פרשת קרח
This week’s Parsha tells us about how Korach rose up against Moshe Rabenu, and attempted to usurp some of the honors delegated by Hashem to the Kohanim and the Leviim for himself. Chazal teach us that Korach was capable of an extremely high level of prophecy, and was one of the leaders of that generation in Torah and spirituality, and they therefore go through great lengths to understand exactly how somebody as big as Korach could have been so misled by his Yetzer Hara, that he was willing to fight with Moshe who was the uncontested leader up until that point. Chazal even say that when he fought with Moshe Rabenu, he was essentially fighting with Hashem, and he was aware of that. Rashi comments that Korach’s primary error was in that fact that he was jealous. His jealousy over Moshe’s prestige blinded him to the fallacy of his arguments, and convinced him that he was in fact to be the true leader of the Jewish people. Indeed, Chazal warn us about the extreme danger that jealousy can inflict on a person if he is not careful, and it has the power to remove him from the world.
However, R’ Chazkal Levinstein points out that the underlying trait which fuels jealousy is pride. There is a verse in Koheles (5:12) which says, “There is evil under the sun, which waits to ensnare those who come upon it.” Rashi comments that this evil is referring to the wealth of Korach. Korach came upon a large sum of money during his travels, and became extraordinarily wealthy, upon which he began feeling haughty, and that led to the events recorded in this week’s Parsha. Conversely, the verse in Psalms (45) says, “And favor will be granted to the humble.” The Midrash comments that this is referring to the sons of Korach, who were spared specifically because of their humility, in contrast with their father.
What is the connection between the trait of haughtiness, and jealousy? Ostensibly, the apparent connection is the fact that haughty people feel that things are “coming to them”. This eventually leads to the belief, “If they are coming to me, than they really aren’t coming to anyone else, because only I deserve them”. However, the Mashgiach, R’ Aryeh Finkel would add another facet of the connection between pride and envy. He would say that there is one factor which helps all of us overcome the nefarious tricks of the Yetzer Hara and that is Heavenly aid. One cannot overcome his negative pulls without direct help from Hashem. This is especially true in light of the fact that every person believes that they are doing the right thing, and Korach was no exception. However, when it comes to a haughty person, Hashem says, “He and I cannot live in the same universe”, and Chazal say that an arrogant person pushes the legs of the Shechina (as it were) outside the world. If this is true, then that special Heavenly aid needed in overcoming the Yetzer Hara and in clarity of vision is not present in haughty people, and that was why Korach could not have succeeded in conquering his jealousy.
Although the Rambam says that humility is the one trait which must be eradicated completely, and there is not room for even a smidgeon of arrogance in a person’s heart, R’ Chazkal explains in the name of the Tomer Devora, that the only way to acquire this precious trait is through daily work in small strides. For example, when a person finds himself being praised, he should try not to let himself get carried away, but rather should feel grateful to Hashem that he succeeded in a certain area, and perhaps try to avoid being in situations in which he knows he will be admired. Additionally, when a person is being reprimanded, instead of getting insulted and sulking, he should try to remind himself that everything is from Heaven, and this uncomfortable or offensive situation was preordained by Hashem for him to go through. By taking these small, yet challenging steps, a person will slowly but surely rid his heart of all smatterings of conceit.
I would like to share with you a story about a Jew who passed away around 15 years ago, who epitomized the work which needs to be done in this arena. R’ Moshe Mandel was a Jew in Bnei Brak, who became very well known toward the end of his life. He was always very humble, and nobody knew who he was, but when he was “discovered” as a miracle worker, people began flocking to him in droves. R’ Shach himself would tell people, “Why would you come to me for a blessing when you can visit R’ Moshe Mandel, whose blessings always seem to come true?” However, R’ Moshe was very concerned when people started coming to him, lest he get trapped in the conundrum of haughtiness, so he took certain measures to ensure that this wouldn’t happen. A lady once came to him and referred to him in the third person and said, “Could the Tzadik give me a blessing?” He became very upset when he heard this and he kept murmuring under his breath, “I’m not a Tzadik, I’m not a Tzadik”. Indeed, people would often hear him repeating the verse to himself, “עקב ענוה, יראת ה'”. Whenever he would speak, he was careful to always look inside of a book in order that people shouldn’t think he knows things by heart, even though he knew most of the Shas by heart. He always kept an old pair of shoes by the entrance to his Beis Midrash, and the students attempted to through them out numerous times, but he emphatically refused. They finally found out that whenever he would speak in front of the Gedolim like R’ Shach and other Rabbis, he would stare at his shoes while he was delivering his speech in order to continually humble himself, and remind himself of the fragile nature of the human body and his vestiges. At his granddaughter’s wedding, they gave him the honor of reciting one of the blessings under the Chuppah. When they handed him the microphone, he held it up to his ear like a telephone, and recited the blessing. People couldn’t contain their laughter at the site of a Rabbi with a microphone to his ear. After the Chuppah, his grandchildren asked him if he really didn’t know how to use a microphone. He responded, “Of course I do, but I was afraid that if I did, my Yetzer Hara for pride and honor would take hold of me, so I held it like that”. Although some of these actions may seem a bit extreme to us, R’ Moshe reached the level of Ruach Hakodesh, and I’m certain that his work in this field was a major factor in his incredible accomplishments.
May we all merit to learn from Korach’s mistake, and humble our hearts at all times!