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Korach - You Might Not Be Right… (From Last Year 2024)

 

You Might Not Be Right…

 

Korach was so sure he was right.

 

Rashi (16:7) writes that what led Korach to foolishly challenge Moshe Rabbenu, to start a fight that resulted in his death and many other deaths, was, ironically enough, his רוח הקודש– his prophetic vision.  He saw – correctly – that he would have prominent descendants, such as the prophet Shmuel.  And so he decided that he must be the rightful leader already now, in the desert, in place of Moshe.

 

Korach backed up his claims with arguments that sounded pretty convincing.  The Midrash teaches that Korach won support for his cause by telling the story of a poor widow with two young daughters, who had a small field from which to make a living.  She started plowing the field with her ox and donkey, but then Moshe told her about the command forbidding plowing with two different species of animal. 

 

When she started planting, Moshe told her about the command forbidding planting different species together. 

 

When she started harvesting the field, Moshe told her about the command to leave certain portions for the poor and to give certain portions to the kohanim and leviyim.

 

Exasperated, she decided to sell her field and purchase sheep, instead.

 

Aharon later came to take the sheep's firstborn, as well the first portion of wool sheared from it, as required by the Torah.

 

The woman and her daughters stood there and cried.

 

If I was told this story at a Shabbat table, I would have probably been convinced that Korach was right and Moshe was wrong.  This sounds so just, so noble, a cause that is truly לשם שמיים, for the sake of Hashem.

 

But of course it wasn't.  This was all about jealousy.

 

If Korach had been honest with himself, he would have acknowledged that this fight was not about fairness, and not about his righteous descendants.  This was about himself, his ego, his lust for honor and prestige.  He fooled himself – and his supporters – into thinking that he was waging a noble battle, that he was doing the right thing, that he was fighting against injustice.  But in truth, he was fighting for his selfish, egotistical concerns.

 

Let us all ask ourselves honestly: have we ever made this same mistake?  Have we ever gotten involved in a fight or controversy, thinking with certainty that we were right, that we were fighting for a noble, holy cause?  And if we have, did we stop to think clearly and objectively about our true motives?  Did we consider that maybe we weren't really right, that we were being selfish and petty?

 

The Gemara tells that one of the leading participants in Korach's uprising – a man named On ben Pelet – ended up backing out, thanks to his wife.  She told him that this idea was silly.  Even if Korach's side wins, she said, he – On ben Pelet – would be under Korach's authority instead of Moshe's.  What would he gain from that?

 

We all need people in our lives like On ben Pelet's wife – somebody who could help us think objectively and rationally.  When we find ourselves in a fight, or part of a controversy, it helps to have somebody who can tell us that we're wrong, that we're being foolish, that this fight is not worth it – and we have to be willing to listen.

 

Next time we feel like fighting, like joining some campaign against somebody, let's stop and think clearly and honestly.  Let's ask ourselves if we are really being sincere, if this fight is really the right thing to do, and if this fight is really worth it. 

 

If we do this, we will spare ourselves a lot of heartache and a lot of wasted emotional energy, and we will be able to focus on the things that really matter, on being productive, on working hard to achieve to the best of our ability. - Rabbi Joey Haber

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https://itorah.com/weekly-inspire/you-might-not-be-right-from-last-year-2024/15/30203