשה רבינו היה עניו מכל האדם אשר על פני האדמה Mishum she'Moshe Rabbeinu haya anav mikol ha'adam asher al pnei ha'adama. ובעיני עצמו היה ממש עפר ואפר Uv'einei atzmo haya mamash afar v'efer. ובכל זאת באו קרח ועדתו בטענות כנגדו מדוע תתנשאו Uv'chol zos bau Korach v'adaso b'tainos k'negdo, madua tisnasu? Because Moshe was the humblest of all people. Moshe saw himself as the ground. Moshe saw himself as dust and ash, and they still accused him of asserting himself over them. Therefore, if Moshe was so low to the ground, and yet they accused him of being arrogant, they had to be brought even lower. There's only one place lower than the ground, and that is to be swallowed within the ground. Says the Strykover, that's why Hashem brought about this unusual punishment. What a bizarre, what an unusual punishment. Why did Hashem bring it about? Because their whole accusation was, you're exalting and elevating yourself. But Moshe really was עפר ואפר afar v'efer. He saw himself parallel to the ground. They had to be brought even lower than where Moshe really was. The only way to be brought even lower than that was to be brought into the ground itself. It says ויקח איש Vayikach ish, when they each take the staff, we're ending with this, when they each take the staff and it's supposed to blossom and it'll test, Aharon's blossoms, the other doesn't. The pasuk says, וירו ויקחו איש מטהו Vayiru vayikchu ish mateihu. They all saw and everyone came back to take their own staff. So the אמרי אמת Imrei Emes, רב אברהם מרדכי of גער Rav Avraham Mordechai of Ger, the גער רב'ה Ger Rebbe says the following: בילדותי שמעתי בשם הרבי ר' בונם B'yaldusi shomati b'shem haRebbe Reb Bunim, במניחו יחד חבילה של כל אחד ואחד יקח כל אחד את חבילתו בחזרה b'manicho yachad chavila shel kol echad v'echad yikach kol echad es chavilaso b'chazara. We've all heard the adage that if everybody would walk into a room and they put down the peckel on the table, their challenges, their problems, their opportunities, their gifts, their שמחות simchos, the whole package of our lives, if everybody would put it down on a table, you'd go back to your package and you'd pick up what you put down. And says of the אמרי אמת Imrei Emes based on this pasuk, וירו ויקחו איש מטהו Vayiru vayikchu ish mateihu, they went back and everyone took their staff. When you see in life, everyone goes back and everyone takes their staff. התרגום של וירו ואישתמודעו HaTargum shel Vayiru v'ishtmodau. The Targum, the Onkelos, the Aramaic translation on the word וירו Vayiru, they saw, is ואישתמודעו v'ishtmodau. והוא כדין ביבמות V'hu k'din b'Yevamos. The Gemara in יבמות Yevos, אישתמודענה איתא בחובות הלבבות Ishtmodana isa b'Chovos HaLevavos, כל אחד צריך להאמין כי כפי שהשם יתברך נוהג עמו כן צריך להיות ואין עצה אחרת Kol echad tzarich l'haamin ki k'fi sheHashem Yisborach noheg imo, ken tzarich l'hiyos v'ein eitzah acheres. Whatever is our lot in life, it's what's meant for us. Don't be jealous. Don't watch. Don't look at. You know how often I go to a שמחה simcha, and I think to myself, everyone here is watching and they think, \"Ooh, ah, that's a perfect marriage. Ooh, ah, that's a perfect child. Ooh, ah, that's a perfect everything. If only I had.\" Little do they know the challenge, the struggles, little do they know the truth of what's happening behind the scenes. If we knew the whole picture, we would take back our peckel. וירו Vayiru, if we could see, if we had insight, if we saw with peripheral vision, if we saw the whole package, the whole picture, ויקחו איש מטהו Vayikchu ish mateihu, we'd take back our peckel. We take back our staff. We would never want what anyone else has. All right, as always, we had more to say but we'll end here. We are on again next week, please God, tomorrow morning. 15 minutes of מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim at, 10 minutes of meaning rather, at 8:15. Living with אמונה emunah at 8:45. Tomorrow night we're going behind the בימה bima at 9:00 p.m. with Beatie Deutsch, the great marathon runner who is a wonderful, wonderful role model. Tomorrow night at 9:00. Until next time, stay happy, stay healthy.
