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By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
At the first gathering of the Bnei Yisroel, the twelve pillars of our
nation surrounded their father as he lay ill in Mitzrayim shortly before his
passing. Yaakov Avinu looked at his sons and spoke to them. He focused on the
gifts and challenges of each as he studied their destiny, bestowing brachos and tefillos that would accompany them and their progeny for eternity.
When he looked at Levi, Yaakov foresaw a
road with some bumps, but one that led to the loftiest of callings, the right
to serve in Hashem’s earthly home, standing guard over the Bais Hamikdosh and its sacred keilim.
Along with that, he also saw the dark and
turbulent events of this week’s parsha,
the uprising of Korach and his people against the leadership of Moshe Rabbeinu.
“I want no part in
it. Bekehalam al teichad kevodi,”
Yaakov Avinu pleaded. Therefore, Rashi tells
us, Korach’s lineage is traced back to Levi, but not to Yaakov.
It’s puzzling. If Yaakov foresaw the
incident, why did he not ask that there be no machlokes altogether? Why
did he not daven that Hashem’s trusted messenger be
untarnished by this rebellion? Why didn’t he daven that Klal Yisroel should
not rise up against Moshe? Why did he not pray that Korach be satisfied with
his position and not feel the need to stage an uprising to gain more power for
himself?
When Yaakov’s grandfather, Avrohom,
sensed that Sedom was on the verge of destruction, he immediately began to daven for the people of that wicked
city, as improbable as the chances were of him being able to stave off their
destruction. Avrohom’s concern for all of mankind led him to daven in a valiant attempt to prevent
the judgment from being carried out. Why didn’t Yaakov attempt to use the power
of tefillah to try to prevent the
ugly story from happening?
THE NATURE OF JEALOUSY
Perhaps the explanation is that at the
root of the machlokes was jealousy.
Korach was jealous of Moshe and Aharon, and he was upset that he wasn’t
recognized for his greatness and given a position of leadership that he felt he
deserved. Yaakov wanted it to be clear that this terrible human trait was not
traced back to him.
Jealousy is part of the teva with which Hashem created the
world.
Back at the very onset of creation, the
great luminaries, the sun and the moon, fell prey to jealousy. “Who will rule?
Who will be bigger?” they questioned.
The upper waters and the lower waters got
locked in an epic and enduring battle, each pining for Divine closeness at the
expense of the other.
Jealousy is built into creation. It is
part of human nature.
Kayin encountered Hevel and revealed the
most basic human emotion. His brother’s offering to Hashem was better. Kayin
couldn’t take that, so to overcome his feelings of inadequacy, he killed Hevel.
That didn’t solve anything. Hevel’s korban
was still better, and now Kayin was a murderer, an appellation sure to
cause him to be even more disfavored, but when a person goes into a jealous
rage, he doesn’t think about what he is doing. He doesn’t think about the
consequences. All he cares about is ruining the object of his scorn.
From that time onward, whenever man
ventured forth into the world, interacting with other humans and engaging in
commerce and conversation, there were always undertones of jealousy,
competition and rivalry.
Many seforim
discuss the idea that we do not pray to change nature (see Pachad Yitzchok, Rosh
Hashanah, Ma’amarim 10 and 33).
Perhaps we can say that Yaakov didn’t feel worthy of davening that Hashem should change human nature.
Additionally, Yaakov was the av who declared, “Katonti mikol hachassodim umikol ha’emes.” The Medrash Hagadol Toldos relates that Rabi Yanai said that a person
should not stand in a dangerous place and say that a miracle will occur for
him. Firstly, perhaps he won’t merit the miracle, and even if he does, it will
diminish his zechuyos. Rabi Chonon
adds that this is derived from Yaakov Avinu, who said, “Katonti mikol hachassodim umikol ha’emes.”
UNCONNECTED TO MACHLOKES
Yaakov Avinu believed that it would be
fruitless for him to daven for Hashem
to change human nature. He felt that he could only daven that he shouldn’t be included in the rebellion that would
ensue years later on account of jealousy, praying that the machlokes wouldn’t be traced to him.
Human nature is not always what we want
it to be. Ki yeitzer lev ha’adam ra
mine’urav. It requires a lot of work for man to break his inclinations and middos ra’os and make a mentch of himself.
