פרשת קרח
In this week’s Parsha, the Torah tells us how Korach rose to power for a brief while, and was extremely effective at convincing a large number of the Jews to join his cause, but ultimately suffered a horrible fate. Chazal teach us that Korach was so inspirational, and such a “people’s person”, that it was difficult not to be drawn to his side, but deep down, he was motivated by jealousy. Chazal felt that the primary lesson to be learned from this tragic episode was how important it is to completely distance oneself from any form of argument or discord. The Mishna in Avos (1:12) says that every Jew should make himself one of the students of Aharon in that we should love peace and pursue peace. The Sifri in Parshas Nasso exclaims that peace is so great that it is on par with the creation of the world. The Gemorah in Sotah says that peace is such a lofty concept that Hashem Himself was willing to have his name erased to bring harmony between a man and his wife. The Gemorah further says that the only receptacle capable of preserving blessing is peace. Meaning even if a person has been blessed with many different forms of bounty, without a way to contain them, these blessing are worthless. Peace serves as that container. Furthermore, one of Hashem’s names is Shalom!
How far should a person be willing to go for peace? To answer this question, let us look toward Moshe Rabenu. The verse in this week’s Parsha says that Moshe summoned Dasan and Aviram, those two unsavory characters who had been plaguing the Jewish people with their shenanigans since the Exodus, in order to attempt to make peace with them. Rashi explains that Moshe actually went out in order to locate them just so that he could make amends with them. Let us examine a little closer who exactly Dasan and Aviram were. Chazal teach us that Korach himself, and all the great leaders who joined him acted, to a certain extent, for the sake of Heaven. They wanted to serve Hashem through the Kehuna, and didn’t feel that it was fair for Moshe and Aharon to sequester every holy position. They too wanted a shot at getting close to Hashem. Yet, Chazal go on to say that Dasan and Aviram were different. The only reason they joined Korach’s side was to pick a fight. They couldn’t have cared less about the Kehuna. Yet knowing this, Moshe tried time and again to seek them out and make peace with them. He pleaded with them, begged them, and even humbled himself in front of them. In short, he did everything he could to make peace, but to no avail. We must take note of how Moshe acted in order to ascertain how far we must go in our attempts to make peace with our fellow Jew, and certainly how far we must distance ourselves from strife.
In truth, human beings as a species have a very difficult time making peace. Chazal teach us that just as no two faces in the human race are identical, similarly no two minds work in the same way. It is for this reason that we find it so difficult to get along. The Maharal extends slightly further in saying that Jews have an even tougher time living in agreement than non-Jews. This is for the simple reason that Hashem gave a greater level of understanding to Jews in order to endow each and every Jew with the unique ability to master the entire Torah. But along with this heightened awareness comes greater room for discord because in the expanded mind, there is more space for dissension. Unfortunately, even a cursory glance at human history will reveal how true this principle is. Kayin and Hevel, the first two human beings on this earth, couldn’t get along to the point that Kayin got up and killed his only brother, which constituted 25% of the earth’s population. Since then, how many people with lives and families have been killed pointlessly in war over fairly insignificant disagreements?
Since peace is so elusive, let us look to this week’s Parsha for some clues on how Hashem expected us to attain it. When Moshe told Korach that his request was inappropriate, Rashi says that he was referring to a very deep concept. The non-Jews have a wide range of different habits and customs, each stemming from their particular tendencies or beliefs. We Jews, however, are one nation, with one Hashem, and demonstrate that point with one Kohen Gadol. How can you demand that all 250 of you be appointed Kohanim Gedolim. You’ll undermine the secret to our unity. For us, this should be a poignant lesson in harmony. Only by recognizing that we all have the same spiritual goals will we be able to live together in peace. This obviously does not mean that we need to go about it in the same way, but it will allow for a mutual respect of anybody who shares the same objectives as us. We can never undermine the Chazal that we quoted above – “Just as our faces are different, so too are our opinions and habits different”, but we are constantly unified by the same ultimate purpose – to serve Hashem. The Sefas Emes says that each Jew has to recognize the fact that just as his own opinion is legitimate, his friend’s opinion is no less so, and must treat it with the same respect he treats his own, so long as they both have the same ultimate goal in mind – to serve Hashem. The Gemorah says that two Yeshiva students who learn together, and fight trough a piece of Torah, start out as enemies, but end up as friends. This seeming dichotomy is only true because they are both earnestly seeking the word of Hashem, and searching for ultimate truth. Since Hashem is the one proper unified being on this earth, it follows that studying Him will yield a unified existence.
Another technique mentioned in the Parsha to achieve accord is humility. The trait of humility is, for obvious reasons, the primary characteristic in precipitating peace. The Ramban asks a peculiar question. He asks where Aharon was in the debate between Korach and Moshe. Didn’t he have an opinion? He answers that in Aharon’s humility, he actually believed that Korach was more fitting for the Kehuna. On the other hand, he was loyal to Moshe who told him to be the Kohen Gadol. He therefore chose not to speak at all. We see from Aharon’s actions that one easy way to avoid all disharmony is to foster a complete and total sense of deference. The Mishnah after the above quoted Mishnah in Avos (1:12) says that if somebody wants to make a name for himself, ironically he ends up losing his name. What is the connection between the two successive Mishnayos? The famous Mashgiach, R’ Dov Shteinoltz, used to explain that the students of Aharon seek out peace and love peace. So long as a person is seeking self-aggrandizement, he will be robbed of any hope at fostering unity with his fellow man because his need for honor will always interfere with the necessary trait of modesty required to be flexible enough to make peace. Whereas when a person is completely unconcerned with the respect he receives, he will be emotionally free to seek out peaceful resolutions to the conflicts in his life.
May we all merit to learn from Korach’s mistakes and always seek out peace, no matter what the cost!