In the Mishna, we learn what differentiates a legitimate from an illegitimate dispute: “What kind of dispute is Leshem Shamayim? That of Hillel and Shammai. And a dispute that is not Leshem Shamayim? That of Korach and his followers” (Avot 4:17).
Parshat Korach is one of the most commentated on parshiot in the Torah. This is not surprising, since dispute is at the very core of our being as a people. We are genetically programmed, more than other peoples, to question and investigate for the purpose of seeking the truth (almost the entire oral law is structured as dispute). On the one hand, dispute and the quest for truth bring us closer to our Creator (Leshem Shamayim). On the other hand, if the dispute exceeds the bounds of legitimacy (not Leshem Shamayim), it becomes a destructive, often catastrophic cancer. It is therefore critical to define the boundaries of legitimate dispute.
Rabbeinu Bachyei says that the only way we can truly understand parshat Korach is by using Kabbalah, which examines dispute through the prism of archetypical disputes that occurred at the beginning of time. These include the dispute between the sun and the moon on the fourth day of creation, the sin of Adam HaRishon, the creation, during the twilight hours on the sixth day of Creation, of the hole that swallowed Korach, and the dispute between Kayin and Hevel, etc. These are all explored at length by the Zohar, Ari etc. In this article I am going to concentrate on the method of the Ramchal who explains Korach according to pshat.
The first sign to distinguish a legitimate dispute from an illegitimate one is by determining if it is personal or not.
The Midrash Tanchuma tells us that Korach’s dispute, while seemingly about equality and national interests, all emanated from a personal grudge! According to birthright and seniority, Korach should have been the head of his Levite family of Kehat. Instead, Moshe, directed by Hashem, appointed Korach’s younger nephew, Elitzafan ben Uziel.
Korach’s wife, the mefarshim tell us, held a grudge against Moshe’s wife, Tzipporah. Korach was an extremely wealthy man, and his wife was appropriately adorned from wrist to elbow in jewelry. All the women would admire her as she walked around the camp. However, when Moshe carved the second set of tablets (after breaking the first), Hashem allowed him to keep the left-over fragments of stone, which, according to the mefarshim, were sapphire. Moshe commissioned Oholiav to make a necklace for Tzipporah from these shards, that outshone any jewelry that Korach’s wife had.
This is how it all began. It began with a jealous man, married to an equally jealous woman, both of whom bore a personal grudge against Moshe and his wife.
But it went beyond that. Korach and his wife were the kind of people who, whatever wealth and status they would have acquired, would never have been enough. We get a hint of this from Moshe’s response to Korach “Rav lachem, bnei Levi” (Bamidbar 16:7) – You have much, sons of Levi. This was the attribute of Eisav who, in response to Yaakov’s gift, said “Yesh li rav” (Bereishit 33:9) – “I have a lot” – but he always craved more. The mefarshim say the reason Korach inherited this character trait from Eisav is because he was named Korach (which was the name of one of Eisav’s chieftains) and warned us to take great care in naming our children appropriate names.
Korach was smart enough to know that he could never beat Moshe directly, so he employed two tactics that are the hallmark of an illegitimate dispute – ridicule and lashon hara.
Contrast this with Hillel and Shammai. In the Beit HaMidrash, Hillel and Shammai were ardent adversaries. They had seriously conflicting opinions as to the essence of halacha. But it was never personal. Hillel never personally attacked Shammai and Shammai never personally attacked Hillel. Hillel’s followers married Shammai’s followers and vice versa, and each were invited to the others’ weddings. The dispute was centered around halacha alone; there was no ridicule and there was certainly no lashon hara. There was no hate – it was all Leshem Shamayim, with the purpose of getting to the truth.
In our lives, we are often confronted with disputes and we require tools to clarify and evaluate the legitimacy of the parties in the dispute. It may be a neighborly dispute, between siblings, between a man and his wife, or on a larger scale – a political dispute.
The first telltale sign of an illegitimate dispute is not always easy to identify. We cannot see inside a person’s heart to discover if his agenda is personal or not.
The other two signs are much easier to recognize. If someone’s cause is righteous, they have no need to employ ridicule or lashon hara against their opponent, and if they do, this is a sure sign that their position is illegitimate and inferior. Korach knew he could never best Moshe, so he resorted to “dirty” tactics and rendered his dispute illegitimate.
We live in troubled political times. Two of the world’s “model” democracies, America and Israel, are realizing that even the most “advanced” political systems have their limits. Democracy is just another form of dispute, and the limit of its power is that it is contingent on both sides respecting each other and not crossing red lines. When that breaks down, democracy ceases to function and it degenerates into illegitimate anarchy with all the trimmings – personal agendas, ridicule and insidious lashon hara.
The late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z”l, repeatedly remarked how much he respected his adversary Professor Richard Dawkins, a devout atheist. Despite the fact he found his opinions offensive and revolting, he was always amazed at the degree of civility and respect that was always given and reciprocated. As soon as that goes out the window, so does society. You must always give respect and honor but never covet it.
This is the lesson of Korach.
Parshat Hashavua Trivia Question: The Gemara (Sanhedrin 109b) lists two “nameless” wives that appear in the parsha. Who were they married to?
Answer to Last Week’s Trivia Question: Who was the “collector of wood” on Shabbat? R’ Akiva says it was Tzlofchad ben Chefer, father of the five daughters Machla, Noa, Chogla, Milka and Tirtza (Bamidbar 27:1).