It is the goal of the human experience to
work on enhancing the spiritual side and subjugating the animal side. The
spiritual and animal base traits combine to make us what we are. The word adam, says the Shela Hakadosh, hints at the potential, “adameh le’elyon,” and also the risks, “adamah,” the depths to which man can sink, like dirt.
To the degree that we enhance our
spiritual side through the study and observance of Torah, we are able to tame
our more base predispositions. If we commit ourselves to absorbing its lessons,
studying Torah can cure us of
pettiness and help us rise above jealousy and the propensity for machlokes.
Yaakov was an ish tom yosheiv ohalim. He was purified and cleansed by Torah and
its mussar. Having devoted his energy
and strength to rising above human frailties, he felt that the machlokes had no connection to him. He
wanted to demonstrate that although teva
dictates that human interactions lead people to jealousy, the condition is not
terminal, as one who is a yosheiv ohalim
and works on himself to be subservient to the precepts of Torah until he
becomes an ish tom, can win these battles.
After arriving in America from the
Shanghai refuge during the Holocaust, Rav Leib Bakst, later to become the famed
rosh yeshiva in Detroit, encountered
a prominent rebbe, who asked Rav Leib
about his great rebbi, Rav Yeruchom
Levovitz. Rav Leib discussed the mashgiach’s
sainted ways and messages, and the rebbe
nodded appreciatively. Rav Bakst then shared a shmuess from his rebbi
about the depth and potency of evil, which lurks within man, ready to entrap
him.
After hearing the shmuess, the rebbe said,
“The mashgiach was certainly a tzaddik, but our way is so different
than that of the mussar
personalities. Why spend so much time engaged with sin, the darker side of
man’s behavior, the yeitzer hora?
Here there is jealousy, desire and pettiness. Mussar is obsessed with the bad. We prefer to focus on the grandeur
and greatness of man, his abilities and potential, rather than studying and
probing his negative character traits. Through raising the level of my
followers by speaking of Elokus and
lofty spiritual matters, automatically the small frailties that afflict humans
are overcome and fall away. Why not speak about the royal and divine, rather
than stains and blemishes?”
Rav Leib took the rebbe’s words to heart, and when he had the opportunity, he shared
them with the revered mashgiach, Rav
Yechezkel Levenstein, asking him what he should answer the rebbe.
“Tell him about Sassoon’s house,” the mashgiach curtly replied.
Sassoon was a wealthy Sephardic merchant
who had settled in Shanghai, China, where he purchased a beautiful, flat,
vacant plot of land upon which to build a house. He erected a magnificent
mansion there and moved in, enjoying the spacious layout and impressive décor.
Within a short time, he sensed that
something wasn’t right. The structure seemed to be sinking. He called the
construction crew, who worked to set the building right, firming up the
foundation. Everything seemed okay for a while. Then the house started to sink
again and Sassoon called in a team of engineers to investigate.
Their exploration turned up some history.
Years earlier, the municipality of Shanghai had transferred all its waste to a
central location, which became a dumping ground for the garbage of the locals.
In time, the city found another location and decided to sell the large piece of
empty land, which was prime real estate. They covered the tract with piles of
sand and the attractive parcel was soon snapped up. Sassoon was the buyer.
The unfortunate industrialist was stuck
with a beautiful home on inferior ground, and his palatial residence was
virtually useless.
A palace of emunah cannot be erected on a garbage dump. A person can only rise
after he has cleansed himself of inappropriate traits.
RIVALRY, BUT LOFTY DESTINY
In that fateful meeting with his sons,
Yaakov turned to Levi. He saw the unfortunate results of jealousy and rivalry,
but he also saw something else: the lofty destiny of the shevet and the strength of character they possess to rise above it
all. The fruition of this vision is found later in this week’s parsha.
The pesukim
in perek yud ches following the tragedy of Korach relate that Hakadosh Boruch Hu tells Aharon what to
do to ensure that there won’t be another catastrophe such as the one that took
place with Korach and his eidah.
Hashem tells Aharon that he, the kohanim and
shevet Levi, should be “shomer mishmeres” and then there will be
no more “ketzef” on the Bnei Yisroel. The posuk explains that Hashem separated the kohanim and Levi’im from
the Bnei Yisroel. They will not
engage in everyday commerce with the rest of the Jews. They will perform their
work in the Temple of Hashem. They will do the avodah in the Ohel Moed
and will receive no nachalah, portion, in Eretz Yisroel. Hashem will
be their cheilek and nachalah.
To understand the correlation, we examine
the famous words of the Rambam at the
end of Hilchos Shmittah V’Yovel (13:12-13). He explains that
Levi did not receive any nachalah,
because he was chosen to serve Hashem in the Mishkon to teach His righteous ways and laws to the rest of the
people. Therefore, says the Rambam,
they were separated - “huvdolu midarkei
ha’olam.”
In other words, in order to ensure that
there would never be another catastrophic event such as that which took place
in the time of Korach, shevet Levi
was separated and removed midarkei
ha’olam, from the ways of the world. They didn’t engage in regular daily
commerce, as others do, because doing so could cause them to become jealous and
argumentative. To prevent them from falling back into the teva of man which leads to jealousy and rivalry, allowing human
failings to manifest themselves and cause “ketzef,”
they could no longer engage in the type of human interaction that exposes
mortal weaknesses.
From that point forward, Levi would not
be subject to these pressures, but would instead be dedicated fully to Hashem’s work. For the only way a person can
overcome issues that lead to machlokes and
bitterness is by dedicating himself to the complete service of Hashem and rising above routine everyday
business. It is only by dedicating oneself fully and wholly to observing the
precepts and teachings of the Torah in every field of human endeavor that man
can rise above the subliminal earthiness that seeks his downfall.
Thus, the Rambam states in the following halacha
that this mode of life is not only reserved for kohanim and Levi’im, but
can be followed by anyone who wishes to earn for himself a life of blessing and
peace, cleansing himself of human trivialities and foibles.
SEEKING THE “BIG JOB”
Korach was blinded and hindered by his negios. His desire for personal
advancement grew out of his jealousy of Moshe and Aharon. He couldn’t rise
above the teva. It seems strange to
us, but he was able to convince all the great men of Klal Yisroel to join him in his rebellion. For it wasn’t only
Korach who was cosumed with jealousy, but others as well. They all wanted the
“big job.” Thus, their vision became impaired and they were unable to
appreciate Moshe’s greatness. Jealousy clouded their vision and dulled their
senses, and they were unable to grasp the significance of what happened to the meraglim, who had doubted Moshe. They
weren’t able to rise above the teva
of anoshim and thus brought ketzef upon themselves and others.
As we study the parsha, we have the benefit of hindsight, the clarity of Rashi’s words, and the Rambam’s
lucid perspective. We delve into the explanations of the tale and think about
how such smart and righteous people could sin so terribly and err so badly. We learn
the pesukim, the Rashis and the Rambam,
and we resolve to improve so that we won’t be brought down by our base
inclinations.
We often see people acting foolishly as
they seek to advance their careers and self-serving agendas. We wonder how they
can be so irrational as to not realize that they are their own enemies. But
once people have been bitten by the jealousy bug, their vision becomes clouded
and their thinking tainted, and there is very little you can do to save them
from themselves.
We witness people who have spent a
lifetime accumulating wealth and power finally achieve their ambitions, only to
lose it all by being unable to deal with other people on a human and social
level. Their arrogance and jealousy are as potent as they were when they had
nothing. This drives them to humiliate others and leads to fits of rage when
people they are jealous of receive recognition or achieve measures of success.
Let us always look inward and not seek
outside praise and adulation. Let us work on ourselves to overcome selfishness
and conceit. Let us hone our emunah
and bitachon so that we don’t become
jealous of what other people have, and can be happy with what we have and our
position in life.
Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach would
remark that the power of daas Torah
is that those who possess it are free of negios;
they have no personal investment in what they are called to rule upon. Their
only negiah is to the truth. They
study Torah and are enveloped by it, as the Torah overtakes them and transforms
them. All their decisions and actions are guided by the Torah. They are
possessed by a love of the Torah and Am
Yisroel.
It is
possible for a human being to rise to such heights at which he is above agendas
and pettiness, and his sole concern is for the ratzon of the Ribbono Shel
Olam and the good of His children. May we all merit to aspire to - and
reach - that level.
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